F L O R E N C E
Florence Travel Guide | Renaissance Art & Tuscan Wine & Cuisine
Both a Renaissance time capsule and a modern Italian city navigating its own mythology, Florence is a byword for Tuscany.
Transformed under the patronage of the Medici family, Florence became the cultural engine of Europe, where Western art took a human form and Western thought stepped into the modern age. It produced painters, poets, scientists, architects, and philosophers who still shape the way we see the world.
But Florence is not just a museum. It’s a living city of morning light on carved stone, espresso at the counter of your favourite espresso bar, of church bells echoing through Renaissance courtyards.
This is also a city best discovered on foot. Cross the river into the Oltrarno and you’ll find quieter streets, living workshops, and the scent of leather and wood smoke.
Stop for a glass of wine at golden hour. Watch the Arno river shift from bronze to black. See how the shadow of Brunelleschi’s dome changes by the hour.
We have an incredibly talented team of guides in Florence: take one of them with you, and watch the city unfold into something absolutely fascinating.
Here's what we think should form the core of your experience:
Art & Architecture: Brunelleschi, Botticelli, David & the Uffizi
Florence isn’t just a city with great art. In many ways, this is the blueprint for what we imagine art cities to be.
Nowhere else does the urban fabric feel so shaped by human genius across so many disciplines: architecture, sculpture, painting, poetry, philosophy.
The Uffizi and the Accademia may house its most visited treasures, but Florence’s soul is not confined to museums. There is a reason that this was once an essential stop on the historic European Grand Tour of the 17th-19th centuries.
After you’ve visited Boticelli & Caravaggio, and been to chat with Michelangelo’s David, step into the Loggia dei Lanzi on Piazza della Signoria and you’ll find bronze and marble masterpieces: Cellini’s Perseus, and Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabine Women are on open-air display, framed by the Palazzo Vecchio and the tower of Arnolfo di Cambio.
The entire square is a kind of civic theatre of power and artistry.
Inside the Palazzo Vecchio, frescoes and ornate rooms evoke the Medici’s vision of Renaissance rule. Walk a few minutes and you’re in front of Santa Croce, where the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli lie under 14th-century frescoes.
Florence’s skyline is dominated by Brunelleschi’s duomo, a feat of engineering that defines the city like few others. Climb it for panoramic views, or admire its perfect geometry from the street while bells from Giotto’s campanile echo across the rooftops.
The real wonder of Florence is how much art is encountered casually: a Donatello in a church corner, a Ghiberti relief on a door panel, a Vasari corridor glimpsed above the Arno. And it just goes on and on like this.
Florentine Cuisine: Panino, Pappardelle, Pistachio Gelato, and STEAK
Florentine cuisine is rooted in simplicity, shaped by the rhythms of the land and the city’s medieval past. This is a place where olive oil, beans, and bread still form the basis of the table, and where meat, when it appears, is taken extremely seriously.
Rich, hearty tagliatelles and pappardelles make up some of the favorite pasta mainstays in Florence, and the city is rightfully famous for its absolutely glorious panino sandwiches.
The bistecca alla fiorentina is the city’s most iconic dish: a thick-cut T-bone steak from local Chianina cattle, grilled rare and served without fuss. It’s more a ritual than a meal, often shared, and always accompanied by robust Tuscan reds.
And on that note, then there’s the wine.
While the Chianti region stretches beyond the city, Florence is at its cultural and logistical center. Enotecas and osterias often carry small-production labels you won’t easily find elsewhere, which is ideal for exploring the structured reds of Chianti Classico, the smooth finesse of Brunello, or the less well-known reds of Carmignano.
Equally rooted in tradition are ribollita, a hearty bread and vegetable soup originally made from leftovers, and crostini neri topped with chicken liver pâté: humble but deeply satisfying.
Florence’s markets, like Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio or the bustling halls of Mercato Centrale, reveal a more intimate side of the city’s food culture. This is where locals shop for pecorino, for seasonal produce, for wild porcini mushrooms and truffles in the right months.
You’ll hear less English here, and you’ll eat better. Quote us on that.
Florence is also an excellent place to explore Italy’s gelato tradition. Some of the best artisanal gelaterie in the country are here, using milk from local dairies and seasonal fruits in small-batch production.
Look for natural colors (hint: gelato should not be heaped up, and pistacchio should not look nuclear green), muted tones, and understated signage: these are often the true masters.
The local habit of a late afternoon aperitivo also thrives here, as it does in Milan: a spritz or Negroni with olives and salumi in a sun-drenched piazza remains one of travel’s most reliable pleasures.
Perfumes, Leather, Artisans & Shopping
Florence’s locally-produced offerings are legendary. Some favorites to consider include perfumes, in particular from the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, the oldest pharmacy in the world.
Dating to 1221, Santa Maria Novella still grows the herbs used in its beautiful perfumes and medicinal concoctions in its private gardens.
Perhaps Florence's most famous product is the locally tanned leather, still manufactured with the same sustainable recipes dating back into the dawn of time. In recent years, it’s become more and more difficult to weed out the inferior offerings peddled as Florentine leather from the real thing.
And then there are the artisans of Oltrarno, where hand-stamped metalworking for Hèrmes, Gucci, and Prada is done in small workshops, and handmade paper, jewelry, and many other handmade marvels are magically conjured up by craftspeople of all sorts.
All the more reason to take one of our expert private tour guides with you, who can also help you navigate Florence’s artisanal shops, and even open up the world of antiques as well.