If you’re planning a trip to Florence this summer but have no idea where to start…no need to stress!
Summer is around the corner and Europe is going to be one hot destination this year. Florence has always been a popular hotspot, welcoming all types of travelers from solo backpackers to luxurious jetsetters. This gorgeous Italian city is enriched with cultural sites and mouthwatering cuisine. Let’s not even mention the incredible Tuscany wine!
If you’re planning a trip to Florence this summer but have no idea where to start…no need to stress! We’ve got five tours that guarantee a memorable experience. From shopping at an Italian designer’s atelier, wine tasting in a villa, skip the line special access to private tours so you feel like an absolute VIP; you’re set up to indulge in Florence while learning a thing or two about its fascinating culture.
1. Florence Fashion Tour with Gucci Museum
A fashionable tour even for the non-fashionistas! This Gucci Museum tour is all about peeking inside the world of master artisans. 3.5 hours start at witnessing them work with quality leather inside a 13th century Franciscan Monastery. Followed by a guided tour inside Gucci – one of the most celebrated fashion houses in the world. Glance through the brand’s most unforgettable pieces then find a Gucci suit for yourself inside the museum shop. We love especially love this tour since you’re led through the city’s best shopping streets (Via Tornabuoni and Via Strozzi) and Loretta Caponi’s (designer for Princess Diana, the Kennedys…and many more) atelier. The icing on the cake is a last stop at Santa Maria Novella, the historical and glorious perfumery. Are you ready to shop ’til you drop?
3.5 hours, $55/small groups of only 15 people or fewer. BOOK HERE
2. Florence Villa Wine Tasting
Kicking off at 6pm, you’ll be whisked away from Florence to a 17th century villa in the hills surrounded by a gorgeous vineyard. Get your taste buds flowing with in-house Merlot, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco. After tasting four wines (one white, two red and one dessert wine,) your stomach will be satiated by a sumptuous Tuscan spread filled with local specialties (crostini, prosciutto ham, parmigiano cheese and pecorino cheese from Pienza.) Then treated to a full menu of delicious regional-style pasta for primi (first course) and a traditional secondi (second course) of meat and potatoes. As if good food and wine in a brilliant villa isn’t enough, your dessert comes with a magnificent sunset above the city of Florence. Charmed? We’re sure!
3.5 hours. $112 BOOK HERE
3. Skip the Line: Best of Florence Private Tour
As you expected, Florence is a city full of incredible sights to see. To do it all on your own requires waiting in long lines that wrap around colossal monuments. With this tour, you’re able to save enormous time while being led by your private English-speaking guide eagerly explaining Michelangelo’s statue of David, Il Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio bridge, Piazza Signoria and the leather market. In three hours, you’ll see all of Florence like a total VIP! Don’t like what’s on your itinerary? Say the word and your guide will make changes just as you wish!
3 hours. $309/private group. BOOK HERE
4. Skip the Line: Uffizi Gallery Tour
As one of the most famous and oldest art museums in the world, you can’t leave Florence without a visit to the Uffizi Gallery. But to do the collections justice, it might take days. This tour takes you through the gallery in 1.5 hours, jam-packed with “best of” highlights. Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus,” Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Annunciation,” Michelangelo, Raphael are all part of the star-studded repertoire. What we love the most about this option is that after the tour is over, tickets are still valid throughout the rest of the evening so feel free to stay and let the art fanatic in you roam!
1.5 hours. $40/small groups of only 20 people or fewer. BOOK HERE
5. Dark Heart of Florence Night Tour
If these Italian walls could talk! Before hitting the local bars, unearth mystic legends that prowl through the alleys near your favorite sites. This two-hour night tour is guided by English-speaking storytellers who take you on a darker (but thrilling) journey, from Ponte Vecchio bridge to Palazzo di Bianca Cappello. You’ll relive long forgotten family feuds, love stories, wartime memoirs prior to the Renaissance period. The best part of the tour? It ends at a local gelateria where you can indulge in Florence’s famous treat.
2 hours. $39/small groups of 25 people or less. BOOK HERE
Article written by our partner City Wonders.
