Three Days in Florence: The Sights, the Backstreets, and One Day in Tuscany

By the Klemio team · Updated June 5, 2026

Three days lets you see the famous Florence, dig into the parts most visitors skip, and still take a day out into the Tuscan countryside or a nearby town. This is the version I'd actually recommend.

With three days you stop optimizing and start enjoying. Two days cover the core; the third is where Florence opens up, either deeper into the city's smaller museums and neighborhoods or out into Tuscany by train or bus. I've laid it out so the third day is flexible.

Same Monday warning applies: the Uffizi, Accademia, and most state museums close Mondays. Slot your day trip or your Oltrarno wandering onto the Monday if one lands in your trip, and keep the ticketed sights for the open days.

The Duomo, the David, and the center

1. Morning

   Open with the Duomo complex while it's cool. Walk the cathedral square, go inside the cathedral (the line moves but the interior is surprisingly bare), and if you booked it, do the dome climb at your fixed time. It's about 460 steps, no elevator, tight passages, and roughly 45 minutes up and back, with the best rooftop view in the city as payment. The baptistery and its golden doors are right there too.

   Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence Duomo) guide

   
2. Afternoon

   Lunch at the Mercato Centrale, then a timed Accademia entry for David. Because you've spread things over three days, you can take the afternoon slot here without feeling rushed. Afterward, drift down through the center toward Piazza della Signoria and the free open-air sculptures under the Loggia dei Lanzi.

   Galleria dell'Accademia guide

   
3. Evening

   Early dinner, then a slow evening walk: Ponte Vecchio at dusk, then over Ponte Santa Trinita for the view back. Florence empties out a bit at night once the day-trippers leave, and the lit-up streets near the river are the nicest time to just wander with a gelato.

   Ponte Vecchio guide

   

The Uffizi and the other side of the river

1. Morning

   Earliest Uffizi slot you can get, around 8:15. Go in with a short list (Botticelli, Leonardo, Caravaggio, the Michelangelo tondo) rather than trying to see all 90-odd rooms, because the back half is where everyone's feet give out. Two to three hours is plenty for a first visit.

   Galleria degli Uffizi guide

   
2. Afternoon

   Cross into the Oltrarno for the Pitti Palace and, if the weather's kind, the Boboli Gardens behind it. Boboli is big, terraced, and short on shade, so go in cooler hours and don't expect a quick stroll. If gardens aren't your thing, swap in the Bargello instead, a quieter museum with the best Renaissance sculpture in the city and a fraction of the Accademia's crowd.

   Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens guide

   
3. Evening

   Settle into Piazza Santo Spirito for an aperitivo as the square fills with locals, then dinner nearby. Walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo afterward for the city lights, or save sunset for one of the other evenings if you've already done it.

   Piazzale Michelangelo guide

   

Out into Tuscany (or deeper into Florence)

1. Morning

   Take the third day out of town. The easiest options without a car: Fiesole, a hilltop town about 25 minutes away on city bus 7 with Roman ruins and a great view back over Florence; Lucca, a flat, walled town roughly 1.5 hours by regional train with ramparts you can bike around; or Siena and San Gimignano by bus if you want classic Tuscan hill towns (San Gimignano needs a bus change at Poggibonsi).

2. Afternoon

   Have a long, unhurried lunch wherever you've landed. This is the day to not look at a clock. If you stayed in Florence instead, this is the slot for Santa Croce and its tombs, or the Bargello, plus the smaller streets around Sant'Ambrogio market that tourists rarely reach.

   Basilica di Santa Croce guide

   
3. Evening

   Head back to Florence in time for a final dinner. If you skipped it earlier, end on the terrace at Piazzale Michelangelo or up at San Miniato al Monte for one last look at the skyline you've spent three days walking through. Both are free and the climb is the same 20 minutes from the river.

   Piazzale Michelangelo guide

   

Practical tips

• Use the third day for a day trip. Fiesole and Lucca are cheap and easy by public transport; Siena and San Gimignano take longer and a bus change, so weigh the travel time against your patience.
• If you want a serious sculpture museum without the Accademia crowds, the Bargello is the local secret and rarely busy.
• Spread your ticketed sights across the open days and keep Monday (when the big museums close) for a day trip or free outdoor sights.
• Buy regional train tickets at the station machines and validate or activate them before boarding to avoid a fine.

Florence itinerary: FAQs

Plan the rest of your trip

• All things to do in Florence
• Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence Duomo)
• Galleria degli Uffizi
• Galleria dell'Accademia
• Ponte Vecchio
• Palazzo Vecchio
• Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens