Art & Design Trips to Florence

Walking Tour of Florence

Walking tour of Florence. Visits include highlights such as:

• Piazza del Duomo
• Piazza della Signoria
• Palazzo Medici
• Ponte Vecchio

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Uffizi Gallery

• View on Map

The Gallery entirely occupies the first and second floors of the large building constructed between 1560 and 1580 and designed by Giorgio Vasari. It is famous worldwide for its outstanding collections of ancient sculptures and paintings (from the Middle Ages to the Modern period). The collections of paintings from the 14th-century and Renaissance period include some absolute masterpieces: Giotto, Simone Martini, Piero della Francesca, Beato Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo, Raffaello, Michelangelo and Caravaggio, in addition to many precious works by European painters (mainly German, Dutch and Flemish).

Moreover, the Gallery boasts an invaluable collection of ancient statues and busts from the Medici family, which adorns the corridors and consists of ancient Roman copies of lost Greek sculptures.

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Museo del Bargello

• View on Map

Dedicated to Medieval and Renaissance art, the Museo Nazionale del Bargello is located in Florence’s historic Palazzo del Podestà. It was established by royal decree on June 22, 1865—Italy’s first national museum. The museum houses masterpieces by Michelangelo, Donatello and the Della Robbia family.

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Santa Maria del Fiore / Battistero / Giotto’s Tower / Brunelleschi’s Dome

Santa Maria del Fiore, designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, is the third largest church in the world (after St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London) and was the largest church in Europe when it was completed in the 15th century.

The Baptistery of San Giovanni, one of the most ancient churches in Florence, sits opposite the city's cathedral, the church of Santa Maria del Fiore. Much like the other buildings on the square, the Baptistery’s façade is coated in white and green marble. The interior features the precious mosaic of the dome, one of the largest in the world of its time, dominated by the huge figure of Christ the judge with scenes of the last judgment which occupies three of the eight segments of the dome. The other five segments show the stories of St. John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence, of Christ, of Joseph and of Genesis.

"Giotto's Campanile", the bell tower of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, is a splendid testimony of Florentine Gothic architecture of the fourteenth century. The Campanile is considered one of the most beautiful in all of Italy. Giotto's bell tower is 82 metres high and to reach the top you’ll need to climb many steps, 414 steps to be precise. The climb up the tower is gradual since the tower has three middle floors - these are perfect to both take in the panorama of Florence's cathedral square below as well as to rest. The only drawbacks are that the steps are rather narrow and it is the only way up and down, so you need to share it with people coming down.

The view from Giotto's Campanile is complementary to that one of Brunelleschi's dome which is only 10 metres higher. As the two monuments offer substantially the same panorama from the top, admiring one from the other is actually very exciting! If you have the time, as well as powerful legs (as the climb to the top of the dome requires you to climb 463 steps), visit both and enjoy the different perspective they offer.

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The Boboli Gardens

• View on Map

Directly behind Pitti Palace are the marvellous Boboli Gardens. The Medici family established the layout of the gardens, creating the Italian garden style that would become a model for many European courts. The vast green expanse with a regular layout is a real outdoor museum, populated by ancient and Renaissance statues. The Gardens are also adorned with grottos, the most important of which is the famous grotto realized by Bernardo Buontalenti, as well as large fountains, such as the Fountain of Neptune and the Fountain of the Ocean.

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Pitti Palace

• View on Map

Purchased in 1550, the Palace was chosen by Cosimo I de’ Medici and his wife Eleanor of Toledo as the new Grand Ducal residence, and it soon became the new symbol of the Medici’s power over Tuscany. It also housed the Court of other two dynasties: the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (which succeeded the Medici from 1737) and the Kings of Italy from the House of Savoy, who inhabited it from 1865.

Today the Palace is divided into four museums: the Treasury of the Grand Dukes on the ground floor, the Palatine Gallery and the Imperial and Royal Apartments on the first floor, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Museum of Costume and Fashion on the second floor.

Enquire about this trip

Walking Tour of Florence

Walking tour of Florence. Visits include highlights such as:

• Piazza del Duomo
• Piazza della Signoria
• Palazzo Medici
• Ponte Vecchio

Enquire about this trip

Uffizi Gallery

• View on Map

The Gallery entirely occupies the first and second floors of the large building constructed between 1560 and 1580 and designed by Giorgio Vasari. It is famous worldwide for its outstanding collections of ancient sculptures and paintings (from the Middle Ages to the Modern period). The collections of paintings from the 14th-century and Renaissance period include some absolute masterpieces: Giotto, Simone Martini, Piero della Francesca, Beato Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo, Raffaello, Michelangelo and Caravaggio, in addition to many precious works by European painters (mainly German, Dutch and Flemish).

Moreover, the Gallery boasts an invaluable collection of ancient statues and busts from the Medici family, which adorns the corridors and consists of ancient Roman copies of lost Greek sculptures.

Enquire about this trip

Museo del Bargello

• View on Map

Dedicated to Medieval and Renaissance art, the Museo Nazionale del Bargello is located in Florence’s historic Palazzo del Podestà. It was established by royal decree on June 22, 1865—Italy’s first national museum. The museum houses masterpieces by Michelangelo, Donatello and the Della Robbia family.

Enquire about this trip

Santa Maria del Fiore / Battistero / Giotto’s Tower / Brunelleschi’s Dome

Santa Maria del Fiore, designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, is the third largest church in the world (after St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London) and was the largest church in Europe when it was completed in the 15th century.

The Baptistery of San Giovanni, one of the most ancient churches in Florence, sits opposite the city's cathedral, the church of Santa Maria del Fiore. Much like the other buildings on the square, the Baptistery’s façade is coated in white and green marble. The interior features the precious mosaic of the dome, one of the largest in the world of its time, dominated by the huge figure of Christ the judge with scenes of the last judgment which occupies three of the eight segments of the dome. The other five segments show the stories of St. John the Baptist, patron saint of Florence, of Christ, of Joseph and of Genesis.

"Giotto's Campanile", the bell tower of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, is a splendid testimony of Florentine Gothic architecture of the fourteenth century. The Campanile is considered one of the most beautiful in all of Italy. Giotto's bell tower is 82 metres high and to reach the top you’ll need to climb many steps, 414 steps to be precise. The climb up the tower is gradual since the tower has three middle floors - these are perfect to both take in the panorama of Florence's cathedral square below as well as to rest. The only drawbacks are that the steps are rather narrow and it is the only way up and down, so you need to share it with people coming down.

The view from Giotto's Campanile is complementary to that one of Brunelleschi's dome which is only 10 metres higher. As the two monuments offer substantially the same panorama from the top, admiring one from the other is actually very exciting! If you have the time, as well as powerful legs (as the climb to the top of the dome requires you to climb 463 steps), visit both and enjoy the different perspective they offer.

Enquire about this trip

The Boboli Gardens

• View on Map

Directly behind Pitti Palace are the marvellous Boboli Gardens. The Medici family established the layout of the gardens, creating the Italian garden style that would become a model for many European courts. The vast green expanse with a regular layout is a real outdoor museum, populated by ancient and Renaissance statues. The Gardens are also adorned with grottos, the most important of which is the famous grotto realized by Bernardo Buontalenti, as well as large fountains, such as the Fountain of Neptune and the Fountain of the Ocean.

Enquire about this trip

Pitti Palace

• View on Map

Purchased in 1550, the Palace was chosen by Cosimo I de’ Medici and his wife Eleanor of Toledo as the new Grand Ducal residence, and it soon became the new symbol of the Medici’s power over Tuscany. It also housed the Court of other two dynasties: the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (which succeeded the Medici from 1737) and the Kings of Italy from the House of Savoy, who inhabited it from 1865.

Today the Palace is divided into four museums: the Treasury of the Grand Dukes on the ground floor, the Palatine Gallery and the Imperial and Royal Apartments on the first floor, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Museum of Costume and Fashion on the second floor.

Enquire about this trip

Ponte Vecchio

The Ponte Vecchio is a medieval stone arch bridge. It is the only bridge in Florence spared from destruction during World War II and is notable for the shops built along it; which was once a common practice.

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Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the freestanding bell tower of Pisa Cathedral, known for its nearly four-degree lean, which is the result of an unstable foundation.

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Ponte Vecchio

The Ponte Vecchio is a medieval stone arch bridge. It is the only bridge in Florence spared from destruction during World War II and is notable for the shops built along it; which was once a common practice.

Enquire about this trip

Leaning Tower of Pisa

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is the freestanding bell tower of Pisa Cathedral, known for its nearly four-degree lean, which is the result of an unstable foundation.

Enquire about this trip