Insight Guides Pocket Florence (Travel Guide eBook)
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About this ebook
Perfect day itineraries and top travel tips in a pocket-sized package.
Plan your trip, plan perfect days and discover how to get around - this pocket-sized guide is a convenient, quick-reference companion to discovering fun and interesting things to do and see in Florence, from top tourist attractions like the Duomo, the Accademia, San Lorenzo and the Uffizi, to hidden gems, including Museo di San Marco.
Compact, concise and packed with essential information about Where to Go and What to Do, this is an ideal on-the-move pocket travel guide when you're exploring Florence.
- Cultural: delve into the city's rich heritage and get to know its modern-day life and people
- Inspirational: discover where to go and what to do, highlighted with stunning photography
- Practical: get around with ease with a free pull-out map featuring key attractions
- Informative: plan your visit with an A to Z of advice on everything from transport to tipping
- Inventive design makes for an engaging, easy-reading experience
- Covers: Piazza del Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, the Bargello and Santa Croce, Piazza della Repubblica, San Lorenzo, San Marco, Santa Maria Novella and the Oltrarno.
About Insight Guides: Insight Guides is a pioneer of full-colour guide books, with almost 50 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps, as well as phrase books, picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.
Insight Guides
Insight Guides wherever possible uses local experts who provide insider know-how and share their love and knowledge of the destination.
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Insight Guides Pocket Florence (Travel Guide eBook) - Insight Guides
How To Use This E-Book
Getting Around the e-Book
This Pocket Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration and planning advice for your visit to Florence, and is also the perfect on-the-ground companion for your trip.
The guide begins with our selection of Top 10 Attractions, plus a Perfect Itinerary feature to help you plan unmissable experiences. The Introduction and History chapters paint a vivid cultural portrait of Florence, and the Where to Go chapter gives a complete guide to all the sights worth visiting. You will find ideas for activities in the What to Do section, while the Eating Out chapter describes the local cuisine and gives listings of the best restaurants. The Travel Tips offer practical information to help you plan your trip. Finally, there are carefully selected hotel listings.
In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.
Maps
All key attractions and sights in Florence are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map], tap once to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.
Images
You’ll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Florence. Simply double-tap an image to see it in full-screen.
About Insight Guides
Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.
Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.
© 2019 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd
Table of Contents
Florence’s Top 10 Attractions
Top Attraction #1
Top Attraction #2
Top Attraction #3
Top Attraction #4
Top Attraction #5
Top Attraction #6
Top Attraction #7
Top Attraction #8
Top Attraction #9
Top Attraction #10
A Perfect Day In Florence
Introduction
Trials and Tribulations
A Brief History
From the Carolingians to the Republic
Guelphs and Ghibellines
Evolution of Florentine society
Florence’s golden age
The Renaissance
The Medici
Bonfire of the Vanities
The 18th and 19th centuries
Early 20th century
World War II to the Present Day
Historical Landmarks
Where To Go
Piazza del Duomo
The Duomo
The Campanile
The Baptistery
Loggia del Bigallo
Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
Piazza della Signoria
Palazzo Vecchio
Loggia dei Lanzi
The Gucci Garden
The Uffizi
The Museo Galileo
The Bargello and Santa Croce
The Bargello
Badia Fiorentina
Piazza Santa Croce
Cappella dei Pazzi
Casa Buonarroti
The Horne Museum
Piazza della Repubblica
Via Tornabuoni and Piazza Santa Trinità
Palazzo Davanzati and Mercato Nuovo
Orsanmichele
San Lorenzo
The Medici Chapels
The Mercato Centrale and Palazzo Riccardi
San Marco
Galleria dell’Accademia
Piazza della Santissima Annunziata
The Foundling Hospital
Museo Archeologico and Tempio Ebraico
Santa Maria Novella
Santa Maria Novella
Museum and Cloisters
Museo Marino Marini and Cappella Rucellai
Ognissanti
The Oltrarno
Ponte Vecchio
Palazzo Pitti
Palatine Gallery and Royal Apartments
The Modern Art, Costume and Medici Treasures Museums
The Garden and the Porcelain Museum
Giardino Bardini
Santo Spirito
Santa Maria del Carmine
Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato al Monte
Excursions
Fiesole
Piazza Mino
Between Fiesole and Florence
Pisa
Siena
Piazza del Campo
Piazza del Duomo
Santa Maria della Scala
San Gimignano
What To Do
Shopping
Fashion
Antiques and Reproductions
Ceramics
Gold and Silver
Inlays and Mosaics
Leather
Perfumes
Street Markets
Entertainment
Theatre and Music
Nightlife and Cinema
Sports
Children’s Florence
Calendar of Events
Eating Out
Where and When to Eat
What to Eat
Antipasti
Primi
Secondi
Contorni
Dolci
What to Drink
Reading the Menu
To Help You Order…
…and Read the Menu
Restaurants
Centro Storico (Centre)
Santa Croce (East)
San Lorenzo and San Marco (North)
Santa Maria Novella (West)
Oltrarno (South)
A–Z Travel Tips
A
Accommodation
Airports
B
Bicycle Hire
Budgeting for your Trip
C
Car Hire (See also Driving)
Climate
Clothing
Crime and Safety
D
Disabled Travellers
Driving
E
Electricity
Embassies and Consulates
Emergencies
G
Getting There
Guides and Tours
H
Health and Medical Care (see also Emergencies)
L
Language
LGBTQ travellers
M
Maps
Media
Money
O
Opening Hours
P
Police
Post Offices
Public Holidays
R
Religion
T
Telephones
Time Differences
Tipping
Toilets
Tourist Information
Transport
V
Visa and Entry requirements
W
Websites and Internet Access
Y
Youth Hostels
Recommended Hotels
Centro Storico (centre)
Santa Croce (East)
San Lorenzo and San Marco (North)
Santa Maria Novella (West)
Oltrarno (South)
Fiesole
Florence’s Top 10 Attractions
Top Attraction #1
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Santa Croce
This glorious church is full of artistic treasures. For more information, click here.
Dreamstime.com
Top Attraction #2
Getty Images
Palazzo Pitti and Giardino di Boboli
A sumptuous palace and delightful pleasure-garden that once belonged to the Medicis. For more information, click here or click here..
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Top Attraction #3
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The Duomo
Brunelleschi’s magnificent dome towers above the city; equally impressive is Giotto’s graceful campanile. For more information, click here.
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Top Attraction #4
Getty Images
The Accademia
The gallery’s star exhibit is Michelangelo’s David, perhaps the most famous piece of sculpture in the Western world. For more information, click here.
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Top Attraction #5
Getty Images
Ponte Vecchio
The beautiful medieval bridge still retains the small shops of its artisans. For more information, click here.
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Top Attraction #6
Getty Images
The Uffizi
Home to the world’s greatest collection of Italian Renaissance paintings. For more information, click here.
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Top Attraction #7
Shutterstock
Santa Maria Novella
The cavernous church was designed by Dominican architects in the mid-13th century. For more information, click here.
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Top Attraction #8
Getty Images
San Marco
The frescoed dormitory of the monastery is the location of some of Fra Angelico’s finest works. For more information, click here.
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Top Attraction #9
iStock
San Lorenzo
The first Renaissance church and home to the glorious Medici Chapels. For more information, click here.
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Top Attraction #10
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Cappella Brancacci
The site of Masaccio’s sublime frescoes. For more information, click here.
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A Perfect Day In Florence
9.00am
Breakfast
Start your day with a cappuccino and cornetto at Caffè Scudieri on the Piazza di San Giovanni (19r). This smart, long-established café/pasticceria is right in the heart of Florence, in the pedestrianised Piazza.
10.00am
The Duomo
Amble around the Piazza, admiring the Baptistery, Campanile (bell tower) and the iconic Duomo (cathedral). Those with stamina can tackle the 463 stairs spiralling to the top of the cathedral’s dome to admire Brunelleschi’s engineering genius and the fabulous views.
11.30am
Via de’Tornabuoni
Take the Via Roma south of the Baptistery for Piazza della Repubblica, home to some of the city’s most elegant cafés. Cross the square for Via Strozzi and at the end turn left onto Via de’ Tornabuoni for the lavish flagship stores of Armani, Gucci and Prada, to name just a few.
1.00pm
Mercato Nuovo
At Piazza Santa Trinità, turn left onto Via Porta, passing halfway along the Palazzo Davanzati. At the end on the right is the Mercato Nuovo; built for the sale of silk and gold, the market is now devoted to leather and souvenirs. Rub the snout of the bronze boar to guarantee your return to Florence and maybe brave a tripe sandwich from the popular stand at the market’s southwest corner.
1.30pm
Piazza art
Since medieval times this expansive piazza has been a hub of city life. Overlooking the piazza is the towering Palazzo Vecchio, former ancestral home of the Medici. Admire the array of open-air sculpture, check out the Gucci Garden, or sit at one of the people-watching cafés. For a juicy bistecca a la fiorentina and a glass of Chianti, head for nearby Frescobaldi (Via dei Magazzini).
3.00pm
Ponte Vecchio
Head south for the river, passing the famous Uffizi Gallery, repository of the world’s finest collection of Renaissance art. At the River Arno turn right for Ponte Vecchio, symbol of Florence and its oldest bridge. Goldsmiths and jewellers have been selling their wares here since 1593.
3.30pm
Boboli
From the bridge follow the flow to the Palazzo Pitti. The vast palace is home to five museums and could occupy a whole day or more. For now just explore the lovely Giardino di Boboli, the formal gardens dotted with loggias, cool fountains, grottos and myriad statues.
8.00pm
Dinner time
Make for Piazza Santo Spirito, just northwest of Palazzo