A Florence Guide

Here are some of my favorite things to do in and around Florence.

I was in a band called Folkies in my first year at uni and we wrote a song called Florence… Lol so it seems fitting to add it in… 🎶🌼

Hello!

I hope you’ve all had a wonderful week! I had one of the best weeks ever because my sister, AKA favorite person in the whole entire universe, came to visit me in Italy. I don’t think anyone can or will ever understand me as much as she does, so any time spent with her feels so reaffirming. I can truly say we had a magical week in Florence and I put together a top tier itinerary, so I thought I’d share it with you guys. It can be a little overwhelming to plan such a small amount of time in a place with so much to do. I missed out on showing her and her boyfriend a lot of places because life happens, and things take longer than expected, and trains in Italy are 99.9% of the time delayed or cancelled, so this is going to be all the things that we actually did, not all the things I’d suggest you should do when you come to Florence. If you want to see the original itinerary I planned, you can download it here.

My sister is about to start a new, very important, very busy job (go SEES!) and move into a new apartment, so she decided to come to Italy with her boyfriend before this upcoming transition period. She only had a week in the country and 4½ days in Tuscany. In Italy, you have to plan absolutely everything in advance. Things can be pretty far apart distance-wise and everything is very small and has very minimal capacity, so if you leave things to chance, odds are you’ll miss out on quite a bit, or you’ll have to wait in very long lines. Me being me, I made them this itinerary:

The cover photo of the itinerary obviously had to be extra… Here is the full original itinerary if you’d like it!

Day 1

If you’re coming to Florence for more than 2 days, I would recommend always getting a car. Florence is gorgeous and there’s so much to see, but I think it would be a shame to come out all this way to only see the city center when there’s so much beauty, magic, and authenticity in the surrounding areas. This first day was a very Tuscan-filled day.

Christian and I picked Alessandra and Justin up from the Santa Maria Novella station early Monday morning with what I think is one of the best breakfast sandwiches in the city. The prosciutto, egg and truffle mayo panino from Marcello. This is on the outskirts of the city, but if you have a car, I would suggest going FOR SURE.

We then took them to Radda in Chianti (about an hour from the city center) so they could try some good wine and see some of the most breathtaking views. I found a really incredible little bistro called Bistrot La Torre for lunch with a simple, yet delicious menu. We all got something different, and we all thought it was a great way to spend an afternoon. After, we could go sit by the pool and drink some wine, then take a stroll around the neighboring quaint village, Radda in Chianti.

An evening in Italy is never complete without a pre-dinner aperitivo. One of my favorites? Borgo Machiavelli. The tourists haven’t gotten to this place yet (that I know of) so it stays very quiet, with the absolute cliché ambiance that one hopes to see when sipping a spring spritz in Tuscany.

Obviously, one of the top things people want to do when they come to Florence is try the famous Florentine steak. I’ve never eaten a bad meal at Osteria de Medici. They also have a super unique tortelli pasta filled with lampredotto, another dish unique to this city and region of Italy. If you want to eat good, authentic Tuscan food with the locals, this is as good as it gets. It’s perfect in every way. So we had to bring them here for their first dinner in Florence.

Day 2

We didn’t have a car because Christian was at work on this day, so this was our city/sightseeing day! Again, Florence is packed year round, so if there’s anything you definitely want to see, I’d book ahead and possibly book skip the line passes so you don’t miss out. We wanted to be flexible, so we didn’t do this and ended up having to choose between the Uffizi and Accademia Gallery, but you can do both in one day.

I think the Duomo in Florence is one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture that exists, so we started here. I then took them to go try their very first lampredotto panino at the Mercato Centrale. My favorite stall there is Il Bollito E Lo Stracotto . Lampredotto is a very traditional, typical Florentine dish that is made from the fourth and final stomach of a cow. It’s served with a salsa verde and you should most definitely try it. After, we went to take a look at the Piazza Signoria, the Uffizi gallery, Ponte Vecchio, and had an aperitivo at my favorite rooftop bar The Social Hub. Alessandra is most definitely my sister and wanted to try what is possibly my favorite restaurant in the whole world, Il Gusto Di Xinge. So we ended the day of sightseeing with authentic dim sum. Again, this day would’ve ideally had a lot more sightseeing in it, but this trip was a little more about us being together and spending time, so we definitely were taking our time each place we went to instead of running around seeing everything the city has to offer.

Day 3

Another day without a car, I decided to take Alessandra and Justin on a day trip to Cinque Terre. It’s a little far from the city (2.5 hours by train), but the tickets are cheap and it’s so worth seeing. We stayed on the private beach right out of the Monterosso station, which had it’s own clean bathroom and showers with a bar nearby. After we were done sunbathing for the day, we headed to Riomaggiore to see the beautiful, quaint view of the cove of colorful homes. I feel like I’m in a movie every time I’m in this quirky little part of Italy.

Day 4

I think this day had to have been one of the most special days of my life. Christian had the morning off, so we had the car again. This means I absolutely had to take them to my favorite schiacciata place near me, called Antico Forno. My order is always the raw sausage with stracchino cheese and their homemade spicy sauce (not spicy). We then walked a little around my local market and went to the pink abandoned Sammezzano castle to have a picnic in the front garden area. I love coming here because of how quiet and peaceful it is.

As we were sitting in the front yard of this glorious castle, we saw someone on the balcony talking on the phone. He was dressed like a construction worker, and it was the first time I’d ever seen anyone on the inside. Christian called him over and asked if there was any way he could let us in. The man refused any money but told us he’d happily take us inside. I couldn’t believe my eyes upon entering. Inside this castle, built in the 1600s, was the most stunning thing I’ve ever witnessed. I was awestruck. The man who gave us the tour was someone who was so intelligent and passionate about telling the history of each and every room (there are 365 that they know of) in the castle that I felt like it was something we should have been paying him hundreds for. And here he was, giving it to us for free. An experience no one gets to have due to it being closed. I feel like this is the most special thing my sister could’ve seen on her trip. It shows that even abandoned castles on the outskirts of town in Italy are some of the most fantastic places the human eye can experience.

After this moment that left us speechless, we went to go hang out by the luxury outlet mall called The Mall that sits right below that castle to grab a drink. We were able to walk the 15 minutes back to my house from there, and we spent the rest of the day sitting on my balcony, making homemade ragù, and actually relaxing and talking instead of going to the discoteca like we had planned. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Sadly, my sweet sis and Justin left early the next morning to catch their train to Rome. It was the most gorgeous few days with them, and I loved showing them a little bit of life and some of my favorite things in this city. I absolutely adore traveling with my sister, and I already can’t wait until our next trip. Having a best friend who’s also a sister is the biggest blessing life could’ve ever given me. Touring Sammezzano is probably the second.

Root for yourself this week, and do something for yourself that makes you happy. I promise, doing little things little by little makes life that much more full of wonder.

Have a great week! 🪩🌵🌼