Florence, Italy, is a location steeped in travel lore. It’s a lot of other things too. It was definitely not what I expected it to be.
The last time that I went back to America, I joked that I was going to find an Air B-N-B by the Duomo and spend a month in Florence just doing nothing. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Having finally made it to the city, I’m very happy I didn’t. Florence is certainly not what it’s hyped up to be in the travel shows. Okay, that’s not true. It is all the things travel shows say it is, it just has a slow burn effect. It’s a city that takes a while to figure out.
At first glance, Florence is close, loud, and overrun with tourists. After you settling a little bit, it becomes somewhat less oppressive. The central part of Florence is definitely close. The city is old, and not meant for modern life. The streets are small and the sidewalks, where there are sidewalks, are also small. this closeness creates congestion, and Florence definitely has it. That being said, after a day or so you’ll generally figure out how to avoid the crowds. The city is super duper full of tourist buses and packaged tour groups. Fortunately, if you’re a backpacker, all those tour buses leave for somewhere else at about the same time. The fringes of the day are where the city quiets down and becomes something else. That Florence is definitely worth exploring.
Looking out over the rooftops of Florence you can still feel the age of the place, unlike at street level where the main areas are fancy storefronts.
All the major attractions are within easy walking distance of one another. This makes staying in the city center area quite practical, even with increased prices. Walking the city is also pretty easy, once you get your bearings. If you use the Duomo and the river as your major guideposts, you can generally get around unbothered by a lot of apps and maps. The old tourist section of the place simply isn’t as big as you think it is. I was there for three days, and the last day I didn’t use a map or an app all day. (It was actually the best day of the stop.)
General Florence Info.
If Florence is one thing, it is a city of museums and attractions. between the Medici and the Renaissance, you will literally trip over places to visit. Sadly, this means that you’re buying tickets for most places online.
There are two main options for navigating the misery of ticket buying in Florence, going to either the Italy Museums website (mentioned in previous posts) or, in some circumstances, using the Firenze card.
The general Italy-wide website for museum tickets in the city of Florence is Florence-Museums.com. I have the same thoughts about it as I did about the Venice-Museums.com section. It is a massive pain in the ass and frankly a way for people to get out of doing their jobs. Sadly, it is what is going to happen to you in basically all of Italy. You just have to sigh, and deal with it. You’ll need to make an account, and give up a bunch of personal information to get anywhere.
Past the misery of buying tickets online and organizing your life around some computerized timetable, there is also the Firenze card at Firenzecard.it. If you’re an avid reader of this blog you’ll know that I am usually not into city cards and tourist passes in general. they tend to be bloated with crap you simply don’t want. The Firenze card is kind of a different monster. The card works on top of and around the website booking situation. For the major institutions like the Uffizi and the Duomo, it will help with getting you better times and express entrance. In some places, it will get you general entrance. there are a pile of smaller museum, churches, and the like that are less traveled than the major stops. In those places, you can show your Firenze Card and get free entry. Just look for the Firenze Card sign when you approach the ticket reception areas, and see if the card will get you in. I stopped a bunch of places simply because I was walking by and saw the card sign outside. This card actually is worth what you pay for it.
Getting In and Out of Florence.
There are a pile of ways to get to Florence. You can show up by plane, by train, drive in or take a tourist bus. All of them probably have their merits. I chose to hit the town by train, as I came south from Venice. My EURail pass (which is now merged with Interrail) covered all of Italy, and made getting around super easy. The central train station in Florence is located on the west side of the city (the same general side as the airport, though the airport is farther out of town), kind of on the edge of the old city center area. Unless your hotel is across the river or you have a lot of luggage, the walk to most of the hotel zone from the train station is pretty reasonable.
One thing that Florence does have is a huge train station. And, it’s centrally located. You can train in and walk to your hotel. Or, you can catch the bus at the stand outside.
One more thought about the train station itself. I had two big train legs after leaving Florence. One from Siena to Salerno, and one from Salerno to Rome. I upgraded my general ticket to get reservations on the high speed trains for both trips while I was in Florence. the service center at the train station is full of super nice people, and they speak multiple languages.
The Headquarters
The Hotel Cardinal of Florence is where I decided to hang my hat. It’s located on the top floor of a three story building, and no, there is no elevator. You have to take the stairs. The hotel was located on a little one way side street called Borgo Pinti about 20-minutes of walking from the train station. I was hot and dehydrated when I did it, and the walk sucked, as did the climbing of the stairs.
The hotel itself, was actually pretty nice. It was clean and priced right. The staff was helpful and friendly. I did enjoy my stay there. I found the hotel on Travelocity.com, while I was in Venice. It looked like it was in the right part of town and not terribly far from the major sites. Both assumptions turned out to be true.
One of the truths of travel is that not every day is sunny with blue sky. A lot of my time in Florence was just like this, sunny one minute and raining the next.
I found this behind my door when I got in my room. Hope that whoever was there before me remembered their insulin. (I left the note there … for the next person.)
Florence City Highlights and Lowlights
Florence is one of those places that can be anything you want it to be. Most people see whatever the tourist company wants them to see. Many others follow the maps in the travel books and “Do The Must See Stops”, then they leave. If you take a little time to look around without an agenda, the city offers you something more than the prepackaged stuff.
First off, below is a taste of what you will want to see when you do the must see events. They are all world class and should be done. None will be a waste of your time.
The private chapel inside the Medici Palace. It’s amazing what people can do with unlimited funds.
Inside the Basilica of San Lorenzo. This was the coolest thing I saw all the time I was in the city.
The cloister at San Lorenzo. I have to admit that I always enjoy walking through a cloister.
A close up of one of the tapestries inside the Hall of the Three Hundred. (Spoiler alert: If you go there looking for a clue from a Dan Brown book, it’s not there.)
The Hall of the Three Hundred, in the Palazzo Vecchio. It is very cool.
Dante death mask. You can’t go anywhere in the city without running into this guy.
A view of the Duomo, from the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio. The view of the city is spectacular.
The doors of the baptistery, west side of the Duomo. (They’re fakes. The real ones are in the Duomo museum.)
Dante’s house, in central Florence. It is shockingly small.
The Uffizi Shit Show
Okay, if you go back up to the part about having to buy all of your museum tickets through an internet site, and then compound upon it the fact that the Uffizi is one of the most visited places ever, Then …….. I have nothing good to say about the experience of visiting the Uffizi Gallery. Nothing.
The art is spectacular. The architecture is old world. The business of trying to get into the place makes all of that a sad reflection on wasted time. First, the gallery needs to learn how to make decent directional signs and learn what the term customer service means. There were multiple lines that were hundreds of people long with rude attendants that wouldn’t answer anyone’s questions. Trying to figure out where to be so you could get in was impossible. most people ended up waiting in one line to end up waiting in another. This, on top of the fact that your ticket gives you a 30-minute window to enter, caused everyone I spoke with extreme agitation.
Seriously, whoever runs the gallery needs to fire everyone in their ticketing and entry staff and hire people that have some customer service skills. It is the absolute worst museum experience, from start to finish, that I have ever had, anywhere in the world. Ever.
Past that, I will give you the two crowning examples of mastery I found from trudging through the misery of the experience.
The Birth of Venus, by Botticelli. If you have seen other master works, in other galleries of the world, you’ll be surprised by how big the painting is.
The Head of Medusa, by Caravaggio. The picture doesn’t do it justice. It’s painted on a battle shield.
Unless the gallery is part of some pre-packaged experience you invested in, I say don’t bother. There are much better things to be had in the city of Florence, with none of the problems.
Florence City Wandering
Just walking around the city itself is a much better experience. It also reinforces the idea of exploration and differing cultures. Kind of the main reason that people travel to begin with.
The majority of the city is a labyrinth of narrow streets, with narrow side walks. You want to pay attention when you’re out and about, so you don’t get clipped.
I’m continuously surprised by finding working payphones in random places. Always like to see things hanging on in a fast changing world.
The top of the Duomo is a landmark that you can see from a great many places. It’s an easy reference point when you’re trying to figure out which way to go.
The Ponte Vecchio, as seen from the Ponte Alle Grazie. You can’t really get a good picture of it from the banks of the river.
Florence Thoughts
I’m happy I went to Florence. It took a day or two, but I enjoyed the experience very much. The city is a staple of renaissance culture from beginning to end. Once you leave the crowds behind and start exploring the side streets, you’ll embrace the city’s charms. In the end, I say go to Florence. Go off-peak and give it a little time to get over itself, then you’ll be fine.
A good, cold beer at O’Hara’s Pub, on Borgo Pinti. It was a nice little place.
The real idea of travel, for me, is finding the new and different. Going to places unlike what you are used to is the essence of the new experience most travelers chase. I say do it. Get out there. See what there is to see. Look at the paintings. Drink the beer. Don’t over think it along the way. Seriously, go.
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