Urgent information needed: I will be in Florence at the end of this month for a few days...?

Question

I need:

1) A few main, important, historic places to visit

2) A few good places to shop (affordable, if possible)

3) A few expressions/phrases typical to Florence

4) A few nice places to enjoy typical food, wines, desserts

5) Somewhere to see local flora and fauna

Answer 1

well i cant answer all the q's but i lived there and i say that u visit the duomo in florence and climb to the top becaus the view is amazing, and for desserts, you must try the MARZIPAN!! Its amazing..and sold in many places. and i think you will b overwhelmed with so many shops and cool things to see, just explore around! have fun!!!!

Answer 2

The duomo is the main site of interest,the exterior is fantastic though the interior doesn;t quite live up to the exteriors promise. Though the fresco is amazing.(fast moving queue of about 20 mins to get in). The uffizi gallery is home to some of the most famous pieces of renaissance art in the world and is itself a historically interesting building. It is probably Florence's premier attraction and definetly worth seeing HOWEVER queues in summer can last for more than 3 hrs. My advice is to book in advance,or get up really early to be first in line! Then there's the ponte vecchio, a very interesting bridge. Unlike the other attractions you don't have to queue. Other attractions include the medici palace There are many less famous churches and galleries throughout Florence,but be prepared to queue wherever you go. For shopping the via tornabuoni is the place to go for fashion,but be prepared to pay top dollar. There is a fashion outlet village in the outskirts,which offers the top brands at lower prices. For clothes the Rinascente department store offers good clothes at reasonable prices. Jewellers abound on the ponte vecchio and throughout Florence, but again these are expensive. For cheaper goods there are flea markets in many places across the city. These offer a wide range of goods from copies of designer clothes/handbags to cheap electrical goods and a whole array of souvenirs.Yes,its tacky but when products identical to designer labels are offered at low prices it's very tempting to buy. I don't know any phrase particular to Florence but useful italian phrases are Io vorrei(I would like) Dove e(where is) Per favore (please) Grazie(thank you) Quanto costa(how much) Costa troppo( too expensive) Prego ( you're welcome) Come stai(how are you) Molto bene( very good). While in florence you must try the ice cream,vivoli gelatateria sells good ice cream.

Good restaurants include Ristorante La Giosta, Ristorante Enoteca Pinchiorri, and Il Latini(best for traditional tuscan cuisine) Tradional tuscan cooking made up mainly of game,porchetta,steak (fantastic!) and shellfish with pasta (vongole) The nicest park is the boboli gardens,in the grounds of the pittim palace. The Parco della cascine is also said to be nice,though I haven't visited it.

Answer 3

1. Ponte Vecchio-A bridge in Florence that has shops built along it (Gold, leather, etc), The Galleria degli Uffizi (the museum in which you can see the real statue of David), Santa Maria del Fiore an emmence cathderal covered in travertine marble, my favorite however is Basilica di Santa Croce where very famous people are buried such as Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli.

2. I didn't find many affordable shops, although in Florence they are know for their gold and leather (so if you need gold jewelry or anything leather you will get great craftmanship and a better deal.) Although watch out for street vendors, they sometimes follow you around until you buy a postcard or cheap trinket.

3. Come ottenete al _________ (How do you get to _____?) Ex: Come ottenete al Croce della Santa? (How do you get to Santa Croce?), Grazie (Thank You), Basta (it means Enough, if street vendors are following you around wanting you to buy something you first say "No, Grazie" and if they insist you can always say "Basta")

4. Most of the place are great, some of the places you will pay for your food and if you want to sit down and eat you must pay extra to do so. If you really want the great places ask the locals, they will give you places that most tourists would never know about.

5. The Ponte Vecchio looks out on the river for a beautiful view. Boboli Gardens on Piazza Pitti, 1 open on Tues. thru Sun. and also Botanical Gardens on Via P.A. Micheli, 3 open on Mon., Wed., Fri., and Saturday. The Botanical Gardens are free (or used to be) and the Boboli Gardens cost about $15 USD but the gardens and sculptures are amazing.

Answer 4

the many fountains, and the art museum!

Answer 5

Duomo is a must if you want to do historical places

Shopping is not that affordable but you can get good leather there.

For food, wines etc. try San Niccolo neighborhood - away from tourists

Source:

http://www.geobeats.com/videoclips/allde...

Answer 6

I went there last summer. The main historical center has everything that you're looking for. I don't know the name of it, but as long as you can get to the large church bell tower you are set. Just look for the tallest building in the city. Like most Italian and Greek cities, everything is flat. There are no tall buildings. The tallest buildings are churches, so you should have no trouble finding it. It is near the river, so if you walk alongside the river, you will run into it. All around the main plaza there are shops, bars, and hundreds of street vendors. Also, check out the bridges crossing the river. Awesome views. I only remember one saying in Italian: Vi Via (Vy Vee-a) spelling? It means go away. Say it to the peasant beggers - no joke.