Last fall, I got to eat, walk, and gasp my way through Florence, Italy (including a day trip to Venice) with three friends. Literally, it was the stuff of dreams. I already shared how I packed light for this trip, but today I’m recapping everything we did, saw, and ate. So if you’re considering a trip to Florence (and/or Venice), here are my thoughts on what was extremely enjoyable to see/eat/do… and a few things we’d actually skip if we were to do it all over again!
I went to Italy with Elsie & Emma (the sisters behind A Beautiful Mess) and Elise (from Elise Joy). The 4 of us have traveled to each other’s hometowns to hang out and go antiquing & eat delicious things over the last few years – and to celebrate Emma’s 40th birthday, we decided to take an international trip together. After much debate, we landed on Florence, Italy (with a day trip to Venice). The thought process behind it was that none of us had ever been to Italy, and those cities promised to satisfy our mutual interests in art, architecture, outdoor markets, and good pasta.
We relied on a travel agent to help coordinate our trip, book the accommodations & tours, etc. This was my first time using a travel agent (other than the art trip I took to France, which was planned by the gallery that coordinated it), and it definitely took a lot of the stress out of the trip. But there were a couple of activities that didn’t pan out (I’ll explain more below). So reading this might just save you time and money!
We stayed at a beautiful boutique hotel called Hotel Il Guelfo Bianco (the photo above is the view from my room!). I can’t say enough good things about this hotel, which had a lovely lobby, a gorgeous atrium, and little rooftop areas you can sit and unwind (my room was on the 4th floor, and there was a patio right outside of my door!).
We really liked that there was unscheduled time built into every day of our trip (we typically had one planned activity like a tour or museum each day, and then some free time to explore, hang out, eat, shop, etc). For example, we used one of our free mornings to chat and paint watercolor landscapes on the hotel rooftop and it was one of our favorite activities of the week.
Here’s the small notebook I brought to paint in. And as for the paint kit, it was Elise’s from Etsy. This is a very similar watercolor kit.
Getting To & Around Italy
We each flew from our respective cities to Florence. Elsie, Emma, and I were able to connect in Chicago and fly to Munich and then Florence together. We used a taxi service (booked by the travel agent) to take us to our hotel and after that, we accessed everything else on foot for the next 4 days! Florence is very walkable and most of the sites are centrally located. You really can walk all around it to get to everything – especially if the weather is as beautiful as it was when we were there. We went in early November, and it was clear and sunny every day. So as long as you bring comfy shoes, you can pretty much get all around Florence to your heart’s content.
The only transportation other than rides to and from the airport that entire week was a train for our day-trip to Venice. Our travel agent booked those tickets ahead of time, but we were able to change them with no problem on our own (we decided to take an earlier train home since we flew out the next morning and wanted more sleep the night before our early morning flight). You can walk to the train station in both Florence and Venice, so overall it was super easy to get around.
What We Did In Florence
Let’s start with a rundown of the key sites, activities, and tours we booked for this trip. Then I’ll get into the shopping, food, and other highlights.
Women of Florence Walking Tour: We really loved this tour that our travel agent set up for us. We had a female guide who was around our age and had lived in Florence her entire life. She was wonderful. Since this was a private walking tour (just the four of us and our guide) she asked for a lot of input about what we were most interested in seeing.
We said “we’re more into paintings than statues, we love beautiful architecture, and anything involving artistic women would be great- the theme of our trip is basically creativity + girl power.” She was amazing and pivoted randomly after showing us some great paintings and architecture to introduce us to a female artisan who makes Stradivarii violins in a tiny shop with a glass window so people on the street can catch a glimpse of her handiwork. And when we stopped by we learned she was originally from California and had an actual chat with her. Really epic. Our guide also took us through many Florence landmarks and even gave us tips for where to get some good coffee and a nice lunch.
Below is the iconic Duomo, which we also learned a lot about. Absolutely stunning and GIANT in person. This picture cannot capture the true scale.
Since Florence is such an old city, it’s full of gorgeous architecture and heart-stopping craftsmanship. They just don’t make things like they used to. So I highly recommend this tour!
Guinti Odeon: This is a combination cinema/bookstore that was so fun to walk around! Beautiful architecture and so many cool books!
There literally was a movie playing both times we stopped in, and the upper area where you could view the movie was so beautiful – really the entire building was a work of art. And the books were in both English and Italian, so there was a lot to choose from.
Uffizi Gallery: This was universally our favorite art museum in Florence (we also have a fav in Venice that we’ll share) because it was packed with iconic works like The Birth Of Venus by Botticelli (we couldn’t believe how amazing that painting was in person. Literally it took our breath away). These hand-painted ceilings that connected different rooms in the museum were mesmerizing too!
We did another private tour here – so it was just the four of us with our guide – and our guide was the same woman who had taken us on the walking tour a day earlier! We asked how often that happened and she said in 20 years of being a guide, it had never happened before (there are over 40 guides who work at the same company that she does)! We felt so lucky to have her as our guide again.
Gucci Galleria: This was a surprising fav of the entire group. Just a visual delight. Not only does it showcase their iconic clothing designs from many eras, there’s also a room that shows how they design scarves that was completely fascinating. And we all loved the stunning room full of bags with mirrors that you can see below – it creates the illusion that it’s absolutely endless. It’s just a really fun place to walk around like a science museum – and it was very affordable and quick to slip through.
Ikigai Tattoo Studio: Elsie and I traveled to France together a few years ago and got tattoos there, so we decided that getting small tattoos during our trips should be a tradition. When it came to picking out a good spot that we liked enough to get another one (Emma got one with us too) we just googled the tattoo parlors that came up and looked at the client images that came up to see their style. This tattoo salon had lots of women tattoo artist (I personally love the delicate linework that female tattoo artists have accomplished on my arms and wrists) and their photos were extremely crisp and well done. So it really was an easy choice. We showed up without an appointment and within around 1.5 hours we all walked out with new tattoos. Highly recommend. The women there were so welcoming and so talented.
Peggy Guggenheim (Venice): During our day trip to Venice, this was the absolute highlight. Once again we did a private guided tour, but for this location I don’t think it was necessary. It was a much smaller museum and it’s in an actual home, which was gorgeous and so fun to explore. Don’t get me wrong, we learned a lot of insider stuff from the tour guide, but it was much less overwhelming than some of the larger musuems, so I think you’d have fun just walking yourself around too. Don’t forget to check out the garden, where the iconic Peggy Guggenheim herself is buried, along with her pets. She was delightfully eccentric and literally the perfect legend for our creativity + girl power trip. Her musuem and home were amazing and she was a true visionary.
Where We Ate In Florence
Buca San Giovanni: This restaurant was the best! We learned about it from a local that we befriended. It’s a super old building and you walk down these steps to a hidden restaurant that’s in this cove-like room. The food was fantastic and so was the service. The locals all love this place. It’s a good spot that I’m convinced we never would have found on our own. Don’t miss it!
Paszkowski: This is a great bakery and coffee place with little treats. Our tour guide said the locals love it and it for sure had tourists too but the coffee was good and there were nice pastries and stuff. It has a cute outdoor area to sit and people-watch too.
Gilli: This was another cafe our local tour guide said had good coffee, hot chocolate, and lunch. We got some small plates and coffee and loved it. We ate outside and it’s where we met the local who told us about the first restaurant on this list, which was our favorite of the trip.
Cacio E Pepe: We went to this restaurant for lunch and we all got their specialty… cacio e pepe. It was FANTASTIC. I think we all rate it as our very favorite pasta of the entire trip – which is almost impossible to decide – but it was THAT GOOD.
La Bottega Di Via Maggio: This is small restaurant with like two tables and they make it all fresh. We had 3 types of gnocchi and loved it!
Gelato… literally anywhere: We tried so many gelato shops – and each one was great. Our hot tip is that cherry is the best gelato flavor by far – much better than pistachio and caramel or anything heavy. At least that was our consensus. But what do four Americans know? Ha.
Where We Shopped In Florence
Ugo Poggi: This was a gorgeous plate and glass shop. Just unbelievably beautiful plates and cups and mugs and platters. Some of it was extremely expensive but other items felt totally affordable. Elsie got a gorgeous platter that I think she’ll treasure forever. Definitely a fun spot to pop into.
Santo Spirito Vintage Market: This market only happens the 2nd Sunday of each month and we partially planned our arrival so we could attend. It was GREAT!! We actually walked for hours to another market on another day and it was underwhelming by comparison. This one, was very cute! You had to dig through some booths to find treasures, but there were beautiful vintage pins and jewelry, old art and lovely silk scarves. Even some vintage bags and some great paintings. Also Sia from NY Housewives was there the same day we were there, but sadly we missed her.
Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella: This was a spot Elsie heard we had to go to, because it’s a gorgeous old building that sells perfumes, soaps, candles and other beautiful home items. There was a charming pottery pomegranate that was delightfully scented and all of us pined over it (but worried how it would travel back home without shattering). The perfumes and soaps were gorgeous too – and the most beautiful thing of all was the building itself. Such a lovely shop.
Calzaiuoli Leather Factory: The local we met who told us about some great restaurants was actually the owner of this leather goods shop – and let me tell you, they sold some beautiful things. Both Elise and I left with leather bags from this shop. Who can resist that buttery soft Italian leather?
The Things We Would Skip
The Vasari Corridor: Our travel agent booked this tour directly after our private walking tour of the Uffizi Gallery and it was essentially a big white hallway. We would definitely skip it next time. Apparently, there used to be a ton of amazing portraits in there, which now are located in the Uffizi Gallery (we saw them there and loved them) – so the hallway… was really just a hallway. It had some white busts inside, and a very cool glimpse into a church from above – but it was otherwise just a freshly drywalled hallway without any historical info, or any guide or signage telling you anything. We all universally agreed we would have preferred to spend the 20 Euros it cost each of us in many other ways. The gallery itself was amazing – so we’d just say, skip paying extra to see the corridor (which we affectionately named “the bore-idor / snore-idor”).
Row Venice: This activity actually seems great, but there was a hilarious miscommunication / misunderstanding between us and our travel agent. We thought we were getting a leisurely gondola ride with wine & food (you know, the cliche that you picture in Venice!), so we were dressed nicely (I had little heeled boots on) and showed up with our paint kits ready to look out on the water and chat and paint… but it turns out with Cichetto Row, you actually do the rowing yourself! Literally, like a challenge on the Amazing Race. We showed up, and our tour guide was dressed in athletic clothing and said “so… do you guys row?” and we were like… “um, no…. there has been some sort of mistake.”
It was the last activity of the day and we had so enjoyed the Peggy Gugeinheim museum and were eager to get back to the hotel to pack and sleep before an early flight home, so we told her to keep the money and politely backed out (she honestly seemed very relieved after seeing what we showed up wearing). We really appreciated the extra time to rest and pack before our early flights the next morning anyway, but if you’re up for a physical challenge, adventure-type thing, I bet it would be perfect for you!
More Favorite Trips
Here are some recaps of other international (and domestic) trips we’ve taken – including my last girls’ trip to Sedona and how we took our dog to Mexico!
- A Girls’ Trip To Sedona
- How I Packed Light for Italy
- How I Packed Light For France
- Our Trip to Mexico with Kids… and a Dog!
- Costa Rica with Kids
- A Weekend in Charleston, South Carolina with Kids
- Palm Springs, California with Kids
- New Orleans With Kids
- 5 Things We Loved In Dallas, Texas
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