Three Days in Florence

Morning

Start at the Uffizi with a reserved entry, as early as you can get one. Go straight to the Botticelli rooms for the Primavera and the Birth of Venus, then go on through Leonardo's Annunciation and Michelangelo's Doni Tondo to Caravaggio. The building is part of the show: a U of long corridors that Vasari designed for Cosimo I's magistrates. Pause at the windows at the river end for the view toward Ponte Vecchio, and do not try to see every room.

Afternoon

Walk into Piazza della Signoria, an open-air sculpture court: the Loggia dei Lanzi, Ammannati's Neptune fountain and Palazzo Vecchio's tower. The David by the door is a copy; the original stood here until 1873, and you meet it tomorrow. Then go to the Bargello for Donatello's bronze David and the 1401 competition panels in which Brunelleschi and Ghiberti vied for the Baptistery's north doors. End at Santa Croce, with the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli and Giotto's frescoed chapels.

Evening

Walk down to the Arno and along the embankment toward Ponte Vecchio as the light turns gold. The bridge has held goldsmiths and jewellers since the late sixteenth century, when the Medici cleared out the butchers, and it is the only bridge in Florence that was not blown up in 1944. Cross for the view back from the Oltrarno side, then have an aperitivo (the pre-dinner drink and snacks) and dinner. Keep your energy for the Accademia in the morning.

Where to eat. Lunch the Florentine way: a schiacciata (flat salted bread) sandwich or a plate at a bar near Santa Croce, with coffee drunk standing at the counter. The trattorie around the Sant'Ambrogio market, a short walk east, feed residents rather than tour groups, and suit dinner.

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  Uffizi Gallery

  Florence
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  Palazzo Vecchio

  Florence
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  Bargello National Museum

  Florence
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  Basilica of Santa Croce

  Florence

Morning

Be at the Galleria dell'Accademia for your first reserved entry, so David is almost to yourself. Walk the hall of Michelangelo's four unfinished Prisoners first: made for Pope Julius II's tomb, they lead the eye down to the statue, which has stood under its skylight since 1882. Circle David slowly, back as well as front, before the room fills. The gold-ground paintings and Lorenzo Bartolini's plaster-cast gallery are worth a short look on the way out.

Afternoon

Walk to the Duomo complex. Enter the cathedral first to see Brunelleschi's dome from below, with the Last Judgement frescoed inside it by Vasari and Zuccari. Then climb at your reserved slot (463 steps, no lift) for the herringbone brickwork at arm's length, or take Giotto's Campanile for the view that includes the dome. Finish with the Baptistery's golden mosaic ceiling and the Museo dell'Opera for the original Gates of Paradise, Michelangelo's Bandini Pietà and Donatello's Magdalene.

Evening

Wander up to Piazza Santa Maria Novella, where Alberti's marble façade looks best once the tour groups have gone. Have dinner in the streets around Via de' Tornabuoni, then loop back past the Duomo, whose green, white and pink marble is at its warmest in evening light. Keep it an early night: tomorrow is the longest walking day of the three.

Where to eat. Lunch at the Mercato Centrale, the iron-and-glass market of San Lorenzo: traditional stalls on the ground floor and a food hall upstairs. The Florentine order is lampredotto (slow-cooked tripe, in a bun) or a boiled-beef sandwich; the leather stalls outside are for shopping, not eating.

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  Florence Baptistery

  Florence
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  Giotto's Campanile

  Florence

Morning

Cross to Oltrarno and begin at the Brancacci Chapel inside Santa Maria del Carmine, where Masaccio and Masolino painted the frescoes that changed Renaissance painting; it is entered separately from the church. Then wander the lanes of Borgo San Frediano, where artisans and restorers still work behind open doors, and on to Santo Spirito: Brunelleschi's plain-faced basilica, with Michelangelo's wooden crucifix in the sacristy.

Afternoon

Walk to Palazzo Pitti, the grand-ducal palace of the Medici, and enter the Boboli Gardens through its courtyard. See the Buontalenti grotto, where copies of the Prisoners stand; the amphitheatre cut from the hill for the palace's stone; and the Egyptian obelisk. Then climb to the Kaffeehaus pavilion on the high ground for the view across the rooftops. The palace's own galleries can wait for a longer stay.

Evening

In the late afternoon, climb the hill on foot to Piazzale Michelangelo and on to San Miniato al Monte. Choose the church over the terrace: the piazzale is the postcard crowd, while the Romanesque marble basilica, founded in 1018, sits higher and quieter, with the Cardinal of Portugal chapel and a zodiac floor from 1207. Ask when the monks sing vespers in Gregorian chant. Walk down to dinner in San Niccolò or Santo Spirito.

Where to eat. The Oltrarno trattorie around Santo Spirito and San Frediano do the Tuscan classics: ribollita (bread and vegetable soup), pappa al pomodoro and bistecca alla fiorentina (a thick T-bone, grilled rare, shared). Keep lunch to a bar sandwich so the afternoon stays unhurried.

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  Pitti Palace

  Florence
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  Boboli Gardens

  Florence
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  Piazzale Michelangelo

  Florence