Often regarded as one of the world’s most beautiful cities, Florence offers a rich cultural and artistic experience. The city has a fascinating history and artwork, and has been designated a World Heritage Site. Frequently referred to as the “Athens of the Middle Ages,” Florence has a turbulent history and is closely associated with the Renaissance. As one of Europe’s most expensive cities, Florence is not the place to visit on a budget. You will want to take advantage of the city’s magnificent architecture, turbulent history and mouth-watering cuisine. Whether you’re looking for a romantic getaway or a break in one of the world’s classiest cities, both can be found in this capital region of Tuscany, one of the true “gems” of Italy.
Florence’s Highlights:
Palazzo Vecchio and Piazzo della Signoria: Florence’s governmental center for hundreds of years and still used as the city hall today, this colossal square is home to several vast statues and is surrounded by cafes and restaurants. At night it turns into a spontaneous theatre for street performers and a place to take in the beauty for backpackers.
Santa Croce: The largest Franciscan church in Italy is the resting place for notable Florentines such as Michelangelo and Dante.
Galleria dell’Accademia: The building which has the form of a Latin-cross church is home to some of the most important paintings and sculptures from the 13th to the 16th centuries including the most famous sculpture in the world, Michelangelo’s David.
Boboli Garden and Pitti Palace: The Giardino di Boboli is home to a distinguished set of sculptures set in magnificent architecturally-designed gardens which sit behind the Pitti Palace.
Ponti Vecchio: The old bridge is one of the most visited sites in Florence. It is the only surviving bridge from the city’s medieval days and is a hub for merchants selling gold, jewellery and tourist souvenirs.
The Grand Villa Medici is possibly the most relaxing hotel in Florence, for two simple reasons: Its slightly out-of-the-way location, and its swimming pool. Florence is lovely, but in the summer, with tourists jamming the streets and aggressively hot temperatures, you may easily reach your limit of cathedrals and Botticellis. And if this is inde ...
From the look of the Savoy’s facade, facing onto central Florence’s Piazza della Repubblica, one would perhaps expect the sort of arch and historic grand hotel that hasn’t seen so much as a new set of draperies since it opened in 1893. Perhaps a few years ago this impression would have been correct, but no longer, as the Hotel ...
Don't be put off by the concrete exterior, which unlike most Florentine buildings is contemporary, and of no architectural distinction. It's the stuff inside this Salvatore Ferragamo luxury hotel that's the key. High couture meets maximum efficiency. Art meets the commercial world of the hospitality industry. Occidental and Oriental ...
Florence’s UNA Hotel Vittoria is a masterpiece of ultra-modern hotel design, the handiwork of the improbably named Italian architect Fabio Novembre, and it’s a highly individual expression. If you turn up expecting yet another international-modern minimalist design hotel, you risk having your Zen sensibilities upset by Novembre&rsquo ...
You can have your design hotels. This fifteenth-century villa, on the Fiesole hillside overlooking Florence, has undergone a thorough renovation for the purpose of converting it into a modern boutique hotel — but a look around the place will confirm that it was more a restoration than a redesign. It’s not all Renaissance splendor, th ...
There’s no question the Hotel Brunelleschi has a legitimate claim to the name. With its top-floor view taking in the entire panorama of Brunelleschi’s masterpiece, the Florence Cathedral, it’s more or less as close as you can get to the Duomo without taking religious orders. The location has always been a strength, and after a ...
There’s a lot to look at in Florence, so much that they’ve actually got a name for the city’s particular brand of visual overstimulation: Stendhal Syndrome is the feeling of dizziness and confusion brought on by exposure to too much classic art, too much Renaissance architecture, and too many counterfeit designer handbags. Hote ...
Florence is home to many old-fashioned palazzo hotels, and more than a few modern-design boutiques; and though JK Place falls closer to the latter category, it is something a little bit different. The architect designed the Lungarno hotels as well, so he’s no stranger to contemporary chic interiors—but this one is not quite from the ...
Set on a hillside just outside Florence, the Villa Mangiacane is the best of both worlds — the sort of Tuscan country-house escape that absolutely sells itself, along with easy access to one of the world’s great cultural capitals. It took some doing, as it was essentially in ruins, but the owner, a South African expat, painstakingly ...
The Continentale hotel is a Lungarno hotel, which means it's a Salvatore Ferragamo hotel. Why the chain of code names? Why not just come out and say it, Ferragamo in blinking neon, or at least radiant gold (a la Versace)? Why not at least take advantage of the opportunity to better position the brand, like Cerruti or Bulgari?
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Lungarno Alberghi is the hotel division of Italy’s Ferragamo fashion dynasty—but while some fashion label hotels seem little more than marketing exercises, with the brand name splashed across every available surface, the Lungarno hotels deliberately downplay, even obscure, their connection with the venerable shoemaker. The facile thi ...
In Italy even the most modern hotel has hundreds or thousands of years of architectural history to deal with; one hypermodern hotel in Rome has a working archaeological site in the basement. By these standards, Riva Lofts is on the young side: this 19th-century complex on the banks of the Arno river has lived only three previous lives — a ...
The archetypal Florentine villa wears a patina of age, often applied at great expense with a damp sponge — and this, for some reason, is what passes for authenticity. Villa Le Maschere takes a different tack. In their vision, you get closer to the past by turning back the clock — and by cleaning away the ravages of time, you reveal a ...
In the foreigner’s mind, Florence strains under the weight of so much history that it’s sometimes difficult to remember that it’s the 21st century there too. It’s not all Renaissance architecture and crumbling frescoes — modern life goes on there, just like anywhere else, and contemporary small hotels like the Resid ...
On the outside, this building—despite having been built in the 19th century—blends in comfortably with the surrounding architecture, with its white walls, gray stone arches reminiscent of Brunelleschi’s churches. But while the exterior is reminiscent of the Florentine Renaissance, inside is firmly turn-of-the-century (though re ...
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