Florence

Duomo & Piazza della Signoria

The historic core, stacked almost absurdly dense with the city's biggest names: the Duomo complex, the Uffizi, Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, the Bargello. Everything is a five-to-ten-minute walk from everything else, which is exactly why it's the most crowded few hundred square metres in Tuscany for most of the day. Come very early or very late and it's one of the most beautiful urban spaces in Europe; come at 11am in July and it's a shuffling crowd with gelato in one hand and a phone in the other.

Who it's for: First-time visitors — there's no version of a Florence trip that skips this neighborhood. Art and architecture people (this is where the Renaissance actually happened, in a two-minute radius). Anyone who wants the big-name museums — Uffizi, Bargello, Palazzo Vecchio — walkable from each other without a bus or taxi.

Things to know

  • The Uffizi changed its pricing structure on 1 January 2026: standard tickets are €25 walk-up / €29 online plus a €4 booking fee, with a new discounted €16–20 afternoon ticket for entry from 4pm. It's closed Mondays. Book ahead in any season — walk-up tickets regularly sell out.
  • Climbing Brunelleschi's Dome requires a mandatory timed reservation (the slots sell out first of anything in the Duomo complex, often 2–3 weeks ahead) and, since 1 March 2025, a physical ID matching the booking name. The Brunelleschi Pass (€30, valid 3 days except the Dome's fixed slot) covers the Dome, Campanile, Baptistery, Duomo Museum, and the Santa Reparata crypt.
  • The Cathedral nave itself is free to enter (Mon–Sat 10:15am–3:45pm, closed Sunday to tourists) but that's the nave only — the Dome, Campanile, Baptistery interior, and museum all require the paid pass.
  • In 2026 the Baptistery's ceiling mosaics are partly obscured by ongoing restoration scaffolding — a known, temporary gap, not a sign anything's wrong.
  • This is the single most pickpocket-worked neighborhood in Florence, especially the Calzaiuoli–Signoria corridor and any crowd gathered around a street performer or a shell game. Keep bags zipped and in front of you.
  • Restaurants directly on Piazza della Signoria and Piazza della Repubblica are priced for the view. Walk one or two streets back — Via dei Tavolini, Via delle Oche, Via dei Cimatori — for the same or better food at a fraction of the cost.
  • Ponte Vecchio's upper Vasari Corridor (the elevated Medici passageway above the goldsmiths' shops) has had a start-stop reopening process for years; treat any advertised Corridor ticket with suspicion and check the Uffizi's own site before booking.
  • Sundays: the Duomo nave itself is closed to sightseeing visitors (Mass only), but the Dome, Campanile, Baptistery and museums keep near-normal hours — plan cathedral-nave visits for a weekday.