Best places to gaze, graze and shop in Florence, Italy

Best places to gaze, graze and shop in Florence, Italy

by | Feb 2, 2017 | Europe, Italy

Florence is a compact and elegant city filled to the brim with art, incredible food, fashion and charm.  It’s easily navigated and very walkable.  If you love art and luxury fashion brand names, you will certainly get your fill here.  That said, sitting at a café to eat and people watch is also one of the best ways to spend your time.

Some of the best places to gaze, graze and shop in Florence Italy:

Il Duomo – in the Piazza del Duomo

The Duomo is the cathedral in the center of town and it’s stunning.  Enter to enjoy the dome and art inside (free admission).  As well, climb to the top to enjoy the view ($8 euro).  The adjacent bell tower that sits next to the cathedral can also be climbed to view from the top ($6 euro).

The Piazza del Duomo is bustling with surrounding cafes, souvenir vendors, shopping, artists and tourists.

Shopping

Walking from the Piazza del Duomo on Via Calzalioli (and nearby streets) towards Piazzi D’ella Signoria/Uffizi Gallery, you will be lured by lots of shopping.  There are also vendors selling souvenirs.  This is a great place to pick up some Italian fashion items.

But make note that although most of these items say, Made in Italy, what that means is more, Assembled in Italy, as the components are made in China, shipped and assembled in Italy.  To buy a fashion item truly made in Italy will cost a lot of money.  Nevertheless, I loved it all and did make many purchases as souvenirs!

If you are interested in purchasing high-end brand name items, head to Via de’Tornabuoni.  Here you will find Gucci, Pucci, Cavalli, Ferragamo, etc.

If you have the time and your shopping addiction (or curiosity) won’t let you rest, head out of the city to The Mall outlet.   This outlet houses various fashion brand-name labels at varying levels of discount.  Reach this outlet by taking the Sita bus (bus terminal next to the SMN train station) for $13 euro round trip.  Check it out at themall.it

Uffizi Gallery & Galleria dell’Accademia – Art museums

Uffizi is where Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Primavera is housed and Galleria dell’Accademia is where the David is housed.  These are what you came to see but there are other major works of art in the museums.

The queues are long even in early May.  I recommend to buy tickets online so that your time can be maximized inside the museum versus outside.  Go to firenzemusei.it to reserve your ticket.  Each museum is $8 euro plus a $3-4 euro processing fee per ticket.

Note: although you have a pre-purchased ticket, give yourself time to collect the ticket and gain entrance.  There are also lines for pre-purchased.  In the case of Uffizi, you have to go to another building to collect your ticket, then return to Uffizi and join a line for entrance.

Ponte Vecchio

Ponte Vecchio is Florence’s most famous bridge.  As a study abroad student in 1995, I remember being on this covered bridge and there were merchants creating the most detailed filigree gold jewelry while you watched.  Alas, today there are no merchants outside doing demonstrations.  However, there are still gold shops there for you to purchase as well as souvenir, retail and food shops.

Boboli Gardens

Boboli Garden is an outdoor walkable sculpture garden that is accessed by the main entrance from Piazza dei Pitti.  The crowds thin out in some places in the garden which is refreshing.  It is walled with only one entrance.  To reach the entrance, cross the Ponte Vecchio bridge and continue to walk along Via Guicciardini.  $7 euro for gardens alone; extra for other museums.

Piazza Michaelangelo

This was one of my favorite places in Florence.  Bus #12 or 13 takes you up a winding hilltop.  Or you can walk (this is more strenuous and timely).  At the top, get off at the square that overlooks Florence.  I was there around sunset.  I recommend this time since you can capture many different photo shots in many different lighting.

You’ll see the Ponte Vecchio, other bridges and Florence’s other red-tiled buildings in the distance.  As well, there are vendors selling food and souvenirs.  Or, opt to bring a snack and sit out and enjoy that magnificent view.

Getting to/from Florence Italy:

If you’re coming from Rome’s Termini train station, take a Trenitalia train to Florence train station, Santa Maria Novella.  To get to Termini from the metro, it is stop: Termini.  Make sure to search and pick Firenze SMN and Roma Termini.  Check the duration of the trip which should be 1.5 hours.

There are 3 classes of trains that you can research on their site.  Some are express and others local (may take 3X as long).  Rome-Florence one way tickets can be as low as $20 euro if you book ahead.  Booking closer in means higher pricing as seats are taken and availability lower.  I highly advise to book ahead.

Since this is a main route, there are trains every ½ hour or hour.  From SMN, there are numerous local buses to take you to Florence’s center or elsewhere.  If coming from another direction than Rome, book your train ticket at Trenitalia also going to SMN.

Check out my post on Italian Rail travel for more detailed information.

Reading & Research:

Check out Fodor’s Florence & Tuscany for even more places to go.

Il Duomo - Florence, Italy

Uffizi Gallery

Galleria dell'Accademia

Boboli Gardens

Ponte Vecchio

Via Tornabouni

Piazza Michaelangelo

Via Calzalioli

The insider’s guide to sightseeing in Vatican City

The insider’s guide to sightseeing in Vatican City

by | Jan 31, 2017 | Europe, Italy

When vacationing in Rome, Vatican City is a must-see on any travelers list.

Vatican City is its own city-state in the middle of Rome.  It is the smallest country in the world.  Pretty unique.

Don’t let the size fool you though.  Visitors can spend a whole day (or days) exploring the museums, cathedral, gardens, etc via self-guided tours or a guided one.  There’s so much to see that you are guaranteed sensory and information overload.

Plan your time accordingly and give yourself some buffer time to linger and for lunch.  If you are here during late spring and summer (mid-May – Sept), I advise to buy your tickets online before arrival.  The lines get lengthy in summer.  For the guided tours, there are a set number of spots per time slot so availability may be gone if you wait too long.  If only visiting Vatican museums (Sistine), you can buy your ticket at the ticket office or online (during peak times).

Review the Vatican City homepage where you can view different options (tours, guided and self-guided) and buy tickets.

vatican museum ceiling
vatican museum ceiling
last supper tapestry vatican museum

Here are the most popular sightseeing highlights:

Vatican Museums

Visiting the Vatican museums, the Sistine Chapel and other art in the building should be a first stop.  Once inside the Sistine chapel room, you have to be silent as it is a chapel and there are no pictures allowed.  Guards inside will shush the crowd when it gets too noisy and will monitor and make you delete pictures.  Inside, the ceiling is of course spectacular but there are also other paintings of recognizable religious scenes (Jesus on the mount, Moses coming down the mountain to find the golden calf, the last supper, etc).  Cost: $16 euro for museum only.

Sistine Chapel by Michaelangelo
vatican museum corridor
mosaic tile floor vatican museum
vatican museum spiral staircase

Vatican Gardens

The garden tour is 45 minute on an open bus with audio in multiple languages.  You enter the Vatican Museum entrance/ticket office and the tour leaves from the rear of that building.  Audio (headphones) is in multiple languages so you select your choice before the tour begins.  Tour price of $38 euros includes admission to the Vatican Museums (above) including the Sistine Chapel.  After completing this tour, you are dropped off at the same place you left and from there you go up the escalators to the Vatican museums.  I thought this tour was ok and maybe the extra $22 euros was a bit steep.  But you do get to see another part of the Vatican so that was interesting.

Vatican Gardens
vatican gardens
waterfall in vatican gardens

St Peter’s Basilica & Square

St Peter’s Basilica can be reached by walking through St. Peter’s square.  When I visited, there were numerous chairs set out for a papal address.  Inside the cathedral is filled with statues, stained glass and impressive art and architecture.  One notable piece is Michaelangelo’s Pieta sculpture which is behind bulletproof glass (picture below).  This is the only work of art that Michaelangelo signed (signature on Mary’s chest).  As you can imagine, this piece is very famous.   Many visitors flock around the glass to take pictures.  The basilica is open entrance (no fee) but at peak times there is a queue for entrance to manage the crowds.

st peters basilica
st peters square
michaelangelo's pieta

Climbing to the dome at the top of St. Peters

To access the entrance, walk around to the side of the basilica for the entrance.  If you’re facing St Peter’s square from the basilica, its on the left side.  There’s an elevator option to take you up partially but to get to top you’ll have to walk up the stairs.  I enjoyed the climb which gets pretty narrow towards the top.  If you’re claustrophobic you may feel a little cramped.

But once you get to the top there’s lots of fresh air.  During your ascent, there is a viewing area/platform that you can stop off and walk along the inside of the dome.  In other words, you are walking inside the circumference of the dome and looking down onto the crowd of St Peter’s.  That is very cool.

Ascend further to the top where the view is wonderful.  It’s of the whole San Pietra plaza below.  It’s $5 euro to climb and a bit more to take the elevator part way.

Beautiful mosaic st peters
View of st peters basilica from viewing platform dome
view of st peters square or san pietra square

Check out these fun resources to learn more about the Vatican:

Video: The Vatican Tapes
The Vatican Cookbook: presented by the Pontifical Swiss Guard
The Vatican Diaries
Michael Collin’s: The Vatican

Getting to/from Vatican City:

To get to St. Peter’s square and basilica, take a bus to a spot close to the entrance and then walk.  From my hotel (Crown Plaza Rome), I took the bus running on Via Gregorio VII (south side of entrance).  Then, I walked as I got closer.

Via della Conciliazione heads directly towards the St Peters square.  This street will have several buses whizzing by.  If going to the Vatican museum first, then use the metro or a bus on the northern side.

Ask the bus driver beforehand if the bus is heading towards Vatican.  Or use Google Maps (will show the route and bus number).

The museum area is walled so to get from museum to cathedral (and reverse) you’ll have to walk around the wall perimeter.  Metro stop: Ottaviano-St. Pietro is closer to the Vatican museum entrance.

Sistine Chapel

St Peter's Basilica

St Peter's Square

Rome’s top 6 attractions – A walking tour

Rome’s top 6 attractions – A walking tour

by | Jan 26, 2017 | Europe, Italy

Take a walking tour of Rome’s top 6 attractions.

Rome is overflowing with art, architecture, incredible food & people and wonderful neighborhoods with their own distinct flair.  You could spend weeks here and still have things on your list to see and do.  You could also spend weeks here café-hopping and people watching and be perfectly content and wanting more time to linger.

I came to Rome when I was a study abroad student in Strasbourg, France during the spring holidays and all these years later Rome is still one of my favorite cities.  This time I returned with my family and since I was the only one here before, I became the guide.  We started with a walking (& bus) tour through the heart of Rome to capture the city’s best highlights.

The Colloseum

The Colloseum is Rome’s most iconic attraction with good reason.  Join the queue to purchase a ticket or buy one online beforehand.  There are a lot of ticket agents so the line moves fairly quickly but in summer I would buy this ticket online to not waste time.

This ticket costs $12 euro and gets you in to see the Colloseum’s inside structure (as well as the Forum and Palantine Hill) and is valid for 2 days.  There are daily guided tours in English to see the inside structure at set times.  To see the underneath you will have to buy a special tour/ticket (from the same ticket office or online) that also has set times.  Metro: Colloseo

The Roman Forum

The Forum is a roman city that was unearthed near the Colloseum but which rests below ground (ie. below street level).  You can glimpse parts of the remnants of the old city (Forum) by walking on the streets (near the Colloseum).  If you are a history buff you may want to explore more thoroughly but know that appreciation can be had at the street level as well.

For a panoramic view, head to the Piazza del Campidoglio (terrace) where you can get a beautiful view of the Forum and the Colloseum.

 

 

The Pantheon

The Pantheon was an ancient temple for the gods but is now used as a church.  It’s considered an architectural wonder as the open air dome is the largest unsupported concrete dome in the world.  This is a very “open” building with the 16 massive columns at the entrance leading inside where the dome is open and provides the light source.

Yes, when it rains it does fall through into the middle.  Lined with statues, there’s also a church altar and the tomb of Raphael (artist) here.  I was here during the day but I’ve heard that it’s lit up nicely at night and the effect is beautiful.

Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona is a bustling plaza with the beautiful Four Rivers fountain sculpted by artist Bernini as well as the Fountain of Neptune.  Lots of shops, artists and restaurants around the plaza.  Good spot to get café, lunch or some gelato and people watch.

 

 

Trevi Fountain

The Trevi fountain is quite large and memorable from the movie, Roman Holiday.  Made from travertine – it’s the same material that’s used in the Colloseum.  In 2013, Italian fashion brand, Fendi, committed $2+ million to refurbish the fountain.  Then, in the fall of 2016, Gucci had a runway show on top of the fountain’s pool of water to celebrate its revamp.

Linger here, toss a coin over your shoulder and wish for something special.  If possible, view this fountain during day and also at night for two different perspectives.

Spanish Steps

These 135 steps are more like a grand staircase that lead to a square.  Set with bourgeanvilla up and down, this makes for a great photo (if you can get people out of your shot).  Lots of shopping and gelato.  Also, a good spot to people watch.  Metro stop: Spagna

 

 

Of course this is just a sampling of Rome – there are neighborhoods, restaurants, sculptures, churches, gardens and more but this walking tour will hit the highlights.

To get psyched for a trip to Rome, check out these movies that feature this great city: Roman Holiday, Inferno, Angels and Demons.

Some Rome books that you can check out: Fodor’s and Lonely Planet.

Getting to/from/around Rome:

Rome’s main airport is Fiumicino International Airport (FCO).  From the airport, you can take a taxi, bus or train into the heart of Rome (Metro stop: Termini).  For example, a taxi from FCO to Crowne Plaza Rome (where I stayed) cost $40 euro for 4 people.  I approximate this ride to be 16 miles and 20-25 minutes.

In Rome, buses abound all over.  Ask a local or bus driver where the bus is heading. You can hop on/off when you see someplace interesting.  There’s also the Metro/subway – you can buy a 3 day pass which I did for $16.5 euro.  A ticket for metro, bus or costs $1.5 euro and is good for 75 minutes after initial stamp.

You can use ticket initially for the metro then take the bus but not vice versa (bus to metro).  The metro will help you cover large areas and avoid street traffic if you’re going from one end of Rome to another but the bus is more scenic as it is above ground.
And of course, you can walk which is the best way to discover hidden gems.  Secure a map and “roam” around.

The Colloseum

The Pantheon

Piazza Navona

Trevi Fountain

Spanish Steps

The Roman Forum

Panoramic view of Colloseum+Forum

Piazza del Campidoglio – view from terrace

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