Florence is the cradle of the Renaissance, a compact Tuscan city where Michelangelo's David, Brunelleschi's dome, and the Uffizi Gallery sit within easy walking distance of each other. Few cities on earth pack this much art, architecture, and culinary tradition into such a walkable, human-scaled historic center.
Florence (Firenze) sits in the heart of Tuscany along the Arno River, and for centuries it was the cultural capital of the Western world — bankrolling Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Galileo in a single golden era. Today the city rewards travelers with world-class museums, medieval piazzas, leather markets, and trattorias serving bistecca alla Fiorentina and Chianti Classico. Its UNESCO-listed historic center is compact enough to explore on foot, yet deep enough to absorb a week without exhausting its treasures. Beyond the city, Tuscany's rolling hills, hilltop towns, and vineyards make Florence one of Europe's finest bases for day trips.
Florence holds more UNESCO-listed art and architecture per square kilometer than almost anywhere on earth, and its Tuscan food and wine culture makes every meal an event. It is the rare city where a single afternoon walk takes you past a Michelangelo, a Botticelli, and one of the world's most beautiful cathedrals.
April to June and September to October offer the best combination of mild weather, manageable crowds, and full museum access. July and August are hot and extremely crowded; December through February is quiet, cheaper, and atmospheric but some attractions have reduced hours. Read our best time to visit guide.
Florence's Centro Storico is the UNESCO-listed historic core of the city, covering 505 hectares within the line of the former 14th-century walls. It contains the Duomo, the Uffizi, Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio, and one of the highest concentrations of Renaissance art and architecture anywhere on earth. Staying or spending serious time here puts you at the center of everything — at a price, in terms of crowds, noise, and cost.
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Oltrarno sits on the south bank of the Arno, separated from Florence's tourist-heavy center by the river but connected to it by some of the city's most iconic bridges. It encompasses the quarters of Santo Spirito, San Frediano, and San Niccolò, each with its own personality, and together they form the most genuinely residential corner of central Florence.
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San Lorenzo is Florence's market district, sitting immediately north of the Duomo between the train station and the Accademia. It combines some of the city's most significant Medici-era monuments with the chaotic energy of its main food market and a sprawling outdoor leather bazaar.
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San Marco is Florence's academic and artistic quarter, positioned just north of the Duomo between the university campus and some of the city's most significant museums. It moves at a different pace than the tourist-saturated centro storico, shaped by students, locals on errands, and serious art seekers rather than souvenir hunters.
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Santa Croce is the southeast corner of Florence's historic center, built around one of Italy's most important churches and one of the city's liveliest main squares. It mixes serious cultural weight with a neighborhood feel that survives the tourist trade, thanks to its local markets, independent restaurants, and student-heavy nightlife east of the basilica.
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Santa Maria Novella is where most visitors enter Florence, stepping off the train into a neighborhood that balances Renaissance grandeur with the practical energy of a transit hub. From the marble-faced basilica on its square to the designer storefronts of Via de' Tornabuoni, the area covers a wider range of experience than its reputation as a 'station district' suggests. It is well-connected, walkable to the historic centre, and holds genuine architectural and cultural weight of its own.
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Three days in Florence is enough to cover the iconic Duomo complex, the Uffizi Gallery, Michelangelo's David, and the atmospheric Oltrarno district south of the Arno. This itinerary is built around realistic timing, advance booking requirements, and genuine local insight — not just a list of landmarks.
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Florence's churches are not mere places of worship — they are the greatest concentration of Renaissance art and architecture on earth. This guide covers the essential basilicas, chapels, and hilltop sanctuaries, with practical details on tickets, timing, and what makes each one worth your time.
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Florence holds more masterpieces per square kilometer than almost anywhere on earth. This ranked guide covers the city's finest museums, from blockbuster galleries to intimate palaces, with practical advice on what each one is worth and how to book smart.
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Florence rewards visitors differently depending on when you arrive. This guide breaks down every season by weather, crowd levels, and value so you can choose the right time for your trip, whether you're chasing quiet museums, grape harvest season, or budget flights in January.
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Florence rewards those who look up, climb up, and cross the river. This guide covers the city's finest viewpoints, from the famous terraces of Piazzale Michelangelo to the quieter hilltop gardens and climbable towers that frame the Duomo from every angle.
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The Chianti wine region sits less than an hour south of Florence, but reaching the best estates requires planning. This guide covers the SR222 route, the top wineries worth booking, guided tour prices, and the seasonal realities that most itineraries gloss over.
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Florence sits at the heart of Tuscany, which makes it one of the best bases in all of Italy for exploring the surrounding region. This guide covers the top day trips from Florence, with real travel times, price ranges, and the practical take about which destinations deserve a full day and which are better as a quick half-day escape.
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Cinque Terre is one of the most rewarding day trips from Florence, but the logistics trip up a surprising number of visitors. This guide covers every step: which trains to take, how much to budget, which villages to prioritize, and whether a day trip is actually worth the travel time.
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The Florence to Venice train is a major intercity route, with direct high-speed services departing roughly every 10 minutes at peak times. This guide covers journey times, ticket prices, how to book, and whether a day trip from Florence is worth it.
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Florence is one of the world's most walkable cities, with nearly every major landmark within a compact historic centre. This guide covers the best walking routes, clear pricing breakdowns, seasonal tips, and how to avoid the most common tour mistakes.
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Florence rewards families who plan smart. From free museum entry for children under 18 to gelato-making classes and rooftop climbs, this guide covers everything you need: timing, logistics, money-saving tips, and practical advice on what actually works with kids in tow.
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Florence is one of the most art-rich cities in the world, and a surprising amount of it costs nothing. From Renaissance churches and open-air sculpture to rooftop panoramas and local markets, this guide covers the best genuinely free experiences in the city.
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Florence is one of Europe's most walkable cities, but knowing how its bus network, tram lines, ZTL restrictions, and airport connections work will save you time, money, and frustration. This guide covers everything from the €1.70 airport tram to navigating the historic center on foot.
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Florence rewards those who look past the obvious. From Masaccio's revolutionary frescoes in a quiet Oltrarno chapel to a 14th-century merchant's house frozen in time, these are the experiences that make the city feel genuinely yours. This guide covers the art, gardens, markets, and viewpoints that most visitors never find.
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Florence holds more Michelangelo originals than any other city on earth. This guide covers every sculpture, painting, and architectural work you can see in person — with exact locations, current ticket prices, booking advice, and the common mistakes that trip up first-time visitors.
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Florence packs more world-class art and architecture into a single square mile than almost anywhere on earth. This guide gives you a realistic, expertly sequenced 24-hour itinerary with current prices, booking advice, seasonal tips, and honest trade-offs so you spend your time wisely.
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The journey from Rome to Florence is one of Italy's most traveled routes, and getting it right saves you hours and money. This guide breaks down every realistic option — high-speed train, budget bus, and why flying rarely makes sense — with practical advice on booking, timing, and what to expect when you arrive.
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Florence has been producing world-class leather and fashion for centuries. This guide covers every major shopping area, from artisan workshops near Santa Croce to the weekly Cascine market, with clear price breakdowns and practical advice on spotting quality goods.
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Florence packs more world-class art, architecture, and history into a walkable city center than almost anywhere on earth. This guide cuts through the noise to tell you exactly what to do, when to do it, and what to skip, with practical advice on crowds, costs, and logistics.
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Florence takes its food seriously, and the gap between eating well and eating badly is surprisingly wide. This guide covers the essential dishes, the best markets, realistic prices, and which neighborhoods to seek out for an honest Florentine meal.
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Choosing where to stay in Florence shapes your entire trip. This guide breaks down every major neighborhood by location, price, atmosphere, and convenience so you can book with confidence, whether you're visiting for three days or two weeks.
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Perched on a hillside just northeast of Florence, the Fiesole Roman Theatre is one of the best-preserved ancient performance venues in Tuscany. Built between the 1st century BC and 1st century AD, the site includes the theatre's original cavea, Roman thermal baths, and a temple — all within a single archaeological park.
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The Lungarni are the named embankment streets running along both banks of the Arno River through central Florence. Free to walk at any hour, they offer the city's best unmediated views of the Ponte Vecchio, the surrounding hills, and the slow rhythm of Florentine daily life. No ticket, no queue, no reservation required.
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The climb inside Brunelleschi's Dome is one of the most physically rewarding experiences in Florence. 463 steps through narrow brick passages deliver you to a panoramic terrace above the city's rooftops, with views that no other vantage point in the historic centre can match. Here is everything a traveler needs to plan it well.
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The Florence Baptistery, officially the Battistero di San Giovanni, is one of the oldest and most significant religious buildings in Italy. Standing directly in front of Florence Cathedral, it is famous for Ghiberti's gilded bronze 'Gates of Paradise' and a breathtaking interior ceiling covered in Byzantine mosaics. This guide covers what to expect, when to visit, and how to make the most of your time here.
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The Cattedrale Metropolitana di Santa Maria del Fiore is the geographic and spiritual heart of Florence. Free to enter, extraordinary to stand inside, and far more layered than its famous exterior suggests. Here is everything you need to plan a worthwhile visit.
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Scattered across Florence's historic center, the Buchette del Vino are tiny stone-framed wine hatches built into Renaissance palazzo walls in the 16th century. Free to explore, still active at select venues, and one of the city's most quietly fascinating street-level details.
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Standing 84.7 metres above Piazza del Duomo, Giotto's Campanile iserious visitors with a rare, close-level view of Brunelleschi's dome that no other viewpoint in Florence can match. The climb rewards serious visitors with a rare, close-level view of Brunelleschi's dome that no other viewpoint in Florence can match.
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The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo holds the original sculptures, reliefs, and tools behind Florence's Duomo complex, including Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise and Michelangelo's unfinished Pietà. Reopened after a major 2015 renovation, it is a major and highly significant cathedral museum, yet consistently less crowded than the Uffizi or Accademia.
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Housed in a medieval palazzo a short walk from the Uffizi, Museo Galileo holds one of the world's finest collections of historic scientific instruments, including two of Galileo Galilei's original telescopes. It is consistently overlooked in favour of Florence's art museums, which makes the experience quieter and more immersive than almost anything else in the historic centre.
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Palazzo Davanzati is one of Florence's most underappreciated museums: a genuine medieval merchant house on Via Porta Rossa where you can walk through furnished rooms, examine original frescoes, and understand daily life in 14th-century Florence. Unlike the city's grand art galleries, this is a domestic space, intimate in scale and startling in detail.
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Palazzo Strozzi is one of Florence's most striking architectural achievements and its most ambitious contemporary art venue. Built between 1489 and 1538eum circuit. in the heart of the historic centre now hosts internationally acclaimed exhibitions that draw visitors well beyond the usual museum circuit.
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Palazzo Vecchio has stood at the center of Florentine civic life since 1299, functioning simultaneously as a working city hall and one of the city's most important museums. From the frescoed Salone dei Cinquecento to the 94-meter Arnolfo Tower, it rewards visitors who go beyond the famous square outside.
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Piazza della Signoria is the historic political centre of Florence, an L-shaped square that has witnessed the rise of the Medici, the burning of Savonarola, and the Republic's finest hours. Flanked by Palazzo Vecchio and the Loggia dei Lanzi, it holds some of the most significant Renaissance sculpture in the world, all under open sky and free to enter.
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Ponte Vecchio is Florence's oldest and most photographed bridge, spanning the Arno River since 1345. Free to cross at any hour, it carries a corridor of jewellers' shops above three low medieval arches, with the secret Vasari Corridor running overhead. Here is everything you need to know before you go.
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The Galleria degli Uffizi holds one of the world's most important collections of Renaissance painting, from Botticelli's Birth of Venus to Caravaggio's Medusa. Knowing how to navigate it makes the difference between an exhausting shuffle and a genuinely moving experience.
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The Vasari Corridor is an approximately 750-metre elevated walkway built in 1565 to allow the Medici rulers to move privately between the seat of government and their private palace. Reopened on 21 December 2024 after years of restoration, it now combines architectural drama, panoramic city views, and a substantial art collection into one of Florence's most distinctive experiences.
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Tucked into the hillside above the Oltrarno neighborhood, the Giardino Bardini is a 4-hectare historic garden offering panoramic views over Florence, a famous wisteria pergola, and a far more intimate atmosphere than its famous neighbor, the Boboli Gardens. Open daily (except the first and last Monday of each month) from April 1 through September 30, it rewards visitors who time their arrival carefully.
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On the south side of the Arno, away from the crowds of the Duomo district, the Basilica di Santo Spirito stands as one of Florence's most complete Renaissance interiors. Designed by Filippo Brunelleschi in the late 1430s, it offers serene architecture, a Michelangelo crucifix, and a surrounding piazza that feels more Florentine than touristic.
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Spread across 30 hectares behind Palazzo Pitti in the Oltrarno, the Boboli Gardens are one of Italy's finest examples of Italian Renaissance and Baroque garden design. Laid out from the mid-16th century as a private Medici retreat, the grounds combine terraced lawns, shaded groves, monumental fountains, and open-air sculpture across a hillside with sweeping views over Florence.
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The Brancacci Chapel inside Santa Maria del Carmine holds one of the most significant fresco cycles in Western art. Painted by Masolino, Masaccio, and Filippino Lippi between 1424 and 1481, these images of St Peter's life transformed how painters understood light, space, and the human figure. Visits are intimate by design, capped at 30 people for 30 minutes, making advance booking essential.
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Perched on the Boboli hill above Palazzo Pitti, Forte di Belvedere is a 16th-century Medici fortress offering some of the most expansive views over Florence's rooftops and hills. Open seasonally for outdoor exhibitions and panoramic walks, it rewards the uphill effort with a perspective on the city that few tourists bother to find.
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Perched on the hillside below Piazzale Michelangelo in the Oltrarno district, the Giardino delle Rose is a free, terraced public garden designed by Giuseppe Poggi in the 1860s. It combines sweeping views over Florence's rooftops with seasonal rose displays, shaded paths, and a noticeably calmer atmosphere than the crowded viewpoint above.
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Perched on the hills south of the Arno, Piazzale Michelangelo is a 19th-century public terrace that frames the entire Florence skyline in a single glance. Admission is free and the square never closes, but timing your visit makes all the difference between a crowd-free revelation and a tourist scrum.
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Built for a Florentine banker and expanded by the Medici into a dynastic seat, Palazzo Pitti is the largest museum complex in Florence. Spread across a series of interconnected galleries and terraced gardens, it rewards visitors who come prepared and leave the crowds behind.
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Perched on Monte alle Croci above the Oltrarno, the Basilica of San Miniato al Monte is one of the finest surviving examples of Florentine Romanesque architecture. Entry is free, the views over Florence are exceptional, and the atmosphere inside is unlike anything in the city centre below.
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The Basilica di San Lorenzo is Florence's oldest major church and the burial ground of the Medici dynasty. Built to Brunelleschi's design in the 15th century, it holds some of the finest Renaissance architecture and art in Italy, plus the separate Medici Chapels complex. This guide covers what to expect inside, how long to spend, and how to visit without wasting time.
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The Medici Chapels are the official mausoleum of the Medici dynasty, housing Michelangelo's most powerful funerary sculptures inside one of Florence's most underestimated museum spaces. Two distinct chapels, two entirely different moods, and one of the most concentrated displays of Renaissance genius in Europe.
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Mercato Centrale is Florence's largest and most celebrated covered market, housed in a cast-iron and glass hall dating to 1874. The ground floor runs as a traditional food market Monday through Saturday mornings, while the upper level operates as a modern food hall open daily until midnight. Entry is free.
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Built for Cosimo de' Medici in 1444, Palazzo Medici Riccardi is where the Renaissance was quietly administered. The chapel frescoes alone justify the visit. Here is what to know before you go.
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San Lorenzo Market combines a working 19th-century iron-and-glass food hall, a buzzing upper-floor food court open until midnight, and a sprawling street market selling leather goods and textiles. Free to enter, central to navigate, and genuinely useful whether you're buying lunch or a wallet.
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The Convent of San Marco is one of Florence's most unusual museums: a 15th-century Dominican convent where every monk's cell was frescoed by Fra Angelico. Built for Cosimo de' Medici between 1437 and 1443, it later sheltered the firebrand preacher Savonarola. The collection is intimate, serious, and unlike anything else in the city.
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The Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence holds Michelangelo's original David alongside a remarkable collection of Renaissance paintings and unfinished sculptures. This guide tells you exactly what to expect, when to go, and whether the experience lives up to the queue outside.
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Built in 1419 by Filippo Brunelleschi, the Ospedale degli Innocenti is widely considered the first purpose-built Renaissance structure in Europe. Today it houses the Innocenti Museum, displaying art collected over centuries to benefit the children who once lived here, all overlooking one of Florence's most harmonious squares.
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Piazza della Santissima Annunziata is the closest Florence comes to a complete, unaltered Renaissance urban space. Flanked by arcaded loggias, anchored by a bronze Medici horseman, and overlooked by Europe's oldest orphanage, it rewards visitors who take the time to read its layers carefully. Entry is free, and while the piazza is generally accessible as a public square, official city hours are 8:00–18:00 Monday to Friday and 8:00–14:00 on Saturday.
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The Basilica di Santa Croce is one of the largest Franciscan churches in the world and the final resting place of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli. Set on one of Florence's most atmospheric piazzas, it combines monumental Gothic architecture with extraordinary Renaissance art and nearly eight centuries of Italian history.
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Founded in 1950 inside the monastery of the Basilica di Santa Croce, the Scuola del Cuoio is one of the few places in Florence where visitors can watch skilled artisans craft leather goods by hand, browse the workshop, and shop directly from the makers, all without paying an entrance fee.
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Housed in Florence's oldest public building, the Bargello National Museum contains one of the world's finest collections of Renaissance sculpture, including landmark works by Donatello, Michelangelo, and Verrocchio. It draws far fewer crowds than the Uffizi, making it one of the most rewarding museum visits in the city.
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The Mercato di Sant'Ambrogio has been feeding Florence's eastern neighborhoods since its cast-iron hall opened in 1873. Open Monday through Saturday mornings, it draws local shoppers, chefs, and a handful of savvy visitors for fresh produce, cheese, meat, and cheap hot lunches. Entry is free.
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Standing directly opposite Florence's main railway station, the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella is one of the most important Gothic churches in Italy. Its marble façade, designed by Leon Battista Alberti, and its interior packed with frescoes by Ghirlandaio and Masaccio make it a genuine rival to the more famous churches further into the historic centre.
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Founded by Dominican friars in 1221 and open to the public since 1612, the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella is one of the oldest operating pharmacies in the world. Today it functions as both a boutique museum and a working perfumery, set inside a sequence of frescoed historic rooms steps from Florence's main railway station.
DiscoverFlorence and Rome are Italy's two unmissable cities, linked by a 1.5-hour high-speed train ride — making a combined itinerary the classic Italian journey. From the Renaissance art of Florence to the ancient ruins and Vatican of Rome, the contrast is endlessly rewarding.
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