The Florence Duomo with the cupola designed by Brunelleschi
Florence represents the birth of the Italian Renaissance and one of the most important cultural centers in Italy. The city attracts millions of tourists each year, and UNESCO declared the Historic Centre of Florence a World Heritage Site in 1982. The city is noted for its culture, Renaissance art and architecture and monuments. The city also hosts numerous museums and art galleries, such as the Uffizi Gallery and the Palazzo Pitti, and still exerts an influence in the fields of art, culture and politics.
Staying for a weekend is reasonable for this small but culturally rich city. There are plenty of things to do and to see, so, if you have more time available, you will not be bored.
Florence is mostly visited by tourists in the summer and in autumn, but can be visited all year round.
How to best experience Florence?
Discover tickets, tours, and activities for Florence through these providers:
Most popular city pass for visiting Florence
Firenzecard
/5Enjoy priority access to the most imporant Florence museums with the FirenzeCard, the city's official tourist pass. Discover the cultural heritage of Florence as you explore all the city has to offer
As low as
€94
on GetYourGuide.com
Turbopass Florence City Card 48h
/5Book Florence City Card: Museums & Churches Pass tickets online and discover more ways to culture in Italy with Tiqets. 2,3,4 or 7 days options available
As low as
€94.9
on Tiqets.com
Top things to do & see in Florence
Select the following sights and activities to discover best tickets and tours available in Florence.
The city of Florence
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Tuscany |
| Time in Florence |
UTC+1 (CET) Summer (DST) UTC+2(CEST) |
| Language spoken | Italian |
| Currency | Euro (€, EUR) |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Airport | Amerigo Vespucci Airport (3.1 mi, 5 km) |
Florence is a beautiful city in Italy, which city center has been declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
Where is Florence, Italy?
Florence is located in the lovely Tuscany region, in the center-north of Italy.
When was Florence founded?
Florence was established by Julius Caesar in 59 BC as a settlement for his veteran soldiers. The original name of “Fluentia” derives from the fact that the city was built between two rivers and then was later changed to “Florentia” (“flowering”). During its long history Florence has been a republic (with the Medici family at the end of the 15th century, they ruled Florence for about 300 years), a set of the duchy of Tuscany, and even capital of Italy between 1865 and 1870.
The “Giglio of Florence”.
The Giglio of Florence is not a lily, but a stylized iris or a so-called “fior di giaggiolo“. There are several hypothesis about its origin: some historians believe that it is due to the iris field which grew spontaneously around the city, others think it is related to its meaning of pureness and to the important cult of the Holy Virgin. The “giglio” is the embleme of Florence since 11th century. It differs from that of the areas under the Florentine dominion in that it has the stamens, or organs suitable for reproduction.
Florentine fashion.
Florence’s connection with fashion is ancient and has its roots in the past, in fact since the 1300s the city has been a well-known textile center. For your fashion tour you can start with a nice walk in the streets of Florentine fashion. Starting with via Tornabuoni and its side streets, via degli Strozzi and via della Vigna Nuova. But it certainly doesn’t end there. The city is plenty of “sacred” places of Florentine fashion that are not to be missed by all fashion addicts and they are not just boutiques but also real museums such as the Gucci museum, to name one. The city has boasted the birth and development of internationally known stylist such as Gucci, Roberto CXavalli, Emilio Pucci, Salvatore Ferragamo, Enrico Coveri, Patrizia Pepe, Ermanno Scervino and many others, who develop famous fashion products here in Worldwide.
Florence: cradle of the Italian language.
Great names in literature such as Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarca, Giovanni Boccaccio, Guido Cavalcanti and many others have been part of the history of the city. Florentine is a Tuscan dialect and the immediate parent language to modern Italian. Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio pioneered the use of the vernacular instead of the Latin used for most literary works at the time. They used their own language, the Florentine vernacular descended from Latin, in composing their greatest works. The oldest literary pieces written in Florentine go as far back as the 13th century. Florence’s literature fully blossomed in the 14th century, when the writers composed their most important works. Dante’s masterpiece is the Divine Comedy and he is considered as the father of the Italian language.