A free guide from Mayar & Ali, straight from the road
48 hours in Florence, mapped out for you
The birthplace of gelato, with statues on every corner and a historic centre that is entirely UNESCO-listed. We spent two days eating, climbing and wandering. Here is the plan, the prices and the mistakes to avoid.
Written with Ali & Mayar | Vivoli to Ponte Vecchio
Before you go
Four things to lock in first:
Florence is easy once you know where to queue and where to spend. Lock in these four things first.
Getting there
We took the train from Rome: about three hours, booked through Omio, which compares the private and state-run Italian train companies in one place. We got off at the city’s second station because our hotel was beside it, so check which station suits you.
Check train times →A place to sleep
Our hotel was by the second station: fine, but far from the centre, which is a pain if you like to walk. It also had no reception at all, so you check yourself in with your passport and activate your own key card. Pick somewhere central.
Browse stays →Skip the line
Entering the cathedral itself is free, but a skip-the-line ticket saves you the queue, and climbing the dome costs over €30. Use code MAYARTRAVELS5 on GetYourGuide for 5% off.
Duomo ticket → · With dome climb →Mind the market
The Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio is easy to overspend in: we spent about €100 on cheese and truffle without really noticing. The quality is exceptional, so set a budget before you walk in.
The 48-hour loop
| When | Focus | Don’t miss |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Gelato, market & the Duomo | Vivoli’s affogato, Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio, the Duomo, Piazza della Signoria |
| Night out | The city after dark | The Duomo lit up, street singers, pizza alla Norma |
| Day 2 | Bridge & sandwich | Ponte Vecchio, All’Antico Vinaio |
Gelato, market & the Duomo
Vivoli: gelato and affogato
Florence is where gelato began: in the 16th century a chef named Bernardo (Buontalenti) came up with the recipe we now call gelato. So we tried it here, including Vivoli’s affogato, vanilla gelato with a shot of espresso poured over it. Two rules inside: do not ask for sugar, because it is already sweet, and do not stir it. Go as early as you can, because it gets very crowded. It was the best ice cream we have ever eaten.
Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio
Italians shop here early for pasta, cheese and meat. The smells hit you as you walk in: fresh pasta made in front of you, dozens of cheeses and Tuscan specialities. We went for two things, cheese and truffle. Black truffle is the cheaper one and the one used in cooking, with a small jar around €8. White truffle smells far stronger and is shaved over pasta or eggs rather than cooked. We bought every cheese we tasted and spent about €100.
The Duomo
For over a century the cathedral had no dome and nobody knew how to finish it. In the 15th century a competition was held and most engineers thought it was impossible. The winner was Filippo Brunelleschi, a goldsmith and sculptor, who built it without giant wooden scaffolding. It is still the largest brick dome in the world. You can climb it for a view over all of Florence, while entering the cathedral alone is free. Book online to skip the long line.
The Duomo’s marble
Even if you do not go in, stand in front of it. The white and green is not paint: it is real marble from different parts of Italy. Most people could not read at the time, so the statues and carvings on the doors told stories of religion, history and values. Near the Duomo we also heard a street singer with an unreal voice.
Piazza della Signoria
A square that works as a free open-air museum of statues, with astonishing detail. The human body was nothing to be embarrassed about here: it was seen as God’s greatest work of art, so artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci studied anatomy, muscles and even veins. The Renaissance owes a lot to the Medici, the richest and most powerful family in Florence, whose palace stands on this piazza.
Vivoli: go early
Dome climb €30+
Cathedral entry free
Gelato tip: look for gelato kept in lidded stainless-steel tubs. Heaped, bright-coloured mounds are usually just ice cream, not real Italian gelato.
Florence after dark
The city at night
Do not miss Florence at night. The streets light up, the vibe is great and there is music everywhere. This is the city of art, with street performers around every corner, and not all of them want your money.
Gelato in front of the Duomo
Gelato has much less air than ice cream, so it is denser and creamier and tastes more like the real ingredient. We tried pistachio and hazelnut at a spot right in front of the Duomo. The hazelnut was lovely, but the pistachio tasted oddly floral, so choose your shop carefully.
Pizza alla Norma
We ended the night with pizza alla Norma, topped with eggplant, tomato sauce, mozzarella, burrata and basil, and ate it sitting in front of the Duomo.
The bridge, the corridor & the sandwich
Ponte Vecchio
This is no ordinary bridge: it has had shops on it for more than 600 years. They used to be butchers and fishmongers, so the smell was awful, and the Medici family replaced them with goldsmiths and jewellers. It is still one of the smartest places to shop in Florence.
The Medici corridor windows
The small windows above the shops were the Medici’s secret passage, which let them cross the bridge every day without stepping down into the street. In short, their VIP corridor.
All’Antico Vinaio
One of the most famous sandwich shops in the world, thanks to its schiacciata bread and generous fillings: pistachio cream, pecorino, truffle cream and more. A single sandwich can feed two. Most of the menu is not halal, so we built our own with burrata and dried tomatoes, and it was great. To avoid the long queue, go to the branch at the train station.
On to Milan
After the sandwich we took the train on to Milan.
Eat your way through Florence
The Florence food checklist
Screenshot this and tick each one off as you go. The full two days are in the video below.
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Flights
Compare fares to Florence, Pisa or Rome.
Search Skyscanner →Hotels
A central base so you can walk everywhere.
Browse stays →eSIM
Land connected for maps, trains and tickets.
Get Airalo →Tours & tickets
Duomo tickets, with or without the dome climb.
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