ONE DAY IN FLORENCE, ITALY

My sister, Alexa, and I spent just one day in Florence as we made a train journey from Cinque Terre to Venice. We decided to split up the journey and spend one day in Florence since it was on the way. Even though we just had one partial day since we arrived in Florence around 1 p.m., it was enough to take in a lot that the city had to offer. After we dropped our bags off at the front desk of the Grand Hotel Cavour, we did the following six things in Florence, Italy–all in one day.

1. Climb to the top of Giotto’s Bell Tower

First things first, climb to the top of Giotto’s Bell Tower while you still have daylight. You have the option to climb either Giotto’s Bell Tower or Brunelleschi’s Dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore. Although the dome is higher, we chose to climb the bell tower so we could get views of the iconic dome in all of our photos, see photo above of the bell tower and plaza that I took from the tower.

The Giotto’s Bell Tower, pictured above from the plaza, features over 400 steps to the top of the 270-foot tall tower. There are multiple levels that you can stop at to catch your breath and take in the views from the openings. As we climbed to each level, we were enclosed in very narrow stairways where we had to stop and scoot to the side for other guests coming the opposite way. So it may feel a little claustrophobic at times. The 360 views of Florence are worth the visit to the top of the bell tower. For admission, we bought the Giotto Pass online right before we wanted to go in. Luckily, we were able to easily do that instead of waiting in line at the physical office that had a long line at that time. The pass offered more than what we needed with three days and four venues, but it was still a good deal to use for Giotto’s Bell Tower and the Santa Reparata for one day. Buy the Giotto Pass at the official website.

2. Go underneath the Florence Cathedral to the Santa Reparata

In the 1960s, an underground cathedral below the Santa Maria del Fiore was discovered. It was a nice reprieve from the hot Florence sun to head down into the Santa Reparata and explore the ancient crypt. We saw many ancient artifacts from the Roman and Medieval eras like ceramics, carvings, and metal objects. The crypt has historically renowned Florentines buried there such as Arnolfo di Cambio, Andrea Pisano, Giotto, and Filippo Brunelleschi.  Another favorite part was looking at the various mosaic tiling on the floor of the crypt. There is even an impressive original peacock made of mosaic tiles that are still intact on the floor. We visited the Santa Reparata as part of the Giotto Pass described earlier. Buy the Giotto Pass at the official website.

3. Eat outside next to the Santa Maria del Fiore

After exploring the first two sites, rest up your feet at one of the various cafes outside of the Santa Maria del Fiore. We sat at Caffe Bistrot Maleducatti and ordered two pasta dishes and cold water. It was a little pricey for what it was, but for us, it was great to be able to sit down right away instead of wandering the streets in the heat to pick out a restaurant. This provided such a beautiful view of Santa Maria del Fiore, we couldn’t have asked for more in this moment.

4. Visit Michaelangelo’s Statue of David

It was only late afternoon and we realized we still had time to go see the Statue of David by Michelangelo. We thought it may be at the renowned Uffizi Gallery in Florence, but it was actually at the Galleria dell’Accademia so we made our way there from the Santa Maria del Fiore. We were winging it that day so we hadn’t made reservations to see the Statue of David so we tested our luck. When we arrived we found two lines for those with ticket reservations and those without reservations. We experienced the joy that there was a non-reservation line, but still unsure of our chances since that line was so long. We figured we weren’t going to do anything else so we got in line. It ended up taking 1.5 hours of waiting before we got in. We entertained ourselves by people-watching and buying gelato across the street while waiting in line. It was worth it to see the iconic 17-foot-tall Statue of David and admire a masterpiece of Renaissance sculpture. The rest of the art gallery was interesting as well with many other beautiful Renaissance sculptures and paintings. You can wing it like us or buy tickets in advance at the official website of Galleria dell’Accademia.

5. Visit Palazzo Vecchio in the evening

The one day we were in Florence happened to be a city holiday called the San Giovanni, celebrating the patron saint with activities all day long. In the evening, we decided to go out to find a place along the river to watch the city fireworks. It was special for Florence because they hadn’t had the fireworks for the previous two years because of COVID. It was a fun time to be on the river banks crowded with locals and tourists that came out to watch the fireworks. Afterward, we started to head back to our hotel which took us through the Palazzo Vecchio, pictured above. It was so beautiful in the evening with its marble statues and water fountains illuminated in the dark.

6. Stay at the Grand Hotel Cavour at night

We made it back to the Grand Hotel Cavour for our one-night stay. This hotel is in an amazing location just a few blocks from all the major sites. The interior lobby was fancy and our bedroom featured window views of this beautiful tower. This was one of our favorite hotels we stayed at in Italy and would definitely stay there again. Book the Grand Hotel Cavour on booking.com.