Florence in 3 Days: The Lucalvry Itinerary

Day 1

The Renaissance core

1. 7.00am

   Walk to the Duomo via Via Roma

   Walk to the Duomo via Via Roma. The piazza is empty, the marble is at its best in early morning light, and you will have the Battistero exterior almost to yourself. Five minutes inside the cathedral itself (free, no queue at this hour) before continuing.

2. 8.15am

   Uffizi Gallery — book the earliest available slot

   Uffizi Gallery — book the earliest available slot. Two and a half hours covers the main rooms (Botticelli, Leonardo's *Annunciation*, Caravaggio's *Bacchus*, the Tribuna) without exhaustion. Skip the second-floor temporary exhibitions on a first visit.

3. 11.30am

   Coffee and a pastry at Caffè Gilli on Piazza della Repubblica

   Coffee and a pastry at Caffè Gilli on Piazza della Repubblica. Walk through the Mercato Nuovo (the boar fountain, *Il Porcellino*) and pause briefly at the Bargello exterior — the museum itself is a Day 5 visit, not a Day 1.

4. 1.00pm

   Lunch at Trattoria Cammillo in the Oltrarno (no reservations after 8pm; book by phone t…

   Lunch at Trattoria Cammillo in the Oltrarno (no reservations after 8pm; book by phone two weeks ahead for a 1pm table). The ribollita and the bistecca are the orders. Walk back across Ponte Santa Trinita afterwards for the best Ponte Vecchio photograph in Florence.

5. 3.30pm

   Duomo complex — climb the Brunelleschi dome (book the 4pm slot, 463 steps, 45 minutes),…

   Duomo complex — climb the Brunelleschi dome (book the 4pm slot, 463 steps, 45 minutes), then the Battistero interior (the Ghiberti doors are reproductions; the originals are in the Museo dell'Opera). Skip the Campanile climb on a 3-day visit; the dome view is the better one.

6. 6.30pm

   Aperitivo at Procacci on Via Tornabuoni — truffle panini, a glass of Antinori white, st…

   Aperitivo at Procacci on Via Tornabuoni — truffle panini, a glass of Antinori white, standing at the marble bar. The most civilised pre-dinner drink in Florence.

7. 8.30pm

   Dinner at Buca Lapi (book three weeks ahead)

   Dinner at Buca Lapi (book three weeks ahead). The bistecca alla fiorentina is the benchmark Florentine meal; the cellar room is the most theatrically Florentine dining space in the city.

Day 2

The Accademia, the Oltrarno, the Pitti

1. 8.15am

   Accademia Gallery — book the earliest slot

   Accademia Gallery — book the earliest slot. Forty minutes is enough for the David, the unfinished *Slaves*, and the plaster-cast room. The Accademia is genuinely smaller than visitors expect; do not allocate more than an hour.

2. 10.00am

   Walk south to the Mercato Centrale upstairs food hall for a coffee and a slice of schia…

   Walk south to the Mercato Centrale upstairs food hall for a coffee and a slice of schiacciata at All'Antico Vinaio's market stall. (The famous sandwich queue on Via dei Neri is not worth it; the Mercato outpost serves the same product without the wait.)

3. 11.00am

   Cross the Arno via the Ponte Vecchio (briefly — the bridge is a photograph, not a stop)…

   Cross the Arno via the Ponte Vecchio (briefly — the bridge is a photograph, not a stop) and spend the late morning in the Oltrarno: the Brancacci Chapel for the Masaccio frescoes (book ahead, 30 minutes), then the Santo Spirito basilica and the artisan workshops along Via Maggio and Via dello Sprone.

4. 1.30pm

   Lunch at Il Santo Bevitore in San Frediano (book a week ahead)

   Lunch at Il Santo Bevitore in San Frediano (book a week ahead). Modern Tuscan, exceptional wine list, the best lunch in the Oltrarno.

5. 3.30pm

   Pitti Palace — Palatine Gallery only on a 3-day visit (skip the Royal Apartments and th…

   Pitti Palace — Palatine Gallery only on a 3-day visit (skip the Royal Apartments and the Costume Gallery). Two hours covers the Raphael room, the Titian collection, and the Sala di Saturno without exhaustion.

6. 5.30pm

   Boboli Gardens at golden hour — climb to the Belvedere fortress for the city's defining…

   Boboli Gardens at golden hour — climb to the Belvedere fortress for the city's defining panoramic photograph. The gardens close at 6.30pm in shoulder season; check before you go.

7. 8.00pm

   Aperitivo at Le Volpi e l'Uva on Piazza dei Rossi (the city's best by-the-glass wine li…

   Aperitivo at Le Volpi e l'Uva on Piazza dei Rossi (the city's best by-the-glass wine list).

8. 9.00pm

   Dinner at Trattoria Cammillo if you missed Day 1 lunch, or Cibrèo Trattoria back across…

   Dinner at Trattoria Cammillo if you missed Day 1 lunch, or Cibrèo Trattoria back across the river. Both are reservation-essential.

Day 3

Sunrise at Piazzale Michelangelo, the artisan Oltrarno, the Brunelleschi swan song

Three days is not Florence. But three days done in this order is enough to know whether you'll come back — and almost everyone does.

1. 6.30am

   Walk or taxi to Piazzale Michelangelo for sunrise — the city's defining panoramic view,…

   Walk or taxi to Piazzale Michelangelo for sunrise — the city's defining panoramic view, with the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio framed against the hills. Empty at this hour; mobbed by 9am.

2. 8.30am

   Breakfast back across the river at Ditta Artigianale on Via dei Neri — the city's best…

   Breakfast back across the river at Ditta Artigianale on Via dei Neri — the city's best espresso, exceptional pastries.

3. 9.30am

   San Lorenzo basilica and the Medici Chapels (the Brunelleschi-Michelangelo combination,…

   San Lorenzo basilica and the Medici Chapels (the Brunelleschi-Michelangelo combination, 90 minutes). The New Sacristy is the single most architecturally serious room in Florence and is consistently under-visited.

4. 11.30am

   The Bargello — a serious sculpture museum (Donatello's *David*, Verrocchio, Cellini) th…

   The Bargello — a serious sculpture museum (Donatello's *David*, Verrocchio, Cellini) that almost no tourist visits. 90 minutes.

5. 1.30pm

   Lunch at Trattoria Sostanza in Santa Maria Novella (book three weeks ahead)

   Lunch at Trattoria Sostanza in Santa Maria Novella (book three weeks ahead). The butter chicken — yes, butter chicken, on the menu since 1869 — is the order, with a half-litre of the house Chianti.

6. 3.30pm

   Free afternoon

   Free afternoon. The serious options: the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella for an hour; Vespa rentals (Florence By Vespa) for a 90-minute Chianti countryside loop; or the Brancacci Chapel if you skipped it on Day 2.

7. 6.30pm

   Aperitivo at Caffè Gilli or, for the more atmospheric pick, the rooftop bar at the Hote…

   Aperitivo at Caffè Gilli or, for the more atmospheric pick, the rooftop bar at the Hotel Continentale on the Ponte Vecchio (sunset, river view, civilised at 6.30, less civilised after 9).

8. 8.30pm

   Final-night dinner

   Final-night dinner. Three options worth the splurge: Enoteca Pinchiorri (three Michelin stars, three-hour evening, €350+ per head, book three months ahead); Cibrèo (the original, no menus, €180 per head, book three weeks ahead); or Buca Lapi a second time, because some Florentine meals are worth repeating. End with a midnight walk back across Ponte Santa Trinita to your hotel.