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Considering it’s one of the World’s most famous cities, you might be surprised that I recommend “only” 3 days in Florence. But although it’s Tuscany’s capital, the birthplace of the Renaissance, and genuinely has an absurd wealth of artistic masterpieces and glorious architecture everywhere you look, it’s still relatively small (only about 300,000 residents), is extremely compact, and has all its main sights within easy walking distance of one another.

This means that for casual visitors who have a passing interest in art, architecture, and the city’s history, but who don’t want to spend 8 hours a day visiting museums and churches, Florence really can be comfortably explored in 3 days.

You could even pack everything into just 2 very busy days, but I don’t think that would be an especially pleasant trip, as you’d basically be rushing straight from one sight to the next, checking off boxes on a to-do list.

And while there are some things that you absolutely must see when here, for me, a lot of the pleasure of being in Florence lies in going for aimless wanders, often outside of the very center of the city, and enjoying the little gems that you unexpectedly stumble on.

To have time for “getting lost”, you need to have some open space in your itinerary, and I think 3 days is just right for that.

It’s the perfect amount of time in that you can spread out your visits to the city’s marquee sites and attractions over 3 days, visiting a couple of them on each day, while leaving ample time for leisurely meals, pleasant wanders, and some “aimless” lounging around.

Check out my detailed itinerary below for step-by-step guide to what I recommend for 3 days in Florence.

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Day 1: The main sights

Morning - Uffizi Gallery and the Duomo + Baptistry

Begin at the Galleria d’Uffizi, erstwhile headquarters of the Medici banking empire and now stuffed to the rafters with the masterpieces of the Renaissance. In gallery after gallery you’ll encounter Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo… this is one of the world’s great museums, so take your time and spend the entire morning here.

When you want to take a break from all the saints and swirling angels, head up to the view-filled rooftop café.

Next stop is another one of Florence’s great Renaissance achievements, the Duomo, the largest church in the world when it was completed around 1436, and topped with Filippo Brunelleschi’s dome that was also the largest in the world in its time.

The enormous cupola dominates the skyline of Florence, and climbing up narrow staircases wedged between the inner and outer shells is a not-to-be missed exertion, with acrophobia-inducing views at the top.

Next door is the octagonal Battistero (Baptistry), where the East Doors, executed in gilded bronze by Lorenzo Ghiberti, depict 10 scenes from the Old Testament with such grace that Michelangelo said “They are so beautiful they would grace the entrance to Paradise.” They’ve been known ever since as the Gates of Paradise. The doors now in place are copies, and the originals are in the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo.

Afternoon - Palazzo Vecchio, Accademia Gallery, and Piazza San Marco

Now do some more art-gazing, along with a late lunch and the best people watching in Florence, from the terrace of Rivoire or one of the other cafes on the airy Piazza della Signoria.

This center of city government, with the Palazzo Vecchio, the Medici’s stronghold, on one side, is filled with statuary - a line-up that includes city fathers, Greek gods, and a copy of Michelangelo’s David.

The original of the city’s most famous sculpture is in the Accademia Gallery, so make your way there next and prepare to spend a couple of hours seeing David and the other great works.

After seeing the David, make the five minute walk over to Piazza San Marco, where you’ll encounter another artistic genius, Fra Angelico, in the monks’ cells, cloisters and chapter house of a former convent that now comprise the Museo Nazionale di San Marco.

The good natured Dominican friar found time between his duties caring for the poor to cover the walls with magnificent frescos depicting religious scenes meant to inspire prayer and contemplation.

*Michelangelo's David sculpture in the Accademia Gallery*

Evening - a night out in Oltrarno

A walk at dusk takes you across the shop-lined Ponte Vecchio bridge and then over it into the Oltrarno, or “other side of the Arno” (across the river from the city center). You’ll come out in the neighborhood of Santo Spirito.

Once a working class area that was popular with craftspeople and artists, it’s changed significantly in the last twenty years and is quite gentrified these days. The narrow streets are still filled with artists’ studios, workshops, and antiques shops, but they’re now competing for space with boutique stores, trendy restaurants, and hip bars frequented by fashionable people from all over Florence. It’s a fun place to go for an aperitivo and dinner.

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Day 2: Markets and gardens

Morning - Mercato San Lorenzo, Capelle Medici, the Church of Santa Maria Novella, and the famous pharmacy

You can’t come to Florence without shopping, so plunge into the Mercato San Lorenzo. Many of the leather goods here are made in China, but it’s hard to walk away without at least a change purse, for which you should bargain relentlessly.

Nearby are the Capelle Medici in the church of San Lorenzo, housing the sumptuous sarcophagi that Michelangelo created for Florence’s ruling family.

Another treasure trove at this end of the Centro Storico is the church of Santa Maria Novella, covered with frescoes by Massaccio and Ghirlandaio. When the resident Dominican monks weren’t busy surrounding themselves with great art they were growing herbs with which they concocted similarly transcendent scents and soaps for their wealthy patrons.

The tradition continues and perfumes and other toiletries based on their recipes are on offer around the corner in the atmospheric Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, said to be the world’s oldest pharmacy.

Now relax over lunch or a snack in the nearby Mercato Centrale, a covered food hall.

Afternoon - Santa Maria del Carmine Church, Palazzo Pitti, and Boboli Gardens

Spend the rest of the day in the Oltrarno. Make the crossing on the Ponte Santa Trinita, a bridge noted not only for its elegant beauty but also for the fact that what you see is a complete reconstruction.

Retreating German troops blew up the original 16th century bridge in 1944, and in the 1950s workers painstaking reconstructed the span with the original stonework dredged from the river bottom.

Your first stop over here is the church of Santa Maria del Carmine, where Massaccio painted the “Expulsion from Eden” and other frescoes in the Cappella Brancacci that are said to have set the stage for the Renaissance masters who followed him (quite a legacy for a young man who died at age 26).

A ten-minute walk through the streets of the Oltrarno brings you to the monumental Palazzo Pitti, a fitting residence for the Medici dynasty. In the days before Louis XIV built Versailles this was the largest and most opulent palace in the world, and today the grand salons are yet another Florentine repository of works by Raphael, Titian, Rubens, and other European masters, along with the furnishings that Medici dukes left behind.

Behind the massive palace stretches the Boboli Garden, a lovely place to close out a day of sightseeing among ponds, fountains, and grottoes.

Evening - Sunset views from Oltrarno and dinner in San Frediano

While you’re still in Oltrarno, plan on catching an incredible sunset over the city. You have two main viewpoints, one very popular and one much lesser-known, but equally impressive.

For the shortest walk, climb the elegant staircase up to Piazzale Michelangelo, the city’s favorite spot for watching the sunset - and with the Duomo gleaming in the slanting rays, what a sight it is.

For a less-known viewpoint (i.e. less crowded), consider heading deeper into Oltrarno and making your way to the church of San Miniato al Monte. This viewpoint is higher up, so offers an even more expansive panorama over the city.

For dinner, walk into San Frediano, a neighborhood within the larger Oltrarno area just slightly west of Santo Spirito. While gentrifying, this area has changed less than Santo Spirito and is still home to lots of actual Florentines. It has a very local feel and is a nice place to have dinner without the tourist crowds.

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Day 3: More art followed by some fresh air in Fiesole

Morning - Il Bargello, Piazza della Signoria, Orsanmichele church, and the Duomo’s belltower

Begin the day looking at statues. The Bargello, a couple of blocks south of the Duomo, was the city’s medieval police headquarters and prison, where the corpses of the condemned were hung from the tower windows.

Today the cells and torture chambers are filled with some of the city’s finest examples of Renaissance statues, and the Bargello is to statuary what the Uffizi is to painting. Pride of place belongs to Donatello, whose boyish David and other works made him the star of 15th century Florentine art.

With your newfound appreciation for statuary take another walk through the statue-filled Piazza della Signoria, just a few blocks west of the Bargello.

Just beyond the square is what might be the most charming church in Florence, Orsanmichele, occupying a converted grain warehouse. The doors are usually locked, but the show is on the exterior, where the Renaissance trade guilds filled the niches with statues of their patron saints.

Since you are in the neighborhood, stroll up the street to the Duomo, and this time set your sights on the Campanile that Giotto designed for the church. A climb of 400 steps brings you to another amazing city view, all the better here because you’ll get a close-up look at Brunelleschi’s dome.

Afternoon - head out to the hills in nearby Fiesole

Enjoy a well-deserved leisurely lunch then take an outing to airy Fiesole, an ancient town that despite the proximity to the Tuscan capital feels like another hilltop village.

The pleasant bus ride up green hillsides takes less than half an hour and at the end of the road are sweeping vistas over the valley below, cooling breezes, and even some Roman ruins.

Evening

Return to Florence for you final dinner, but don’t rush away from Fiesole. Enjoy a cocktail on a breezy café terrace and watch the sun set over the city below.

In fact, many Florentines make the trip up here at the end of a work day for the lovely end-of-day experience.

Day 4 bonus - a day trip to Chianti

If you have a fourth day, all the better. Head into the nearby Chianti, , one of the most beautiful regions in Tuscany, a hilly landscape of vineyards, olive groves, stands of forests, and pretty stone villages.

On and off the scenery-filled road through the heart of the region, the SR222, also called the Chiantigiana, are dozens of wineries where you can taste the Chiantis and Super Tuscans that put the region on the wine map.

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