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FLORENCE, ITALY

This post is all about Florence! This was my first time visiting Florence, and man was it crowded! I’m all for visiting major cities, but I felt like Florence was very overrun by tourists.  I’m used to visiting smaller towns in Italy, so this was a real experience.  The city itself is very beautiful, although as many places in Italy, can appear a little dirty.  My family really wanted to learn more about the history of the city, so we decided to go on a walking tour.  I know following a group while wearing dorky headsets might ruin your Italian street style, but it really is the best way to see a lot of the city in a short amount of time.  We took a Walks of Italy tour, which is highly recommended because of the smaller group sizes (averaging on 15 people per group), incredibly knowledgable tour guides, and the themed tours.  Their themed tours are very helpful if you’re particularly interested in one specific spot in Florence, or don’t want to be in museums all day…whatever it may be, they will have a tour that suites you.  We did the “David & the Duomo Tour”.  You can go onto their website to see all of the highlights of this trip.  Another advantage of going on a walking tour is that you get to skip the lines at some of the major sights in Florence, like the Galleria dell’Accademia which houses Michelangelo’s David.  We only spent a day in Florence but were able to see a lot of the city.  Here’s what we saw.

Church of Santa Maria Novella

Michelangelo’s David

Piazza della Signoria

“The Rape of the Sabine Women” by Giambologna

Ponte Veccio

View of Ponte Santa Trinita

Basilica di Santo Spirito