The best things to do to really experience Florence

05.04.2024 - 21:09 / lonelyplanet.com / Art

It’s difficult to calculate how many works of art are exhibited in the UNESCO-inscribed historic center of Florence – compiling a comprehensive list of things to see and do would be an encyclopedic endeavor. The collection of world-class museums such as the Uffizi and Galleria dell’Accademia draw in thousands of people daily, but these comprise only a fraction of the Tuscan capital’s heritage. 

Attempting to take it all in can be overwhelming – especially if you are visiting for a short time between spring and autumn when entering museums often means facing long queues and dealing with crowds. Rather than trying to complete a must-do list, allow yourself a few days to experience the city from different perspectives.

Get to know the work of some of your favorite Renaissance artists, but then leave behind the museum halls to discover the city’s living culture. Here are some of our favorite experiences in Florence.

One of the world’s most renowned Renaissance artists, Michelangelo Buonarroti has left many traces of time spent in Florence, starting from the iconic David housed inside Galleria dell’Accademia. Michelangelo was born in Caprese, near Arezzo, in 1475 and moved to Florence at a young age with his family, starting his career as a sculptor at only 13 years of age. 

Casa Buonarroti, in Via Ghibellina, traces Michelangelo’s accomplishments through some of his early drawings and engravings. Inside the Basilica di Santo Spirito, the church designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, you’ll find the wooden crucifix Michelangelo produced as a teenager in 1493, when he was studying anatomy while living in the convent.

Important works such as Bacco (1497), believed to be Michelangelo’s first marble sculpture, and David-Apollo (1530–32) are housed inside Museo del Bargello and Michelangelo’s only panel painting to survive to this day, Tondo Doni (1504–1506), is found in the Uffizi Gallery.

The artist’s architectural accomplishments include the vestibule of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana and the Sagrestia Nuova found inside the Museo delle Cappelle Medicee, place of rest of many of the Medici family's most prominent members.

Commissioned by the Medici family to landscape architect Niccolò Pericoli in 1549, the Boboli Gardens pioneered a new style of European court gardens, creating an environment that would influence aristocrats across the continent. Designed following the humanistic principle of the Renaissance, Boboli – an extension of Palazzo Pitti – blurs the lines between nature and art. Walk through the artificial grottos, fountains and sculptures that adorn the symmetrical gardens of the city’s former rulers.

Boboli isn’t the only monumental garden found in the city. Continue your green tour of Florence by