How Many Days in Florence? – Top Tips to Help You Decide

I’m often asked how many days in Florence are necessary to enjoy the city. When we plan a trip, determining how long to stay is often one of the hardest decisions to make. When visiting Italy, this doubt is widespread, especially for the biggest and most popular cities and particularly when you have limited time.

For example, when deciding how many days you need in Florence, there are several things to consider. Is it your first time? Have you already visited the most famous landmarks? How long are you staying in Italy? How much time do you want to devote to museums and historical sites?

In this article, I will go through what you can do in one or more days so you can make a more informed decision on how many days you need in Florence.

Image: How many days in Florence? Florence city view.

How many days in Florence?

What you can do in 1 day in Florence

Admittedly, one day in Florence is really little to allot to such a culturally rich city. Yet, it all depends on the circumstances. For example, I have often made a day trip from Rome to Florence without staying overnight because I have been many times and I live a 90-minute train ride away so to me it’s worth it.

If you have very limited time in Italy and want to just touch and go to as many cities as possible, in one day I suggest you pick only one major site to visit also inside and spend the remaining of your time walking around the historic center.

If you are visiting Florence on a day trip from Rome and need tips for the train, you can check out my full guide.

What you can do in 2 days in Florence

If you have two full days in Florence, you have more room to plan your itinerary, but still not enough to add some day trips. In only 48 hours, first-time visitors are likely to only enter the most famous landmarks and see the remaining monuments from outside.

In this case, it really depends on how fast you want to go and if you want to take some time to relax. If you are determined to see as much as you can, you can do the Santa Maria del Fiore complex in the morning of the first day and the Accademia Gallery with Michelangelo’s David in the afternoon.

On day 2, you can visit the Uffizi Gallery in the morning and one more monument of your choice or a stroll around a historical neighborhood in the afternoon.

From spring to fall, Florence is quite crowded, so if you intend to visit all these places in such a short time, your best bet is to skip the line by reserving your entrance beforehand.

You can find fast-track entrance tickets to the Uffizi Gallery here, to climb Santa Maria del Fiore Dome here, and to see Michelangelo’s David in the Accademia Gallery here.

Image: Palazzo Pitti in Florence.

What you can do in 3 days in Florence

If you add one extra day and make it three, you can either keep the above 2-day plan and also add a day trip, or include more monuments in Florence itself.

Should you decide to spend all three days in town, you can choose to relax a bit and maybe devote a couple of hours every day to strolling around the historic center, along the river, exploring some quaint neighborhoods such as Oltrarno, or treating yourself to some jewelry or leather shopping.

In three days, you are also going to have more time to explore the local restaurants and try Tuscan specialties.

What you can do in 4 days in Florence

When I’m asked “how many days do you need in Florence”, often my answer is at least four. Three to four is how many days in Florence are usually included in most classic 2-week Italy itineraries for first-time travelers.

If you have already been to Florence and visited the main landmarks, I would probably suggest making it shorter. But if it’s your first time and you are an art enthusiast, 4 days are just about the right amount of time.

The more you stay, the more you can see and do, but even though four days allow you to visit more places, I doubt you want to spend your extra time queueing. When traveling to crowded destinations such as Rome, Venice, and Florence, I always suggest optimizing your time as much as you can.

You can do so by either joining a private tour where you have VIP entrances and a guide will take you directly to the most important highlights of each monument, or by booking a skip-the-line ticket yourself.

You can find fast-track entrance tickets to the Uffizi Gallery here, to climb Santa Maria del Fiore Dome here, and to see Michelangelo’s David in the Accademia Gallery here.

Image: Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence.

What you can do in 5 days in Florence

I know that many would probably think that five days is too much for Florence, but my first trip was actually this long and I wasn’t even able to see everything on my list.

In 5 days, I also included two day trips, one to Siena and one to Pisa, but I left the city knowing that since I live in Rome, it would be easy for me to go again. In fact, I went back a few times as a simple Rome to Florence day trip.

Deciding how many days in Florence is never easy, but if you have room in your itinerary, five days give you plenty of time to explore the most famous landmarks in the city and also devote some days to the surroundings, whether it’s towns like Lucca and San Gimignano, or the countryside like the beautiful Chianti region and Val D’Orcia.

To make the most of your five days in the Tuscan capital, I still suggest you reserve some entrances such as the Uffizi, Santa Maria del Fiore Dome (which is even mandatory) and also the bell tower, which is not mandatory but in high season gets crowded.

Some of the places you should definitely include are also the Accademia Gallery, Palazzo Pitti and Giardini di Boboli gardens, Santa Maria Novella Basilica and cloister, San Lorenzo Basilica, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana library, Mercato Centrale market, a walk around the Oltrarno quarter, and a visit to Palazzo Vecchio.

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Angela Corrias, journalist travel writer in Italy in the fall.

About The Author: Angela Corrias

Hi, I’m Angela Corrias, an Italian journalist and travel writer with over a decade of experience exploring my beautiful country. Through FearlesslyItaly.com, I share my favorite places — from iconic landmarks to hidden gems — to help you plan your dream trip to Italy. My work, specially Italy travel guides has been featured in Forbes, National Geographic, and Lonely Planet. I’m here to make your Italian adventure unforgettable!

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