Discover Florence

Why visit Florence

Florence (Firenze) is the small Tuscan city that effectively invented the Renaissance — a 600-year cultural detonation funded by the Medici banking family that fundamentally changed how Europeans saw themselves, the world, and the divine. The Duomo's pink-and-green-and-white marble facade, topped by Brunelleschi's 1436 dome (the largest masonry dome in the world, an engineering miracle still not fully understood), is the city's defining silhouette — climb the 463 steps to the lantern for an extraordinary panorama. The Uffizi Gallery (book months in advance) holds Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus' and 'Primavera', Leonardo's 'Annunciation', and the world's best collection of early Renaissance paintings. The Accademia houses Michelangelo's 5.17m 'David' (1504). Walk across the Ponte Vecchio — the medieval bridge of jewellers' shops — to the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens. Beyond the headline trio, hit the moving Brancacci Chapel for Masaccio's frescoes, the brilliant Bargello sculpture museum, and climb to Piazzale Michelangelo at sunset for the panorama. Eat bistecca alla fiorentina, pappa al pomodoro, and lampredotto street-food sandwiches; drink Chianti Classico from the hills 20km south.