Step straight on to the A Room with a View film set on city breaks to Florence for a Tuscan treat of Renaissance art and juicy Florentine steak.
The winding River Arno flows from the hilly Chianti country outside the city under the Ponte Vecchio bridge, where medieval merchants once set up shop in the Tuscan capital. The giant dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral, or Duomo, looms over the hotchpotch of squares below. The grand Piazza della Signoria is the perfect meeting spot for dates at the Uffizi Gallery next door. Catch a glimpse of the piazza's copycat David statue before you see him at the nearby Accademia gallery.
Best of Florence city breaks for...
- Active types: Got a head for heights? Snap that classic Florence postcard shot from the rooftop of Brunelleschi's vast Duomo. To get there you'll have to climb 463 spiral steps, but you can stop for close-ups of Vasari's golden fresco as you catch your breath.
- Romance: Stroll arm in arm through the endless corridors as you gaze at passionate Renaissance paintings like Botticelli's Birth of Venus in the Uffizi Gallery. Sweeping views of the River Arno framed by the gallery windows round off your hot date.
- Shopping: Soft, handmade leather gloves, Murano glass ornaments and gold Venetian masks are just some of the Italian souvenirs in San Lorenzo Market. If you miss the real Michelangelo's David, you can find him there on a tea towel or moulded in mini-porcelain.
- Free & cheap: Florence's many Renaissance churches double up as top museums but charge much less. Step off the sunny square into Gothic Santa Croce church for Giotto's Bible story frescoes, Henry Moore's warrior statues and Michelangelo's tomb.
- Families: Most kids - and grown-ups - find it hard to resist mouth-watering, homemade gelato, or ice cream, on short breaks to Florence. Each cinnamon or pistachio scoop is an art form at famous ice cream parlours like Grom and Vivoli.
Getting into Florence from Florence Airport
- ATAF public buses whizz you to central Santa Maria Novella station in 25 minutes. The quick taxi ride takes just 15 minutes.
Getting around on weekend breaks in Florence
- Public transport Orange ATAF electric minibuses zip along Florence's central, narrow roads to the Duomo's doorstep.
- By foot Florence is a small city and the main sights are clustered together, so it's best to stroll around its pedestrian streets, medieval lanes and squares.
