First of all - we have four days in Florence!!! Here is my best shot at an itinerary for the time that we have, but this is flexible and any one of you can wander in and out at any time. Nothing is set in stone and it is easy to flip things around as it is a small city, so everything is in walking distance. We don't need reservations in advance if we get a Firenze Card (which covers admission to all the museums in town).
Day 1, Thursday, 5/2: Arrive and get oriented!
2:00 PMish: Arrive in Florence. We're all arriving around the same time at the airport - although from different places. But if all flights work out we'll all arrive between 12:55 - 1:20pm from Oslo, London and Zurich. We sound soooo chic! So we might be able to meet up at the airport and get a ride to our hotel together. Arrive from airport and settle in to our amazing hotel! Drop bags in room, maybe clean up, possibly nap.
Late afternoon: Head out for a walk around town. I'm recommending Rick Steve's Renaissance Walk which hits the big sights (Duomo, Baptristry, Piazza della Signoria and Ponte Vecchio) and is less than a mile. In the book it says it takes about 2 hours. This will give us a good orientation to the city. We can also easily find a place on this route to purchase a Firenze Card that we'll use the rest of the time we're in Florence. Eat some gelatto!
Evening: Find a place to eat dinner! Happily wander back to our hotel and have a night cap on our rooftop bar as we watch the sun set over the tuscan hills!
Day 2, Friday, 5/3: Big Museums
Morning: Accademia - Visit the David along with other Michaelangelo sculptures and a few famous paintings.
Lunch: Walk over to San Lorenzo Market or Mercato Centrale and grab an easy lunch or cut across town and find a spot to sit and eat around Piazza Signoria. Eat some gelatto!
Afternoon: Uffizi Gallery - Greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere. Botticelli, Giotto, lots of busts and paintings of Medici family members, Medieval art collection. Closes at 6:50pm, so we have plenty of time to see whatever we want.
Evening: Walk across Ponte Vecchio and take a walk through Oltraarno. Find a restaurant to enjoy dinner and wine.
Day 3, Saturday, 5/4: Smaller museums and churches
Morning: Santa Maria Novella - Thirteenth century Dominican church with famous paintings. Museum of San Marco - Best collection anywhere of artwork by the early Renaissance master Fra Angelico.
Lunch: We'll be cutting across the heart of town, so I suggest Piazza della Republica or around there - we can window shop and there are lots of little artist stands selling cheesy souvenirs. Eat some gelatto!
Afternoon: Bargello Museum full of world class sculptures. A quick walk to Santa Croce (church where Michaelangelo, Galileo and I think Dante are buried). The church closes at 5:30. There are also a lot of artists and small shops in this neighborhood, so we can walk around for a bit. Eat more gelatto!
Early Evening: Head back to the center of town and visit the Duomo Museum - houses all of the original pieces from the Duomo and Baptistry including sculptures and giant bronze doors. (closes at 8pm).
Evening: find a spot for a long Tuscan dinner and enjoy!
Day 4, Sunday, 5/5: Florentine royalty and Oltraarno sites
Morning: Pitti Palace & gardens- several museums in lavish palace plus the sprawling Boboli and Bardini gardens. This one can take as long as we want it - if there is good weather we can walk around the gardens for a while.
Afternoon: Brancacci Chapel - works of Masaccio, early Renaissance master who invented perspective. Closes at 5:00 PM.
Early Evening: Walk up to one of the best views of the city at Piazzale Michelangelo.
There is also an excellent wine bar that we can visit while we are in the neighborhood. We could visit San Miniato, a sumptuous Renaissance chapel and sacristy (closes at 8pm), which was named for a martyr who supposedly was beheaded then carried his head to this spot before finally died and was buried here. Gotta love that story!
Alternatives for Day 4: Medici Chapel, Palazzo Vecchio, Galileo Science Museum. All of these are open on Sunday and take the Firenze card - so anyone can visit whatever they woudl like. Or we could return to another location that we saw earlier in the trip and spend more time there.
Day 5, Monday, 5/6: Side trips to Siena and Montepulciano
Tuscan wine tour!! We have our own car and driver/tour guide who will drive us through gorgeous Tuscany. We'll hit Siena in the morning, walk thorugh town and see the sites then eat lunch there at a highly recommended restaurant. Then we will head over to the beautiful hill town of Montepulciano. Just outside of town we'll visit the Boscarelli Winery for a tour and tasting session. We can take a couple of hours walking through town and then end at the Contucci cellars for a tour and tasting session. Then back on the road to return to Florence for dinner.
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