Suggestions for Florence?

[DangerMouse]

DH and I will be spending a week in Florence in late July. I know a few from this site have travelled there so I would be interested in hearing recommendations for places to stay and things to do.

We are only going for a week so we intend to focus on quality rather than quantity. We have done Rome/Florence/Venice/Milan before so plan on focussing our efforts on Florence and the environs. We don't want to spend all day on the road travelling from location to location. This is about enjoyment - our aims are to enjoy greatv food, soak up the atmosphere and find some locations that would fulfil DH's love of photography and allow me to indulge in my love of Italian shoes.

 

[kaudrey]

If you haven't been, San Gimignano is a wonderful little town relatively nearby. Siena is also in the area - it has the big square where that famous horse race is every year....the name of which escapes me right now.

 

[deserat]

Florence options

Florence is one of my fave towns - so here's the list not necessarily in priority
1) Eat gelato often - part of the expereince -the street vendors are fine
2) Get Rick Steve's book on Italy or Florence and follow his ideas to some inexpensive places to eat and/or stay
3) Just walk around reveling in the architecture - Bruneleschi's (sp) dome is magnificent, as well as the other Renaissance architecture. Lots of plazas with flea market type sellers and just neat atmosphere - things to buy in Florence - leather, gelato (see above), Tuscan food--it will be expensive
4) Must see "David" by Michelangelo - will knock you socks off -is in the Galleria dell'Academia - it's on a tight corner a bit away from the center of town - worth the visit.
5) Must see the Uffizi - best pictures (in my estimation) are the Boticellis - Venus in a Clamshell, Primavera - I also loved the famous round picture of the Madonna with child (blanking on painter name) - in any case a great museum
6) The Ponte Vecchio is cute but a bit over-rated in my estimation
7) Across the Ponte Vecchio is another museum the Palazzo Pitti - the best part of that was the garden - it rises up and the view of the Tuscan countryside from the walls is phenomenal.

Most of the above was either paid for or owned by the Medici family.

The name of the race in Siena is Il Palio - Siena is a beautiful walled town in Italy - another one on top of a hill is Orvieto.

Enjoy and report back - ohh, I miss living in Europe - so many wonderful historical and interesting things to do.

Deserat