Italy Travel Guide: Florence + Tuscany
We just got back last week from our two-week adventure through Italy! If you have been following along on Instagram, I have been sort of “vlogging” it on my Story every day to bring you along (it’s all saved to my highlights in case you missed it). But after tons of requests for more specific information in a blog post, I thought it would be great to write it all down for you while it’s fresh in my mind. So many of you messaged me saying that you have similar trips coming up, so I hope sharing my Italy itinerary can be helpful when planning your trips!
Click to Shop
Two weeks and so many cities is a bit too long for one post, so I am going to break it up into pieces by area: Florence & Tuscany, Positano & the Amalfi Coast, and lastly, Rome. In each post, I’ll include how many days we spent at each spot, the towns we visited, where we stayed, what we ate, and what we did! At the end I will make sure to do a post on what to pack if you’re headed to Italy in the Spring/Summer (including shoe info…that was my most asked question!).
So, let’s get started! Today I’m sharing our itinerary for Florence & Tuscany. But before I get started, I have to let you know that because of our crazy work schedules Daniel and I did nothave the time to plan this two week vacation ourselves. Neither of us had ever even been to Europe prior to this trip, and we honestly felt out of our league. We didn’t want to spend so much on a trip and not get everything we could out of it. So, we enlisted the help of my friend Whitney who is a travel consultant.
The nice thing about a travel consultant versus a travel agent is that you pay them hourly and they make no commission at any of the places they send you. So we knew she was always sending us to the best spots without any bias! You can also enlist her help for just some pieces of the trip: just certain cities, hotel bookings, or just activity ideas. Whatever works best into your schedule and budget, she can help! Message her HERE for more info (and no, this is in no way sponsored. We paid her for her services and are so glad we did!!!).
Click to Shop
Anyways, let’s get started with the Florence & Tuscany itinerary! We flew from LAX to Florence on May 15, but didn’t arrive until the evening of the 16thdue to the time change. We took a cab from the Florence airport to our hotel, the NH Collection Porta Rossa. I can’t recommend this hotel enough! It was beautiful, the staff was so sweet, and there was the best breakfast included every morning.
We immediately dropped our stuff in our room and went off exploring. We only had a couple hours before dinner, but we got to walk and see the area surrounding our hotel. Our dinner reservations that night were at Osteria del Cinghiale Bianco. Whitney made most our dinner reservations prior to our trip because food is always a tough one for us! We shared the pesto pasta and Florentine steak. Italian steaks are no joke…they are huge! They give the sizing in kg, which we are not familiar with and so we were shocked when Daniel’s steak came out and took up the entire plate! I would totally recommend this spot for dinner though; it was yummy!
The next day was our only full day we had to explore Florence so we did a lot of walking! We started out by heading to the Duomo (or Cathedral). We didn’t have a desire to go inside, but you can buy tickets to see the dome inside. We then checked out the surrounding streets which is where the Galleria de Academia is and you can see the famous “David” statue. The line to get in is pretty long, and since we only had one day in Florence, we didn’t wait.
I also had to find a curling iron in Florence because I didn’t bring mine. I had heard horror stories of people burning their hair off by using power converters, so I figured I would just get one there. This proved to be tough!! I finally found a girl in a pharmacy that spoke a little English and was able to point me in the direction of where to get them. If you are in the same boat, there are two small hair shops on Via Guelfa near the Duomo that have them. I paid 25 euro for mine.
We then headed over to Mercato Centrale, which is like a big local farmer’s market. Downstairs you can find all the local cheeses, meats, and homemade pastas! It is definitely a fun thing to see and a neat place to pick up souvenirs to take home. From what I’ve heard, the parmesan cheese preserves really well for a couple weeks until you get it home! Upstairs is like a food court where you can eat lunch or snacks. There are pizza and pasta spots galore with tons of local food.
After this, we headed to a super cute outdoor lunch spot, Trattoria ZaZa. They had tons of quintessential Italian options and the location is right near Mercato Centrale. We explored the city a bit more and then walked across the Pone Vecchio bridge and got gelato. This is the most famous bridge in Florence with a bunch of old little local jewelry shops. After that, we walked up to the Piazzale Michelangelo. I hear the sunset is amazing here! We were a bit too early for that because I believe we were there around 6:30 and the sun didn’t set in Italy until around 8:15pm while we were there!
We finished off the day with dinner reservations at La Giostra. This is the most romantic little spot with the prettiest lights lining the ceiling. It was completely book that night, and they were turning away people who didn’t have a reservation, so if you want a romantic dinner while in Florence, be sure to book this one early! Another little tip: we learned that Italians eat dinner really late. Our typical 7:00pm dinner is what identifies you as a tourist there (or so our tour guide said…haha). Their normal dinner time is around 9:00pm. This is perfect because you can catch the sunset each night before dinner!
The next morning we rented a car in Florence to drive through Tuscany! Our first stop was Siena and it was about an hour and fifteen minute drive to our hotel, the NH Hotel Siena. We walked through the quaint little streets to the famous Piazza del Campo for lunch. This is huge courtyard with restaurants and shops along the edges. We sat at one of the outdoor restaurants with a view, but we disappointed that they served frozen pizza!! We had to laugh because what restaurant in Italy serves frozen pizza?! I would recommend asking before you sit down here!
Click to Shop
Honestly, we were not that impressed with Siena. We had seen pretty much the whole town in a few hours and were ready for something different, so we drove about 45 minutes to San Gimignano. And we were so happy that we did!!! This was our favorite little town in Tuscany! They had the yummiest gelato spot (here) in the main courtyard of the town and the cutest local shops. We browsed through the shops for a few hours and climbed the Torre Grossa which has the most gorgeous Tuscan views! We ate dinner at Sosta sulla Francigena which had views out of a storybook! The food was not amazing, but the sunset views were the best of the whole trip. I would totally eat there again just for that!!
The next day we left our hotel in Siena and headed to the next little Tuscan town, Montepulciano. We stayed at the Salcheto Winehouse which is a winery with only 6 boutique rooms. It was so beautiful and quiet, and your stay includes a wine tour and tasting (we don’t drink wine, but if you do this could be a great option!). We headed to our cooking class that afternoon at Villa Cicolina. We were actually supposed to stay here, but something happened with construction and we weren’t able to. If I had the choice, I would definitely stay here! The views are incredible and it feels like a Tuscan villa with roses everywhere and the most gorgeous infinity pool.
Click to Shop
Our cooking class was from 3pm-7pm and we actually cooked for the restaurant that they have there. It seats 20 people, so it wasn’t too much food, and the class was only 6 people. We got to make homemade pasta, which was what I cared about most…haha! It was super fun, but a little less “hands on” than I imagined it would be. The dinner at the restaurant is included in the class, so we got to eat everything we made. It was a four course meal and super yummy, if I do say so myself 😉.
The next day, we explored the town of Montepulciano a bit before we headed to Pienza. This was such a cute and quaint town and definitely our second favorite spot! Afterward, we headed to our next hotel, Fonte De’ Medici. It was about an hour and a half drive and feels like it is pretty far out, but it is stunning! The rooms were very quintessential Italian and the grounds are gorgeous. Relaxing by the pool is the perfect thing to do in the evening here, but it happened to rain the night we were there. So, we took advantage of the fact that they had a gym (no other hotels we stayed at in Italy did) and got a little work out in. We had dinner in the restaurant at the property, and it was great!
Click to Shop
The next morning, we headed back to Florence to drop off our rental car before heading to Positano & the Amalfi Coast! So stay tuned for that travel guide! And let me know if you have any questions about our Florence & Tuscany itinerary! I would love to help!
Comments Off on Italy Travel Guide: Florence + Tuscany