In this “Just The Tip” mini episode, we share exactly how to spend 48 hours in Florence, Italy. Whether you’re coming in from Rome or stopping by during a longer trip, Florence is full of Renaissance charm and easy-to-love moments.

Florence episode highlights include:

• Walking the city’s streets and soaking in the architecture
• Visiting the Galleria dell’Accademia to see Michelangelo’s David
• Climbing the Duomo for panoramic views
• Watching the sunset from Piazzale Michelangelo
• Shopping and snacking on the Ponte Vecchio
• Exploring Palazzo Medici Riccardi
• Where to shop for high-quality leather (hint: Sabani Leather 1955)
• Where to find Florence’s historic wine windows
• Easy day trip ideas to Pisa, Cinque Terre, or Chianti

Where to Stay in Florence, Italy:

• The Hoxton Florence – Beautiful decor and a nice rooftop terrace
• FH55 Hotel Calzaiuoli – Central location and Duomo views
• Il Guelfo Bianco – Good location and a free breakfast boofay!

Continue your adventures throughout Italy by listening to our one week in Rome and quick visit to Venice episodes.

Check out our curated list of things to do in Florence on our Viator Shop for all the activities in Florence and day trips to nearby Tuscany and coastal areas.Find a great flight deal to Florence by signing up for Thrifty Traveler Premium and watching the daily flight deals (points & cash) that are emailed directly to you! Use our promo code TS10 to get $10 off your first year subscription.

Two Days in Florence – Episode Transcript

0:35

And get ready to embark on a new adventure with us around the globe.

Hey, Squatty’s Travel Squad Podcast is back with Just a tip, our Friday mini episode series where we give you quick travel stories, hacks and recommendations to set you off into the weekend.

Right today you have Kim and I am here to share with you an itinerary for what you could do in Florence, Italy in just two days.

0:57

First, for getting into Florence, I would recommend taking the train.

You can add this into a bigger itinerary where you hit Rome, Venice, other places in Tuscany, other places in the coast of Italy.

But if you’re just stopping into Florence for a couple of days, taking the train in is so easy.

1:15

Florence really is a place to just walk around, look at the historic building, stop in for wine, do some shopping, have some bruschetta, go to an A pair of TiVo.

Just kind of take it slower and really enjoy the art culture there.

I do think there are some must do or must see things while you’re there.

1:35

It is known for a very iconic statue, the statue of David.

There’s many things Florence is known for, but this is one of them.

That is at the Galleria del Academia and I would recommend going in there.

There’s a lot of beautiful art and sculptures in there from this time of life history I should say, and it’s really cool to see.

1:58

The statue of David is also really cool to see like one of these iconic pieces of art that you’ve seen in movies and heard about in textbooks and whatnot.

It is really cool to see it in there.

There’s a lot of other works by Michelangelo in this museum as well, so you want to spend a few hours walking around here.

2:17

Can be crowded at sometimes, but it’s one I recommend if you’re in Florence for sure.

When you’re in Florence, you’re going to want to do sightseeing.

It’s a beautiful city and it’s a smaller place that’s more manageable to navigate than like a big city like Rome.

And so you’ll want to just Mosey around.

2:34

I recommend going over to the Campanile de Jato.

It’s the bell tower.

You’re going to see it if you’re in Florence.

If you’re going to the Duomo, it’s right by that and you’re going to see it.

Beautiful architecture, great pictures, great look of Florence.

2:52

The Duomo is going to be on your list of places you want to visit as well.

I would recommend booking the steps.

It costs maybe €30 for adults and 12 for kids, so it’s not too, too pricey, but it’s a really cool experience where you get to go up 463 steps to the top of the Duomo and you get to walk up these very old historic feeling narrow stairways.

3:16

It is really cool.

So if you have the time and if you have the availability in your schedule, I would recommend doing it.

It is free also just to go in.

So at the very least, definitely do that.

Go inside and look at the pretty paintings and architecture and adornments inside.

3:32

Now, when I went to Italy, it was April of 2019, I was in Florence on Easter Sunday, and I didn’t plan for this to happen.

I didn’t know anything about Easter in Florence.

But I’m telling you, if you have the chance to be there for that, it’s a really cool experience at the Duomo.

3:50

There’s huge crowds that come through there for the celebrations that are happening.

They light off fireworks.

It’s a real time down there and just a cool thing to be a part of as a tourist who never has access to things like that.

Another place I would recommend bopping into is the Palazzo Medici Riccardi.

4:10

This is another museum.

It’s an iconic, very significant cultural site in Florence.

It has just very historic Renaissance architecture, like those stone brick buildings, and inside is absolutely gorgeous.

4:26

It’s also pretty affordable to go in.

I think it’s like €2.00.

You walk right in, you’ll get to see the gardens, the stone walls and whatnot, and then some of the amazing adornments inside, like extremely richly decorated interiors.

And it’s beautiful because when you compare it to that like stone brick exterior and then that beautiful interior, it’s really cool to see.

4:50

I actually went in here because the person I was with believes that his family heritage traces back to the Medici family and so he really wanted to go in and it was cool.

One thing you should know, squaties, there is a squat toilet here.

It is the restroom located just off the garden area and it is the original stone squat toilet of the Palazzo Medici.

5:14

Very interesting.

There’s very few of these in Italy.

They call them Turkish toilets.

There’s very few of them left in Italy and I was lucky enough to find it.

I would also recommend you go to Ante Vicchio.

I could be pronouncing that wrong so don’t come from me, but you are definitely going to go to this place.

5:33

It is the shopping center over a bridge in Florence.

It crosses the main Arno.

It’s this gorgeous medieval stone closed segment of an arch bridge.

There’s a bunch of shops on there.

Tons of places to bop in and get little bites or treats.

5:49

Really good place to Mosey around.

So if you’re in Florence, there’s no way you’re going to miss this and it is worth visiting.

It’s a cool little spot.

One place I will recommend you go that maybe not everyone would have on their radar is the Piazza Lee Michelangelo.

This is a hill.

6:06

It’s an outdoor hill that you go climb up to.

It draws crowds every single night to watch the sunset.

Everyone brings their own wine, beer, drink, whatever, and they sit together on this hill and watch the sunset.

It’s such a cultural experience that who knows how many centuries this has been going on for, but it’s a very modern thing to do as well.

6:29

I love experiencing modern culture in historic places.

It’s always nice to be in, like tourists and locals alike are here, so do not miss this.

It’s a really cool experience.

You can walk there from the city center.

You just cross the bridge and kind of climb up the mountain a little bit.

I think there might be a bus as well, but the walk really isn’t bad.

6:48

When you are in Florence you must shop for leather.

I guess I wasn’t as great of a researcher back in 2019, but I I knew Florence was known for leather.

I just didn’t know how big the leather influence would be in Florence.

And when you get there you will see leather shop after leather shop after leather shop.

7:07

It is regarded as one of the top leather capitals of the world.

It is has a rich tradition here in Florence of having leather craftsmanship and dating back to the Middle Ages.

It’s in the city’s roots and why it also gets its reputation is not just that it has leather.

7:24

There are leather cities across the world.

Leon, Mexico, for example, is one of them.

But Florence’s reputation also stems from their techniques.

They’re extremely high quality.

They’re built on the skills of hands and artisans.

7:40

They’re very handcrafted techniques that have been passed down for generations.

So it’s not just shopping for leather, It’s meaningful, like historical leather.

Here you can find jackets, tailored jackets, handmade bags, wallet, shoes, belts, anything leather you will be able to find here.

7:58

I highly highly highly recommend you shop at Sabani Leather.

That is the leather store that I shopped at when I was in Florence and it was the best shopping experience I have ever had.

At that age, I wasn’t typically buying like 300, four $100 jackets and I bought 1 here because it was the perfect jacket.

8:18

It was literally they tailored it to my body.

It was my perfect size and the experience was just so amazing.

So Subania Leather has been around for quite a while.

It opened in 1955.

It’s a family run leather boutique very much in the heart of Florence.

So if you’re in that city center area, you’re going to be right next to it.

8:35

You might as well go in and check it out.

As soon as you go in, you’re going to feel the way that I did.

Marco, the owner, greets you like you are family.

It’s a very personalized experience.

He gave me a glass of wine.

I think he gave the guy was with some other type of drink.

He shops with you like it’s not a extremely busy store.

8:54

Other people come in, of course, but he stays with you.

He suggests jackets or whatever for you.

He comments on it when you try it on.

He suggests how to tailor it.

And not just that.

It’s not just about the products.

Like he tells you about his life, asks you about your life, and you form a real bond with him because it’s not a quick experience either.

9:13

You’re going in there, you’re drinking that wine, you’re shopping around, you’re talking.

We were in there for hours.

Like we probably could have done a lot more in Florence if we weren’t hanging out in there.

But that was such a unplanned but amazing shopping and just experience in general to go in there.

9:30

The only reason we went in there actually because we were looking to buy some leather and there and there’s even leather kiosk type things on the streets so you don’t have to go into a store.

So we hadn’t yet, but when we were in Florence, we ran into my friend’s friends.

He didn’t know they were going to be there.

9:47

I don’t know how he saw it, like maybe on Instagram or something.

And we happen to be in Florence at the same time.

So we met up with them and they said you’ve got to come to my leather shop, Sabani Leather.

We always shop from him here and we’ve been here like 4 times and so they brought us in there.

10:02

So immediately we were like family for that reason.

But I feel like I need to pass this on, like go into Sabani Leather.

It is a great place.

And to top it all off on this experience, we came back the next day to pick up our jackets that had been tailored.

But we couldn’t stay too long.

We needed to get over to the Piazza, lay Michelangelo to watch the sunset on the hill, right?

10:23

And so we get in there, we get our stuff.

It’s still like an hour visit with him to get our jackets and everything because we’re talking and all excited.

And right next door to Sabani Leather is Sabani Bistro.

They also own this cute small dining spot, welcoming atmosphere.

10:40

They have a parativo here.

So at that hour of the day, they have on the bar a bunch of small bites like bruschettas and whatnot, and you’re drinking alcohol spritzes.

And so he brought us over there after we got our jackets and we were just with a bunch of other people that were in there, had a couple drinks or maybe a shot or something.

11:00

And then he gave us a bottle of wine to go up to the mountain and drink while we watch the sunset in our new leather jackets.

It was like the nicest thing, like he didn’t want to sleep.

He wanted us to stay and hang out, but we had to go.

But I would shop there for leather Anytime I go back to Florence in April of 2019, I did not do this next thing, but I really wish I would have had the chance to do it.

11:25

I did not know this until rather recently actually.

But in Florence, Italy, wine windows, or as they call them, Buchi del Vino, they’re a very historic tradition all across the buildings in Florence that essentially they’re little windows with a curved top and a straight bottom.

11:43

Little windows where back in the day they used to serve wine.

After all, spritz, Gelato, coffee.

And back in the day, these little windows were used by noble families to serve wine.

And there are actually over 150 wine windows in Florence.

12:00

I wish that I would have known that so that I could have paid more attention to it and knew what those windows meant.

A lot of them have been closed up now, though very few of them still serve drinks out of until recently.

In 2020 during COVID when there was a lot more social distancing stuff in place, many of these wine windows reopened and started serving drinks out of them for the first time in decades.

12:25

How cool is that?

Like history not repeating itself, but morphing itself into something else.

It’s really cool.

So now you can find more of these around Florence.

I would recommend you go do something like this.

I mean, you order the wine, they pop their hand out of a little window and they give it to you.

12:40

And then if it’s glass, you bring the glass back later.

You can find a few of them in Florence, a couple that I’ll name and probably pronounced terribly, but Osteria della Brache, Babe Incentos Spirido, or Cantina de Pucci.

12:57

That one’s really close to the Duomo, so if you’re going to be near there, you might as well go over there and get yourself a little window wine.

You can’t take your drinks to go.

It’s not illegal to drink in public in the streets, and it’s still a relatively calm little town.

Florence is Florence is also a great hub.

I’ll just say this last.

13:13

If you want to go to Pisa, Chinchatare or anywhere in Tuscany really, it’s going to be a great place to be.

You can do day trips, you can stay in Florence and do day trips.

And I would recommend that.

I would actually love to go back to Florence.

Like you could certainly do this itinerary in one day, definitely in two days and still take some time to be slower.

13:32

But I would love to spend a week in Florence and do a few more day trips on my next visit and drink a lot more table wine.

Thanks so much for tuning into this week’s Just the tip.