Advantages: Wonderful town
Disadvantages:

...Florence is a city rich in countless artistic beauties. Just considering the historical centre alone, churches, museums, galleries and palaces, each one a fine example of a definite architectural style, can be admired. The following are some of the monuments to be seen in the historical heart of the city: the Cathedral, Santa Maria Novella, the Medici's Chapels, the Academy, Santa Croce, Palazzo Vecchio (the Old Town Hall), the Uffizi Museum, the Old Bridge, 'Pitti' Palace and the imposing Boboli Gardens, a classical example of 'Italian-style garden'. On the outskirts of Florence there are further examples of Tuscany's beauty, with Fiesole's stylish hills or the countryside covered in vineyards and olive trees, where farmers grow local produce sold in various markets in Florence and the outskirts. Only 5 kilometres from Florence... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Wonderful
Disadvantages:

...Florence is a city rich in countless artistic beauties. Just considering the historical centre alone, churches, museums, galleries and palaces, each one a fine example of a definite architectural style, can be admired. The following are some of the monuments to be seen in the historical heart of the city: the Cathedral, Santa Maria Novella, the Medici's Chapels, the Academy, Santa Croce, Palazzo Vecchio (the Old Town Hall), the Uffizi Museum, the Old Bridge, 'Pitti' Palace and the imposing Boboli Gardens, a classical example of 'Italian-style garden'. On the outskirts of Florence there are further examples of Tuscany's beauty, with Fiesole's stylish hills or the countryside covered in vineyards and olive trees, where farmers grow local produce sold in various markets in Florence and the outskirts. Only 5 kilometres from Florence... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Truly beautiful and the most Romantic place one can ever hope to visit
Disadvantages: Expensive in parts - caution is necessary over pickpockets as well sadly

...Florence is truly one of the cities that everyone should visit if they ever get the chance, or are anywhere close by. It is easily accessible if one is near the port of Livorno, and makes for a far more interesting and exciting day out than the alternative town that one can visit from this location, Pisa. The Statue of David by Michaelangelo is one of the most famous statues in the world, and there are various fakes adorning the town. The shops are worth a look even if one is only window-shopping – there is a great selection of all the big name designers from around the globe. There are some interesting restaurants dotted around as well – the town really is fun to explore. Besides the other sights there is the bridge over the river which offers some jewellery shops – and some more jewellery shops!... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: full of culture
Disadvantages: queues for some places, tiring but understandable

...After this city was the setting for "Hannibal", I thought I'd write and tell you all that it is even more beautiful than it is portrayed in the film. I went last September, for a week. As Florence (or Firenze as it is called in Italy) has no airport, we flew, from Manchester, to the Galileo Gallilee airport in Pisa. The flight was as comfortable as you would expect with British Midland and took around 2 hours. The first thing I was greeted with when I got off the plane was a life size poster of Pavarotti! Still, Customs were O.K. and we caught a bus to Florence right outside the airport. This took around an hour and cost the equivalent of 4 quid. So the city itself is quite accessible. The first place I wanted to go was the Ufizzi gallery. Unfortunately, when we got there, the queue was an estimated two hours long! We beat... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Lots to do.
Disadvantages: Too much to do.

...I visited Florence for a day last year. It was the last of five excursions on my holiday. Unfortunately I would also have to rate it as the weakest of the five destinations. Thats not to say I didn't like Florence, it is just that Italy has so much more to offer. Other excirsions took us to San Gimignano (incredibe), Piza (More impessive), Isle of Elba (Just go there!) and Volterra near SG. Florence offers many impressive churches and towers to visit. As a christian I would have to agree about how impressive they are. However none of them are anymore impressive than St Pauls on a sunny day. I won't speak against Florence as I did enjoy myself. I would just like to tell people of places which interested me more. If you are into your history and paintings etc then you would love Florence. There are many famous landmarks to see... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Massive amount to see, easy to shop and eat
Disadvantages: Can overload the senses

...If ever you are asked what are the best things to do in Florence you will inevitably have to ask, How long have you got? Florence in a day is a possibility but you will find it exhausting. You will also literally have had just enough time to stand in front of a 15th Century statue or church painting and not nearly enough time to look properly at it and appreciate it. However for many visitors to Italy this is probably as much as you can spare. If your touring itinerary has included Rome, Venice, Siena, San Gimignano, Assisi , Pisa etc in a holiday of a week or so then OK Florence in a day if infinitely better than no Florence at all. One first tip is how to get to Florence. Touring Italy in a hire car is easy, best book as part of your holiday as costs of car hire in Italy are amongst the highest in Europe. However parking in or more... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Culture, Sights
Disadvantages: Quite expensive

...Florence, Italy by the Seat of Your Underpants by kifwebe | Jul 29 '00 (Updated Jan 02 '01) Pros: Awesome history, food, surrounding countryside, street performers, and museums. Cons: You could end up in your underwear! Recommended: Yes Florence is a wonderful city, well deserving of its title as a mandatory tourist stop for those exploring Italy. Known in Italy as Firenze, its Catedral Duomo is unparalleled in its exterior beauty (its interior is somewhat unspectacular in comparison to others I saw throughout Europe), its Ponte Vecchio rich in history and one of the city's most well known landmarks, and its museums hold a wealth of masterpieces from Italy's best known painters and sculptors. Florence by night is quite a different experience than it is prior to sunset. The wonderful markets which line the streets relieving... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: clean, comfortable, good value, well located hotel
Disadvantages: breakfast could be improved, no bath in some if not all rooms

...We recently stayed at the athenaeum during our visit to Florence in March 2007. having booked a flight and hotel deal through expedia for £140pp for 2 nights, we were surprised at the bargain price for a 4 star rated hotel. on expedia.co.uk, it says that the hotel is well located, within walking distance of all the major attractions of florence. On first entering the hotel, the first thing you notice is the lovely sheek modern interior, then you're greeted by the very friendly staff. First impressions were good. They were knowledgable about the local attractions and also well equipped with information about location transport links The room we were given was a standard double, although the bed provided was a combination of 2 singles put together, the combined size was equivalent to a uk "king size" so not too many complaints there... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: has all the usual airport things, and good transport links, unlike some airports I've frequented!
Disadvantages: a bit boring if you are there for more than an hour.

...Pisa Airport was a lot smaller than I was expecting. Don't expect to kill a great deal of time here! It is 'officially' the Airport of Tuscany rather than just Pisa specifically, and accordingly, most of the flights for Florence come into Pisa Airport (because Florence Airport, itself, is even smaller!). This does mean that there are good connections to Florence though. There are about 5 check-in desks so it isn't desperately hard to find out where you are supposed to be going. The announcements are in both English and Italian and there is a helpful information point that sells telephone cards, and from which you can buy train tickets to Pisa or Florence (if you want to buy a ticket for anywhere further afield though, you have to go into Pisa and buy it from the train station there). The train station is literally next... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Unique
Disadvantages: Many tourists

...Firenze is definitively my favourite city in Italy, amongst the 3 major tourist attractions, Venice, Rome and Florence. Spring and early autumns are to me, the best periods to visit it, while I would discourage going there in the middle of summer, when the city is very hot (and can be nearly suffocating when it gets really scorching in August) and the majority of people there are tourists. There is no need here to describe the monuments in the city, I would give you a couple of places to stay, instead. You can try Campeggio Panoramico, which is not in Florence, but in Fiesole, not far from the City. They rent bungalows there. It may be a good idea to book in advance, their tel is 599069. For less than £30 for a double per night, you can stay at “Hotel La Romagnola”, not far from Santa Maria Novella. Rooms are clean and decent. Their tel... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful