This is a guest post by Claire who blogs about lifestyle over at Ninja Killer Cat.
72 hours in the beautiful city of Florence what should you see? Florence will truly capture your heart and never let it go, there is something magical about Florence it is such a vibrant city full of art culture food and wine and so very mellow well mellow as an Italian city can get! Florence is known as the birthplace of the Renaissance where there was great wealth and so began a great collection of art between the 14th and 17th century.
It pays to get the Firenze card which allows you to visit as many museums and churches etc as you can manage within the 72 hours. The card is activated as soon as you go on your first visit make sure you get your card from the local tourist information at is 10 Euros cheaper than if you buy it form a museum.
We flew straight into Florence as Mr T wanted to be nearer but there is easy access from Pisa airport and that is where most people fly into. You can get a train direct from Pisa to Florence and the Italian trains are efficient and some even have double-decker carriages.
The Magnificence Of The Medici
The Medici ruled Florence for 300 years they had a meteoric rise to power and put their money into arts, the churches and monuments and this makes Florence a truly spectacular city.
Make your way to the Palazzo Vecchio which is the main square Piazza Della Signoria. Building was started in 1299, the medieval place has a 94 -metre high tower ( which I didn't climb but let my husband and son climb though ). There is a stately room to visit which seats 500 members. The Medici used to have their apartments here till the mid -1500s.
Meander then down to the Palazzo Pitti this is where the Medici came to when they had outgrown the Palazzo Vecchio ,The Palazzo Pitti soon doubled from its initial size. From the outside the Palazzo Pitti looks very much like a fortress yet when you're inside this melts away to reveal paintings by Rubens, Raphael Titan and many many more. There are so many fine rooms to see it is a veritable feast upon the eyes and there are often other exhibitions to see when we were there was one on fashion and Italian motor racing.
Right next to the Palazzo Pitti is the Boboli gardens which are fine Italian gardens and they stretch for acres upon acres they are more than just a garden they are an architectural inspiration for Florence. They are the greatest open-air museum there is in the world, they are the gardens they inspired Versailles.
David
You can't come to Florence and not see David and you find this in the Galleria dell' Accademia for almost 370 years this world famous statue stood outside Palazzo Vecchio there is a copy outside there now.
David stands 17 feet tall and weighs in at 6 tonnes and there is a lot more to see around the Galleria dell' Academia too.
Doumo
This is a must and you see tantalising vistas of this almost everywhere you go in Florence we had a view from our hotel L'Orlogia which is not far away. Admire the facade of the Duomo it took them 16 years to complete the famed Dome (in 1436).
Then go onto the Bargello the oldest building in Florence where you will see works by Michelangelo, Cellini and Donatello’s David. Also here you can see ceramics, textiles tapestries and coins also there is an armoury here as well.
This is but a snippet of what you can squeeze in 3 days and if you get the Firenze card which I strongly suggest you do then there is a complete list of all the places you can visit.
Amazing experience
ReplyDeleteYou really took in some gorgeous sites! I've always wanted to visit Florence.
ReplyDeleteThis is my idea of heaven, I'd love to spend a few days in Florence and I always find these pass cards to be so worth it. Mich x
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