Below are a number of important sites to visit. Please note: times and hours are listed for the planned excursions. If you would like to visit on other days, please click on the highlighted sites to obtain full information about opening hours, as many places are closed on Sundays, Mondays or Tuesdays.

Check out the Wikitravel Guide to Florence, with helpful information on sights, museums, churches, landmarks, airport arrivals and trains.

Brancacci Chapel – The church of Santa Maria del Carmine houses one of the greatest tributes to painting of all time: the frescoes in the Brancacci Chapel (built prior to 1386 at the end of the right wing), begun by Masolino and Masaccio, and finished by Filippo Lippi after the latter’s death.

Piazza del Carmine, 14. Tel. 055 2382195. Mon-Sat 10-17, Sun. 13-17. Closed Tues. Full price: 4 euros. Age 18-25 and over 65: 3 euros.

Masaccio – Payment of the Tribute Money – 1426-27 – Fresco, 255 x 598 cm

Bargello Museum – Since 1865 the palazzo houses the National Museum, bringing together many important Renaissance sculptures, including masterpieces by Donatello, Luca della Robbia, Verrocchio, Michelangelo and Cellini.
Via del Proconsolo, 4. Opening hours: Monday – Sunday, 8.15 – 17.00. Tickets: Full Price: € 4,00. Booking: Firenze Musei, Tel: 055 294883. Booking charge: € 3,00. Museum’s inventory online

Luca della Robbia, Crucifixion of St. Peter

Deliverance of St. Peter From Prison

Medici Chapel – The Museum is especially famous for the New Sacristy which Michelangelo designed for the tombs of Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici, creating one of the masterpieces of architecture and sculpture of the Italian Renaissance. Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini, 6, Firenze (behind the church of San Lorenzo and the Duomo and amidst the San Lorenzo Market). Open daily 8:15-16:50.
The ticket office closes at 16,20. Full Price: € 6,00. Booking: Firenze Musei, Tel: 055 294883. Booking charge: € 3,00

 Duomo– The Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral church (Duomo) of Florence, Italy, begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to the design of Arnolfo di Cambio and completed structurally in 1436 with the dome engineered by Filippo Brunelleschi. The basilica is one of Italy’s largest churches, and until the modern era, the dome was the largest in the world. It remains the largest brick dome ever constructed.

Hours of operation for the Duomo are: Monday through Wednesday 10:00 – 1700. Closes early on Thursdays (15:30) and Saturdays (16:45). One can climb to the top of the Duomo, using the inner circular staircase designed by Brunelleschi, Open 9-19.30. Entry on the north side of the Cathedral. 463 stairs, no lift. € 6

The Museo dell’Opera dell Duomo is often overlooked by tourists and yet is an exquisite museum collection, as it houses many of the original artworks that once adorned the Duomo and Baptistry, including Lorenzo Ghiberti’s bronze Gates of Paradise, a late Michelangelo Pieta, the Prophets and wooden Mary Magdelene of Donatello, Luca della Robbia’s marble choir loft panels, and Brunelleschi’s death mask.
Via della Canonica, 1 (right behind the Duomo) Open Mon-Fri, 8am-7pm. Saturdays, 8am-2pm. Admission 6€.

Ghiberti, Gates of Paradise

Michelangelo, Pieta

Andrea Pisano

Orsanmichele – Adorned with sculptures by Donatello, Ghiberti, Verocchio Nanni di Banco and Giambologna, the current church of Orsanmichele is a former grain market whose separate guilds commissioned different artists to adorn the facade with sculptures. Of particular interest is the low relief frieze of Saint George Slaying the Dragon, below the sculture of St George by Donatello, a revolutionary accomplishment in sculpture and a tremendous influence on subsequent developments in painting.
No entrance required, as sculptures are located on the exterior. Via dei Calzaioli (road connecting the Duomo and Piazza Signoria)

St George Slaying the Dragon by Donatello, Orsanmichele

Pitti Palace – The Pitti Palace, which was formerly the residence of the grand-dukes of Tuscany and later of the King of Italy, now houses several important collections of paintings and sculpture, works of art, porcelain and a costume gallery, besides providing a magnificently decorated historical setting which extends to the Boboli Gardens, one of the earliest Italian gardens famous also for its fountains and grottos.
It comprises the following galleries and museums:

Palatine Gallery – an impressive collection comprising works by Raphael, Titian, Correggio, Rubens, Pietro da Cortona and other Italian and European masters of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Also site of the Caravaggio e caravaggeschi a Firenze exhibition. Open Tuesday to Sunday: 8.15-18.50, price 8.50 euros (valid also for the Gallery of Modern Art)

Gallery of Modern Art – an important collection of the Macchiaoli painters. Open Tuesday to Sunday: 8.15-18.50, price 8.50 euros (valid also for the Palatine Gallery)

Boboli Gardens – located behind the Palace, the gardens were originally designed for the Medici and are one of the earliest examples of the Italian Garden which later inspired those of many European courts. They extend over a vast area forming an open-air museum with antique and Renaissance statues, grottos and large fountains. Open 8.15 – 19.30 (June-August). Entry is permitted up to an hour before closing time. 7 euros

Also: Costume Gallery, the Silver Museum, and the Porcelain Museum.

Annunciation by Fra Angelico, San Marco

San Marco – The museum occupies a vast area of the Dominican convent of San Marco and preserves much of its original atmosphere. Founded in 1436 and designed by the architect Michelozzo, the convent played an important role in the cultural and religious life of Florence, especially at the time of Savonarola. The museum owes its renown especially to the paintings of Fra Angelico, one of the great artists of the Renaissance, who frescoed extensive parts of the convent. For bio and other images, click here. Other works by Fra Angelico, of various provenance, were assembled here in the 20th century, resulting in a remarkable collection of the artist’s works. There is also an important collection of 16th-century paintings including numerous works by Fra Bartolomeo.
Piazza San Marco 3. Opening hours: Monday to Friday: 8,15 – 13,50. Full Price: € 4,00. Booking: Firenze Musei, Tel: 055 294883 Booking charge: € 3,00.

Uffizi Gallery – One of the most famous museums of paintings and sculpture in the world, the Uffizi collection of Primitive and Renaissance paintings comprises several universally acclaimed masterpieces of all time, including works by Cimabue, Duccio, Giotto, Simone Martini, Paolo Uccello, Piero della Francesca, Fra Angelico, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Mantegna, Correggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Pontormo, Branzino, Rosso Fiorentino, Vasari, Signorelli, Perugino, Bellini, Giorgione, Correggio, del Sarto, Parmigianino, Veronese, Tintoretto, Titian and Caravaggio. Also: Rubens, Van Dyck, Guardi, Canaletto, Tiepolo, Chardin, Ruysdale, Claude Lorraine, Cranach, Dürer, Holbein, Memling, Rembrandt and Rubens.

The Uffizi buildings also house other important collections: the Contini Bonacossi Collection and the Collection of Prints and Drawings (Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi). The Vasari Corridor, also known as the Prince’s Passageway, connects the Uffizi with the Pitti Palace, and was built by Vasari in 1565. It is the home of the famous collection of master artists’ self-portraits.

Piazzale degli Uffizi. Open Tuesday to Sunday 8,15 – 18,50. Full Price: € 6,50. Booking: Firenze Musei, Tel: 055 294883. Booking charge: € 4,00

The Accademia Gallery – The Gallery is particularly famous for its sculptures by Michelangelo: the Prisoners, the St.Matthew and, especially, the statue of David which was transferred here, to the specially designed tribune, from Piazza della Signoria in 1873.
Via Ricasoli, 58-60. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 8,15 – 18,50. Full Price: € 6,50. Booking (highly recommended): Firenze Musei, Tel: 055 294883. Booking charge: € 4,00

Marriage of the Virgin, Rosso Fiorentino – San Lorenzo

Important Churches:
Santa Croce – Annunciation by Donatello. Pazzi Chapel by Brunelleschi and Luca della Robbia. Bardi Chapel, Giotto’s Life of St.Francis.

Santa Felicita – Piazza S Felicità, right off the Ponte Vecchio, walking under the arch. Cappella Capponi: Deposition and Virgin and the Angel Gabriel by Pontormo.
Ognissanti Church – Frescos by Ghirlandaio and Botticelli. Last Supper fresco by Ghirlandaio (open only Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays from 9-12)
San Lorenzo – The Marriage of the Virgin by Rosso Fiorentino, altarpiece by Pietro Annigoni and Pulpits by Donatello. Works by Verocchio, Donatello, Desiderio di Settignano and Fra Filippo Lippi
Santa Maria Novella – Designed by Alberti, the church houses the Trinity by Masaccio, and Crucifixes by Giotto and Brunelleschi
Santa Trinita – works by Ghirlandaio, Lucca Della Robbia, Desiderio da Settignano
Santissima Annunziata – works by Rosso Fiorentino, del Sarto, Pontormo, del Castagno
Santo Spirito – designed by Brunelleschi, the facadeless church houses includes paintings by Ghirlandaio and Fillippino Lippi.
San Miniato – Located above Piazzale Michelangelo overlooking all of Florence, the church is considered one of the most beautiful Romanesque structures in Tuscany. At sunset, one will notice a strong glint of gold above Florence, as the exterior mosaics reflect the fading light.

Last Supper by Andrea del Sarto – via di San Salvi 16. Tel: 0552388603. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 8.15 – 13.50, free entrance. Also other works by del Sarto and Pontormo in the museum.
Last Supper by Ghirlandaio – next to the Ognissanti Church. Open only Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays from 9-12.
Last Supper, Crucifixion, Deposition and Resurrection by Andrea del Castagno – Opening hours: 8.15-13.50. Closed on the 2nd and 4th Monday and 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday of each month. Free entrance. Tel: 055 2388607