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Pisa
So obviously, we had to mention the Tower of Pisa as it is the most popular and iconic. It is located in what they call the Square of Miracles, or otherwise known as Piazza dei Miracoli. Although smaller in person than we expected, it is still very impressive for it’s age (construction was started back in 1173) and the fact that it is still standing after all that leaning.
We did not do this, but it is possible to climb all 294 steps up to the top. Something to be aware of is that you only get 30 minutes total to climb up, take pictures at the top, and climb back down so make sure you haven’t done too much walking beforehand. Tickets are 18 euros and you can buy them here. Just make sure to purchase them in advance and print off the voucher before your trip.
Travel Tip: Do not let anyone take your picture in front of the tower. This is a common way of scamming/running off with your phone or camera.
Completing the square of miracles are the stunning buildings of the Baptistry and the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta. The square of miracles is considered central to religious life: the Baptistry represents birth, the Cathedral represents life, and the nearby cemetery represents death of course. If you want to visit these places, admission to the Cathedral is free with a ticket purchase and admission to the Baptistry is 5 euros. You can buy tickets for the Baptistry here.
After you are done with the sights of the square, there are a few shopping opportunities (although it might be a good idea to save most of your money for shopping in Florence) located on Via Cammeo Carlo Salomone. Pretty much everything is what we call “touristy” so we did not buy anything ourselves (plus they were pretty pushy) but if you are looking for souvenirs for friends and family, it is all fairly priced. There are a few eateries along the street as well if you are hungry after adventuring around the area.
Florence
We started our brief visit to Florence in the Piazza di Santa Croce, a square with many restaurants, shops, and the beautiful Basilica di Santa Croce. Inside the Basicilia rests the bodies of Michelangelo, Rossini, and Galileo. Admission is 8 euros and it is stunning inside so it’s definitely worth it!
It didn’t take long to see everything inside and then we headed over to grab some lunch at Finisterrae, which is right next to the Basilica, on your right when you’re walking out of it. We tried their bruschetta, don carlos pizza and spaghetti paired with their wine-Finisterrae IGT. It was all delicious!
After lunch, we headed down to the Piazza del Duomo to see the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, the third largest church in the world. The admission is free but their hours vary so make sure to check their website before you go. It is breathtaking inside, with their Renaissance style stained glass windows and the beautiful paintings on the inside of the dome.
Next, we headed to the Galleria dell’ Accademia to see the famous Michelangelo sculptures, including the David and Renaissance paintings. Tickets are 16.50 euros at the museum but you can purchase them in advance on their website for an extra service charge of 6.50 euros and cut the long line to wait to buy the tickets (we wish we would have done this as the long was extremely long). If you do decide to wait and save the extra money, the wait is well worth it. All of the sculptures and paintings are absolutely amazing!
Travel Tip: Be vigilant finding your way to the Academia because the building looks very common with the other Renaissance buildings and street signs are confusing. We were lost trying to find it for a while!
To finish off our visit to Florence, we tried some gelato. There are a lot of different places to eat it, but we loved the gelato at Venchi Cioccolato-Gelato. They have a lot of different flavors, varying from vanilla to nutella. We tried nutella, mocha, and vanilla and they were all delicious!
These two cities in Tuscany are so full of life, things to do, eat, and see. There is so much more to do and we already want to go back! We hope that this has given you a little taste of what we got to experience when we visited.
