To visit and fully enjoy Florence, you have to walk! Leave the car in a garage or car park and go on a discovery walk! The pedestrian streets of Florence are full of surprises, and you will discover many hidden treasures that you would not have seen otherwise: a tabernacle, a carved door, a carved marble mailbox, a road sign diverted by a street artist!

Of course you can follow the itineraries given in the guide you have brought with you, but you also have to stroll aimlessly, look around and let yourself be lost in the narrow streets. You have to let you soak in the real Florentine life and to discover the markets, the small boutiques and craft shops.

Look at the quite interesting names of the small streets: via del Purgatorio (Purgatory street), via dell’ Inferno (Hell street), via dell’ Arte della Lana (Wool Art street), via dei Velluti (Velvet street), and so on…

On one of the many squares, you might find an outdoor market and get a real taste of the local life: look at the stalls with their seasonal fruits and vegetables and with their hams and cheeses… enjoy the very bubbling vendors joking with their customers.

Enter the churches: there is always a fresco, a painting, a sculpture to admire. And then, when you walk, you also have to look up. Raise your eyes and admire the beautiful architecture of the loggias, of the Palaces...

If you are staying in the Larderel Palace, look at it from the other side of Via Tornabuoni, and admire the work of Giovanni Dosio, the 16th century architect who designed it.

Of course you have also to walk in the numerous gardens of Florence, and admire their diversity: the Boboli or Bardi gardens, the botanical garden, the rose garden….

And in the course of this sometimes tiring walking day, taste an ice cream, or go to a bar for an espresso coffee or a cappuccino at the counter!

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