Florence in 3 days

Morning

• Duomo and Brunelleschi's Dome2h

  Start with the earliest dome slot you booked and climb Brunelleschi's 463 steps while the stairwell is cool and the light is sharp; there is no lift. Down at ground level, the cathedral floor and Baptistery mosaics fill out the morning.

  TipThe cathedral floor is free to enter but the dome climb needs a separate timed reservation booked days ahead through the Duomo complex ticket; it is 463 steps with no lift and slots sell out. Take the earliest morning slot for the coolest, least crowded stairwell and the sharpest light over the city.

• Giotto's Campanile1h

  If you still have energy, add Giotto's Campanile next door, included in the same complex ticket and usually quieter than the dome. From up here the dome itself sits in your photos, which it cannot when you are standing on it.

  TipIncluded in the same Duomo complex ticket as the dome, the bell tower is 414 steps and usually has a shorter line than the dome. Climb it if the dome is sold out, because from here you actually get the dome itself in your photos, which you cannot from on top of it.

Afternoon

• 1h

  Lunch off the cathedral square where prices drop fast: a back-lane osteria or a standing wine bar for crostini and a glass of red. Keep it light, because the afternoon is a long museum.

• Uffizi Gallery2h45

  Use your pre-booked afternoon Uffizi slot and go straight to the Botticelli rooms before working back. Two to three hours is honest; the Vasari corridor windows over the Arno make a good late-visit pause.

  TipPre-book a timed slot on the official site days ahead and take the first entry at 8:15am; walk-up queues routinely run past two hours in season. Head straight to the Botticelli rooms while they are empty, then work back through the earlier galleries as the crowd catches up.

Evening

• Ponte Vecchio45 min

  Walk out onto the Ponte Vecchio at dusk when the goldsmiths shutter and the arches light up, then cross to the Oltrarno bank for the night. Photograph the bridge from Ponte Santa Trinita, the angle you cannot get from on it.

  TipThe medieval bridge of goldsmiths' shops is free and always open, but daytime is a slow-moving crush. Come at 8am for empty photos or after 10pm when the jewellers shutter and the arches light up; shoot the bridge itself from the next bridge downstream, Ponte Santa Trinita.

• 2h

  Dinner near your Oltrarno base around Santo Spirito, starting with aperitivo on the church steps. Prices here are fairer than the north bank and the square is where the neighborhood's evening happens.

Morning

• Galleria dell'Accademia (David)1h

  Take your pre-booked early slot at the Accademia and see the David before the room crowds; the visit runs under an hour. Booking it first thing keeps the rest of the day free.

  TipReserve a timed ticket online in advance and take an 8:15am or 8:30am slot; without a reservation the David queue passes two hours by mid-morning. The whole visit takes under an hour, so book it back-to-back with something nearby rather than blocking out a half day.

• San Lorenzo Market and Mercato Centrale1h15

  Walk to the Mercato Centrale through the San Lorenzo street market, and eat a lampredotto or a porchetta sandwich at a ground-floor stall. The upstairs food hall is fine but pricier for the same ingredients.

  TipThe ground floor is a working produce and butcher market open mornings Monday to Saturday; the upper floor food hall runs late into the evening every day. Eat lampredotto, the local tripe sandwich, at a ground-floor stall for a few euros rather than paying restaurant prices upstairs.

Afternoon

• Basilica di Santa Croce1h30

  Cross east to the Basilica di Santa Croce for the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli, and the Giotto chapels behind the altar most people miss. The leather school inside the complex is worth a look on the way out.

  TipThe tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli line the Franciscan church, entered with a timed ticket bought at the door or online. Go on a weekday morning and leave time for the two Giotto-frescoed chapels behind the altar, which most visitors walk straight past.

• Museo Nazionale del Bargello1h30

  Finish the afternoon at the Bargello, a short walk back toward the center, for Donatello's David and Michelangelo works with almost no queue. Check the hours first, since it shuts some afternoons.

  TipThe city's sculpture museum holds Donatello's bronze David and Michelangelo works in a fraction of the Uffizi's crowd, and you can usually walk in without a reservation. Slot it into a gap between timed tickets; ninety minutes covers it and it closes some afternoons, so check the day's hours first.

Evening

• Piazzale Michelangelo1h45

  Walk up through the Rose Garden to Piazzale Michelangelo for sunset, arriving early enough to claim a spot on the wall. Climb the last five minutes to San Miniato al Monte for the same view without the crowd.

  TipThis is the classic free panorama over the whole city and it is best at sunset, so arrive 45 minutes early to claim a spot on the wall before the crowd fills in. Walk up through the Rose Garden from the Oltrarno rather than taking the bus, and keep climbing five minutes to San Miniato al Monte for the same view with almost nobody around.

• 2h

  Head back down for a long Tuscan dinner in the Oltrarno, taking a table off Santo Spirito or in Santo Spirito's quieter side lanes. This is the slow, food-first evening the two-day plan cannot fit.

Morning

• Oltrarno artisan workshops1h30

  Spend the morning slowly in the Oltrarno's artisan streets around Via Maggio, Via de' Serragli and Sdrucciolo de' Pitti, where restorers and leatherworkers still work behind open doors. Watch a maker at the bench and buy direct if something fits your bag.

  TipThe lanes around Via Maggio, Via de' Serragli and Sdrucciolo de' Pitti still hold working gilders, bookbinders, leatherworkers and picture restorers behind open doors. Wander them on a weekday morning when the workshops are active; most makers are happy to let you watch and buy direct, which is cheaper than any center gift shop.

• Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens3h

  Move on to the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens on the combined ticket you booked online. Do the terraced garden first if it is warm, since the hillside is unshaded and hard going by midday, then the palace galleries after.

  TipBuy the combined Pitti and Boboli ticket online to skip the courtyard queue; the palace galleries and the terraced garden together need a good half day. In summer do the Boboli hillside before 11am, because it is largely unshaded and brutal by midday.

Afternoon

• 4h

  This is the slot for a Tuscan half-day if you want one. Siena is about ninety minutes by bus from the station for its shell-shaped Campo and striped cathedral, or take the short bus up to Fiesole for Etruscan ruins and a long view back over Florence. Either replaces the afternoon below.

• Piazza Santo Spirito1h30

  If you stay in the city, settle into Piazza Santo Spirito for the afternoon: duck into the plain-fronted Brunelleschi church, then take the square at its own pace. It is the Oltrarno's living room and a fitting end to a slower day.

  TipThe plain facade hides a Brunelleschi interior worth ducking into when the church is open, but the real draw is the square itself. Come for the morning produce market or after 7pm for aperitivo, when the steps fill with locals and the Oltrarno's evening starts here.

Evening

• 2h

  Last dinner in Santo Spirito or on Via Santa Croce for a final bistecca alla fiorentina, shared as it is meant to be. Aperitivo first on the church steps if the weather holds.

• 30 min

  If tomorrow is an early flight, the T2 tram back to FLR runs from the Unita stop a few minutes from the Duomo, about twenty minutes end to end. For a Pisa departure, allow for the train plus the PisaMover shuttle, roughly an hour in total.