Florence & Tuscany travel blog
Stories, tips and honest inspiration for your Florence & Tuscany trip
How to book Uffizi tickets in 2026: the complete step-by-step guide
The complete 2026 guide to booking Uffizi tickets — official site vs third-party, prices, timing, what to do if sold out, and what happens on the day.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa half-day trip: what it's actually like
Honest account of the Pisa half-day trip from Florence — the Tower impresses, the Campo dei Miracoli is stunning, and the city deserves more time.
Renaissance art in Florence for non-experts: what you need to know before you go
Plain-language guide to Renaissance art for Florence museum visits — key artists, revolutionary ideas, and how to look at paintings without feeling lost.
Eating your way through Mercato Centrale: Florence's best foodie morning
Guide to Mercato Centrale — what to eat, which vendors to visit, ground vs upper floors, and how to spend a foodie morning in Florence's best market.
Truffle hunting in Tuscany: what actually happens in the woods
An honest account of truffle hunting in Tuscany — the dog, the mud, the smell, and the lunch. What to expect and how to choose a good tour from Florence.
Why September is the best month to visit Florence
The case for September in Florence: lighter crowds, golden harvest light, Chianti grape picking, lower prices, and the city behaving like itself again.
Florence alone: the solo traveller's honest guide to the city
Florence is one of Italy's best cities for solo travel. What makes it work — safety, solo dining, and practical details for making the most of your time.
Florence on a budget: how to do it properly without missing anything important
Budget guide to Florence — what's genuinely free, where museum passes save money, how to eat well for €10, and tricks locals use that tourists miss.
Val d'Orcia by car: a photographer's road trip through Tuscany's most beautiful valley
Rolling hills, cypress avenues, medieval hill towns. A photographer's guide to driving the Val d'Orcia, with exact spots, best light times, and routes.
Tuscan wine 101: a beginner's guide to Chianti, Brunello, and everything in between
Plain-language guide to Tuscan wines — what Chianti Classico means, how Brunello differs from Montepulciano, what a Super Tuscan is, and where to taste
Inside a Florentine leather workshop: what I made and what I learned
Florence leather has a real craft tradition behind the tourist stalls. I spent an afternoon making a wallet in a proper artisan workshop — here's what
A day trip to San Gimignano: medieval towers, Vernaccia wine, and the best saffron gelato in Italy
Practical guide to San Gimignano as a day trip from Florence — medieval towers, Vernaccia wine, how to arrive before the crowds, and where to eat
An art lover's perfect day in Florence — and why it starts at the Bargello
The Uffizi is not where an art lover's day should begin. A curated guide to Florence's finest art experiences, sequenced for the person who wants to look.
Sunset at Piazzale Michelangelo: the honest guide to Florence's best viewpoint
Honest guide to Florence's most famous viewpoint at sunset — how crowded it gets, when to go for the best light, and what's better just above it.
I took a pasta cooking class in Florence: here's what actually happened
Flour on my shirt, wine in hand, tagliatelle I made myself. What a Florence pasta cooking class is really like and how to choose the right one.
Florence in the rain: the best indoor and covered experiences
A guide to Florence on a rainy day — lesser-known museums, covered markets, cosy coffee bars, and why a wet day in the Oltrarno is better than you expect.
What a Cinque Terre day trip from Florence is really like
The train is 2.5 hours each way, the villages are packed, and one day is never enough. Here's the full, honest truth about doing Cinque Terre from
The best rooftop aperitivo spots in Florence (honest ranking)
Not all Florentine rooftop bars are worth it. An honest ranking of the best spots for sunset aperitivo with views, from cheap and brilliant to overrated.
Fiesole in a morning: the easiest escape from Florence's crowds
Fiesole is 20 minutes by bus from Florence and offers Roman ruins, Etruscan history, and panoramic views with almost no crowds. The perfect half-day
An afternoon in the Oltrarno: what Florence's artisan workshops are actually like
An afternoon visiting leather workshops, gilders, and paper marbling studios in Florence's Oltrarno — where Florentine craft still operates at a human
Florence vs Rome: which Italian city should you visit first?
Honest comparison of Florence vs Rome for first-time visitors — museums, food, pace, and the case for each. Plus how to combine both without exhaustion.
A Vespa through the Chianti hills: the most fun I've had in Tuscany
Winding roads, olive groves, a vineyard stop, and wind through Tuscan countryside. A complete guide to Vespa tours through Chianti from Florence.
An hour above Tuscany: what a hot-air balloon flight is actually like
I was terrified of heights, it cost more than I expected, and it remains one of the best things I've done in Italy. A first-timer's honest story.
Siena in a day from Florence: how to do it properly
Siena is one of Europe's great medieval cities and makes a perfect day trip from Florence — if you take the right transport and pace yourself. The honest
How to see Michelangelo's David without queuing for hours
The honest guide to skipping the Accademia queue: which booking options work, what the walk-in wait is really like, and what each option costs.
Christmas in Florence: what it's actually like in December
Florence in December is quieter, cooler, and genuinely magical. A real guide to Christmas markets, winter dining, and what's open over the holidays.
How to spend a rainy day in Florence (and why you should stop complaining about the weather)
Rain in Florence reveals a different city. A practical guide to the museums, markets, and covered experiences that make a wet Florence day as good as any.
A Chianti weekend: vineyards, wrong turns and the best lunch I've ever had
A two-day Chianti road trip from Florence — winding SR222 roads, a farmhouse lunch in Greve, and discovering the best wine is rarely where you planned.
Cycling the walls of Lucca: a day trip worth every pedal
Lucca's Renaissance walls make the best cycling track in Italy. How to do the perfect cycling day trip from Florence, including what to eat and see.
The great Florence gelato taste test: which shops actually deliver
An honest taste test of Florence's best gelato shops — what to order, how to spot tourist traps, and why pistachio colour matters more than you think.
I drove into Florence's ZTL zone by accident — here's what happened next
The fine arrived three months later: €80. A cautionary story about Florence's ZTL restricted traffic zones, how they work, and how to avoid them.
My first morning in Florence changed everything
A personal first morning in Florence: crossing the Ponte Vecchio at dawn, getting lost near the Duomo, and finding the city you didn't know you needed.
The truth about Florence in August — and why I'd still go
38°C heat, half the city on holiday, queues that test patience. But also empty streets at dusk and golden light on the Arno. The truth about August in
A week in Florence on €700: a realistic budget breakdown
Can you do Florence for a week on a real budget? Yes — if you know where to eat, what to skip, and how to use the city like a local. An honest breakdown.
10 things I wish I knew before visiting Florence
Hard-won advice from a first-time visitor to Florence — from skip-the-line realities to ZTL fines, gelato tells and why September beats July every time.