Florence in four days
Florence: Uffizi Gallery and Accademia Gallery guided tour
- Skip the line
- Free cancellation
Four days gives Florence room to breathe. You have time to see every major museum properly, explore multiple neighbourhoods, fit a half-day or day trip to Siena or Fiesole, and still leave an afternoon free for wandering without a plan. This is the version of Florence where the city stops feeling like a checklist and starts feeling like a place.
Budget estimate: €260–360 per person over four days including all museums, daily meals, transport and one day trip. The day trip to Siena adds €20–30 for the bus or organised tour.
Key bookings: Uffizi, Accademia, Medici Chapels, Duomo dome and the Siena day trip all require advance reservation. The skip-the-line guide explains every museum’s booking system.
Day 1: Arrival and the Uffizi
Morning: arrival and orientation (9:00–10:30)
If arriving by train, Santa Maria Novella station deposits you 15 minutes’ walk from the Uffizi. Drop bags at your hotel, orientate yourself with a coffee, and walk south toward the river.
The best quick orientation is to walk straight through to Piazza della Signoria — the civic centre, the Loggia dei Lanzi’s open-air sculptures, and the first glimpse of the Duomo’s dome above the rooftops. Fifteen minutes of observation here will frame everything you see for the next four days.
Mid-morning: Uffizi Gallery (10:30–13:30)
The Uffizi with a timed entry ticket, three hours, pace yourself. On Day 1 of four, the pressure is off — you don’t need to sprint. Key rooms covered in the three-day itinerary; with four days you can also linger in:
- Room 15 (Leonardo) — two works including the unfinished Adoration of the Magi
- Room 49 (Caravaggio) — Medusa shield and Bacchus, both early and startling
- Room 64 (Rembrandt) — self-portraits, a counterpoint to the Italian rooms
The Vasari Corridor, when accessible, extends the visit: a 1 km private corridor above Ponte Vecchio connecting Palazzo Vecchio to Pitti Palace. Check current opening status before your visit.
Lunch and afternoon: Santa Croce neighbourhood
After the Uffizi, walk east 15 minutes to the Santa Croce district.
Lunch near Santa Croce:
- Osteria del Caffè Italiano (Via Isola delle Stinche 11) — solid Tuscan lunch, courtyard seating, mains €14–20
- Trattoria da Ruggero — slightly further south but worth it for ribollita
- Enoteca Alessi (Via dell’Oca 27) — excellent wine and panini, good for a lighter lunch
Afternoon: Santa Croce Basilica (14:30–16:30)
Santa Croce is the Westminster Abbey of Florence: Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and Ghiberti are buried or honoured here. Entry ~€9. The interior holds:
- Giotto’s frescoed chapels (the Bardi and Peruzzi chapels) — damaged but remarkable
- Donatello’s gilded Annunciation — one of the finest Renaissance reliefs
- Dante’s cenotaph (he died in Ravenna, which refused to return his bones)
The museum and Pazzi Chapel (Brunelleschi’s small masterpiece in the cloister) are included in the entry ticket.
Evening: Piazzale Michelangelo sunset (17:30)
First evening, first sunset view. Walk to Piazzale Michelangelo — 25 minutes from Santa Croce via the Ponte alle Grazie and up the stepped viale. Or bus 13 from Piazza Adua (€1.70).
Dinner, Day 1:
- Buca dell’Orafo (Vicolo dei Girolami 28) — Florentine classics one block from Ponte Vecchio
- Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco (Borgo San Jacopo 43) — Oltrarno, wild boar and game dishes
Day 2: Accademia, Medici Chapels and San Lorenzo
Morning: Accademia Gallery (9:15–11:00)
The Accademia and Michelangelo’s David. With four days, take the slower route: start with the Byzantine and medieval panels in the first rooms (Orcagna, Daddi), then move to the Prigioni corridor, and arrive at the David rotunda when some of the earliest visitors have already moved on.
The museum also holds a collection of historic musical instruments — an unexpected pleasure if you have time.
Mid-morning: Medici Chapels (11:30–13:00)
Five minutes’ walk from the Accademia, the Medici Chapels require a separate timed entry ticket (~€12). The New Sacristy is Michelangelo’s architectural and sculptural masterpiece: the tombs of Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici with the four allegorical figures — Night (asleep, owl under her arm), Day (twisting to face you), Dawn (awakening reluctantly), Dusk (subsiding into sleep).
The Opificio Chapel (Cappella dei Principi) is gaudy, excessive and fascinating: floor-to-ceiling marble and precious stone inlay that the Medici never lived to see completed. Our Medici Chapels guide covers both.
Lunch: San Lorenzo market area (13:00–14:30)
The Mercato Centrale at San Lorenzo is the honest answer to lunch: ground floor vendors selling fresh pasta, cheese, lampredotto and the best produce in the city. Upstairs is a tourist-oriented food hall, more expensive and less authentic. Budget €8–15 on the ground floor.
Alternatively, Trattoria Mario (Via Rosina 2) remains the best-value sit-down lunch in the centre.
Afternoon: Duomo complex (14:30–18:00)
With four days, you have time to do the Duomo complex methodically. Book the dome climb for the mid-afternoon slot (the light through the drum windows at 15:00–16:00 is exceptional) and visit the Opera del Duomo Museum before or after.
The museum (included in the €20 complex pass) holds Ghiberti’s original “Gates of Paradise” doors, Michelangelo’s Bandini Pietà and Donatello’s breathtaking wooden Mary Magdalene. Less crowded than the dome exterior, and often skipped — don’t.
See Duomo complex tickets explained and how to book the Brunelleschi dome.
Evening: Renaissance walking tour (18:30) and dinner
Book a Renaissance and Medici walking tour for early evening — most depart at 18:30–19:00 and last 2 hours. With four days, you now have enough museum context to make a guided walk genuinely illuminating rather than overwhelming.
Dinner, Day 2:
- Il Latini (Via dei Palchetti 6) — communal tables, loud, Florentine steak and Chianti; book ahead or arrive at 19:30 sharp
- Trattoria Sostanza — if you missed it on Day 1
Day 3: Pitti Palace, Oltrarno and day-trip option
Morning: Pitti Palace (9:15–12:30)
Cross to the Oltrarno for the Pitti Palace. On a four-day visit, you can move beyond the Palatine Gallery into the Modern Art Gallery (19th-century Tuscan painting, often empty) and the Silver Museum (Medici treasures: ivory, amber, goldwork).
The Boboli Gardens deserve 1 hour, not 20 minutes: walk the long cypress allée to the top, find the Roman statue of Abundance, and look back over the city.
Lunch: Oltrarno (12:30–14:00)
With Day 3, try an Oltrarno neighbourhood restaurant you haven’t visited:
- Il Santo Bevitore (Via Santo Spirito 64) — excellent wine, seasonal menu, reservations needed at lunch
- Zeb (Via San Miniato 2) — small, beautifully cooked seasonal food, lunch and dinner
- Fuori Porta (Via Monte alle Croci 10) — wine bar and simple Tuscan plates; perfect before the Piazzale walk
Afternoon: Siena half-day trip (optional) or Oltrarno exploration
Option A: Siena half-day trip (14:30 bus, return 19:00)
Siena is 90 minutes by fast SITA bus from Florence’s Santa Maria Novella station (€9 return, buy in advance). The city’s Piazza del Campo — the fan-shaped medieval square — is arguably the most beautiful civic space in Italy. The Duomo interior (decorated black-and-white marble floor, Nicola Pisano’s pulpit) is worth the €8 entry. Return buses at 18:00 and 19:00 get you back for a late dinner.
An organised Siena half-day tour from Florence includes transport and a local guide — the Contrade system and the Palio’s history are much richer with explanation.
Option B: Oltrarno deep-dive
If you’d rather stay in Florence, the Oltrarno neighbourhood guide covers what this afternoon can hold:
- Brancacci Chapel (Santa Maria del Carmine) — Masaccio’s perspective-inventing frescoes; entry €8, small groups only, book ahead
- Santo Spirito — Brunelleschi’s church interior, free; the sacristy holds a Michelangelo crucifix
- Bardini Gardens (adjoining the Boboli, separate entry €7) — quieter, wilder and with rose terraces that bloom in May
- Via dei Serragli and Piazza Tasso — the neighbourhood away from tourists
Evening: aperitivo and dinner (19:00)
Dinner, Day 3:
- Alla Vecchia Bettola (Viale Ariosto 32) — serious Florentine food, the bistecca alla Fiorentina for two (~€55) is worth every euro
- Olio e Convivium (Via Santo Spirito 4) — deli-restaurant, superb charcuterie and natural wines, quieter atmosphere
Day 4: Fiesole, leisurely walking and departure
Morning: Fiesole (9:30–12:30)
Take bus 7 from Piazza San Marco to Fiesole (30 minutes, €1.70). The hill town above Florence was the original Etruscan settlement before the Romans built Florentia in the valley below.
In Fiesole:
- Archaeological Area (€7) — Roman theatre, baths and Etruscan walls; the theatre hosts summer concerts
- Monastery of San Francesco — free, 10-minute walk uphill from the piazza; extraordinary view of the Arno valley and Florence below
- Duomo di Fiesole — the 11th-century crypt is atmospheric and almost always empty
Have coffee at one of the bars on the main square and take in a view that most visitors in Florence never bother to see. The full Fiesole half-day guide covers transport and timing.
Lunch: back in Florence (13:00–14:30)
Return by bus to Florence for a final lunch in the San Niccolò neighbourhood — the eastern Oltrarno, closest to the bus stop:
- Enoteca Pitti Gola e Cantina (Piazza de’ Pitti 16) — wine bar with charcuterie and cheese, excellent Brunello and Chianti selection
- Osteria Antica Mescita San Niccolò (Via San Niccolò 60) — standing lunch, ribollita, excellent value
Afternoon: what you want (14:30–17:00)
Four days gives you one free afternoon. Options:
- Bargello Museum — Donatello’s bronze David and Michelangelo’s early Bacchus; compact, never crowded, ~€9
- Galileo Museum (Museo Galileo, Piazza dei Giudici) — extraordinary collection of scientific instruments; Galileo’s telescopes, the Medici’s celestial globes, interactive models. €9, 1.5 hours.
- Second Uffizi visit — with a four-day pass, some visitors do a focused second Uffizi visit for rooms they rushed through
- Florentine leather workshop — visit an artisan workshop in the Oltrarno for a leather crafting demonstration
- Shopping — Via della Vigna Nuova and Via Tornabuoni for high-end retail; Sant’Ambrogio Market for produce and local goods
Evening: farewell dinner (19:30)
Dinner, Day 4:
- Osteria dell’Enoteca (Via Romana 70) — the finest Tuscan cooking in Florence; set menus €65–85. Worth it once.
- Buca Mario — a final, reliable Florentine classic before you leave
Frequently asked questions about this itinerary
Is four days enough to see all of Florence?
Four days covers everything worth seeing in the historic centre: both major art museums, the Duomo, Pitti Palace, the main neighbourhood walks and a half-day excursion. The city also has secondary museums (Bargello, Galileo, San Marco) that reward a fifth day. Five days in Tuscany adds the surrounding region.
Can I do Siena and Pisa both on a four-day Florence visit?
Not comfortably on this itinerary — both deserve half a day minimum. If you want both, substitute the Siena half-day option (Day 3) with a Pisa morning (trains run hourly, ~1 hour each way), and accept that you won’t see both extensively. The Siena day trip guide and Pisa day trip guide explain what’s realistic.
Should I get the Firenzecard for four days?
The Firenzecard (€85 for 72 hours) covers over 70 museums but requires you to visit roughly 4 museums per day to break even against individual tickets. On this four-day itinerary, you’d use the Uffizi, Accademia, Medici Chapels, Bargello, Palazzo Vecchio and Boboli Gardens — that’s €88 in individual tickets, so the card slightly breaks even on Day 3 only. Read our Firenzecard vs individual tickets comparison for the real maths.
What is the quietest museum in Florence?
The Galileo Museum and Bargello are consistently the least crowded of Florence’s major museums, even in peak season. The Museo Novecento (20th-century Italian art) on Piazza Santa Maria Novella is almost always uncrowded. If Uffizi and Accademia fatigue sets in by Day 4, these are the antidote.
What is the ZTL zone in Florence?
The Zona a Traffico Limitato (ZTL) covers most of the historic centre. Cameras automatically photograph entering vehicles. Fines of €80–335 are issued to the registered owner; rental car companies add admin fees on top. Never drive into central Florence. Full details in our ZTL guide.
Top experiences
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Florence: Uffizi Gallery and Accademia Gallery guided tour
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Florence: Siena half-day tour
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