I’ve been putting off writing this travel guide for awhile now. And to be honest, I know exactly why. I went to Florence and Milan (Milan travel guide coming soon!) for my senior year spring break with one of my best friends back in March. The trip was absolutely AMAZING and coming back to Chicago afterwards was a bit hard. I haven’t been to Europe since I was in 13, and I fell back in love with traveling after my recent trip to Italy. If you are thinking about going to Italy: DO IT. (I already want to go back!) Florence was my favorite city out of the two Italian cities we visited, so while this is a bit hard for me to write (I miss it so much!), I hope this travel guide will help someone out there who is going to Florence in the future.
Before I went to Italy, I did quite a bit of research. I asked my friends, family, and Instagram followers for recommendations on things to do and where to eat/drink. I also read a lot of blogs (I love this one from Fashionlush!) and even a Rick Steve’s book or two (no shame!) I wrote out in my journal all the places I was recommended/wanted to go to, and grouped them by things to see and things to eat/drink. While I’ll only be recommending the places we actually went to/ate/drank in this post, I will put some more recommendations I didn’t make it to at the bottom of this post.
Where to Stay
My friend and I decided to stay in Air BnB’s in both Florence and Milan because we wanted a more genuine experience…and it was way cheaper.
I loved our Florence Air BnB especially because it was our own private apartment. The apartment itself was a bit out of the city center, but it was right off the train, so it was super easy to get back into Florence each day. We used only public transportation in Florence and never had to take a cab (Florence is super walkable!) The apartment was also a 5 minute walk from the “Co-op” (a big supermarket) and an H&M, movie theater, and shopping. Our Air BnB host was also super informative and friendly and left lots of recommendations/helpful tips for us, so I would totally recommend this apartment to anyone going to Florence.
Every morning, my friend and I would walk to the Co-op and grab a cappuccino and croissant/some sort of pastry. It was about 2-3 euros for breakfast and we liked getting breakfast out of the way so that we could hit the ground running once we got into the city center.
Click this link to get $40 off your Air BnB reservation!
Where to Eat/Drink in Florence
- Il Toscanaccio: I loved this place! We went here for lunch on our first day and really enjoyed it, especially because it had outdoor seating and was close to Ufizzi Gallery. We got there during happy hour, so all cocktails were only 5 euro. I got fresh spaghetti and a midday white wine – heaven.
- Smalzi Il Gelato: Our favorite gelato place of the whole trip. The man working was so friendly to us and let us try as many gelato flavors as we wanted. 😉
- My go-to gelato flavors of the trip were Coffee, Caramel, Stracciatella, and Nutella/hazelnut.
- Rubaconte: We were recommended this place for dinner and left SO full! My favorite dish was the Penne alla Vodka and also the pizza with zucchini on top (I forget the exact name – but should be easy to find on the menu.)
Other places (I didn’t make it to these places, but they came highly recommended!):
- Gusta Pizza (apparently they have heart-shaped pizza!)
- Osteria Santo Spirito (came recommended from Fashionlush – one of my all-time favorite bloggers. She said it was the best dinner of her trip.)
- Antico Noe (great place for sandwiches – I walked by it while in Florence but didn’t find a day to stop in.)
- Vanilla Club (a cool speakeasy – we didn’t go to any “bars” in Florence but I heard this place is fun!)
What to Do in Florence
There are SO many things to do in Florence – a lot of the time we would just wander around the city and see what we stumbled upon. At night, so many people stay out late and the streets are filled with people.
- Michelangelo’s Lookout at sunset: an absolute MUST do. This was my most favorite moment of possibly my entire trip in Italy. Michelangelo’s Lookout is a spot where you can see the entire city of Florence from above. We packed a picnic (wine, sandwiches, chips, cookies, etc.) and hiked up to the lookout spot. There were so many people gathered together to enjoy time together and watch the beautiful sun set. I couldn’t get over the beauty…seriously breathtaking. There was also a man playing guitar the entire time we were there, which was a nice touch.
- Duomo/Florence Cathedral: The Duomo was also breathtaking and we walked by it multiple times a day. It never got old – the statues on it looked so lifelike and real to me.
- Piazza della Signoria: This was a beautiful square in front of the Palazzo Vecchio with a huge replica of David and the Fountain of Neptune. Loggia dei Lanzi is also here, which is an open air gallery with lots of statues and sculpture to look at. Palazzo Vecchio also has a sparkling water fountain that we made sure to fill up at.
- Uffizi Gallery: If you are going to Florence, you need to make time to go to Uffizi and see all of the marvelous art. We spent between 2-3 hours in the gallery on our first day in Florence, and felt like we could’ve stayed longer. It’s recommended that you buy tickets for the gallery in advance, but we waited in line without tickets and only had to wait about 30 minutes. There are so many amazing works to see, but I especially loved seeing the sculpture hall, The Birth of Venus, and a room with 3 rare Leonardo da Vinci pieces.
- Gucci Garden: I had seen pictures on Instagram from Gucci Garden so many times before, so I knew I wanted to make the time to stop by. Luckily, with a student ID, entry was free. I loved getting to look at old Gucci collections and also learn more about the brand and where it is looking to move in the future. If anything, it’s extremely Instagrammable.
- Ponte Vecchio: This is the famous “Bridge Over Water” in Florence and it truly is worth the hype. We loved sitting by the water and looking out at the city. It’s also fun to sit by the water at night and watch the sunset over the water.
