If anyone would have told me at the beginning of 2020, that my first trip this year would be to Florence in August, I would have thought they were crazy. But, corona happened and changed all our plans. My dive trip to Raja Ampat in April got cancelled and so did our weekend in Florence in May. We didn’t give up though and after re-booking twice, we finally managed to get there in August!

We had wanted to visit Florence for a while, so it felt double good to finally be there. Finally travelling again, out of the lockdown drama and into explorer mode.

We had 2,5 days in Florence and did a day trip to Pisa. It was a hot, hot, summer weekend with up to 37 degrees which called for lots of gelato and celebratory drinks (yay, travelling!). But to be honest, it was maybe just a little bit too hot for sightseeing in a city. So we took it slow, from shade to shade, while sightseeing. On the first day, we walked from our accommodation in Oltrarno across the river to the church Santa Maria Novella. Due to corona, we had to do quite some online bookings to get into certain museum and churches, but it was also nice in a way because we didn’t have to stand in line for a long time. I really liked Santa Maria Novella and it was probably my favourite church of Florence.

Apart from the Duomo, the main cathedral of course! Which was our next stop. Walking through the little alleys of Florence, you’re kind of looking for it and then suddenly…it’s right in front of you! It’s funny how such a massive, impressive building was squeezed into a little square, surrounded by houses. The Duomo is one of the most impressive churches I have ever seen – from the outside. Lines to get inside were super long until we finally managed on the last day – and were disappointed. Outside: wow. Inside: really not that special.

From here, we continued our walk through the historical center of Florence, passing many little squares and churches. One of my favourite squares was in front of Palazzo Vecchio where there is a fountain and a sculpture gallery – Loggia dei Lanzi. After one of the many temperature checks of this weekend (corona measurements), we were allowed up and could explore the beautiful sculptures all for free.

Compared to that, the Galleria dell’Accademia almost seemed a bit expensive later on – but we spontaneously decided to go for a visit anyways and see David. David is probably the most famous inhabitant of Florence – or the most famous sculpture Michelangelo has created. And it is pretty stunning! Only the rest of the exhibits didn’t really wow us at all.

Passing some more pretty squares and having a drink or two along the way, we reached Basilica di Santa Croce and the Arno river with the famous bridge Ponte Vecchio. As it was my birthday, we treated ourselves for a nice dinner and some drinks on the other side of the river – in Oltrarno. A good way to end the first day!

Day 2 didn’t start as successfully, as we climbed up the hill to Forte di Belvedere only to stand in front of closed gates. Corona or normal schedule, I don’t know, but it meant climbing down the hill on the other side and up again to reach Piazzale Michelangelo – THE main viewpoint of Florence. In hindsight, we should have just skipped the fortress anyways, as you’re getting the same view and probably much better from the piazzale. And what a view that was! I always love viewpoints to see a city from above and this one was one of the best we have seen so far.

Later, we crossed the Arno back into the historical center again, where we had booked tickets to see Basilica di Santa Croce from the inside (not really worth it) and Palazzo Vecchio. The palace was actually really beautiful and well worth seeing. Still, a little disappointment awaited us when we learned that we wouldn’t be able to go up the tower for a view due to corona rules. We had chosen Palazzo Vecchio mainly because of its view tower where we were hoping for close-up views of the Duomo and other historic buildings in the center.

On our third day, we took the train to Pisa. where of course the main goal was to see the Leaning Tower. However, there are also many other beautiful buildings on the Miracle Square. The real miracle is of course the tower tough…

Although it was cool to see the Leaning Tower (kind of a once in a lifetime thingy), it took quite a while to get there and it was super busy. We enjoyed exploring the square and taking photos, but had a long wait for the next train as the schedule was a bit irregular (yes, due to corona).

Once back in Florence, we quickly scored some drinks and bus tickets (it was Sunday, so both of it actually felt like a success) and took the bus up again to Piazzale Michelangelo. We dot beautiful day time views the day before, but now we wanted to see some evening light, have some drinks, enjoy the view… and listen to beautiful guitar music as it happened. Not too bad at all!

Our last day was more like half a day and we had pretty much seen everything we had wanted to see. So we ended up taking a bus up to Fiesola, a little village up in the hills above Florence. Here, we took one of the walking routes through the hills and enjoyed the views over Florence one last time. Florence – it’s been amazing to finally see you and to finally be out travelling again! (see more pics by clicking on the photo below)