9780679034261

The Citypack map covers the city in detail, while the Citypack guide gives you just the information you need to experience the best of Florence: Top attractions and the must-see sights The best pageants, opera, and classical music Itineraries for walks and excursions The best museums and monuments, parks and green spaces, markets, children's activities, and freebies--the author's top picks Restaurants, hotels, shopping, nightlife--an unabashedly opinionated selection, with pithy descriptions of each recommendation Offbeat sights even locals don't know Tips on getting the most from your visit

Life Introducing Florence
A Day in the Life of Florence
Florence in Figures
A Chronology People
Events from History
How to Organize Your Time
Itineraries Walks Evening Strolls Organized Sightseeing Excursions
What's On Top 25 Sights Cappella
Brancacci Santa Maria Novella Palazzo Pitti Giardino di Boboli Ponte Vecchio Museo della Casa
Fiorentina Antica Cappelle Medicee San Lorenzo Palazzo Medici Battistero
Campanile Duomo Museo dell'Opera del Duomo Orsanmichele Galleria degli Uffizi Museo di Storia della Scienza Piazza della Signoria Palazzo Vecchio Bargello Galleria dell'Accademia San Marco Santissima Annunziata Cappella dei Pazzi Santa Croce San Miniato al Monte Best Museums
Galleries Churches
Other Places of Worship Michelangelo in Florence Views Parks, Gardens
Open Spaces Florence for Free Florence for Children The River Arno
its Bridges Markets Where to... Eat Elegant Restaurants Tuscan
Florentine Cuisine Value for Money Pizzas
Snacks Ethnic
Vegetarian Ice Cream Parlors Coffee
Pastries Shop Leather, Gloves
Shoes Ceramics Gold
Jewelry Fashion for All Linens, Fabrics
Furnishings Wine
Food Stationery, Cards
Calendars Antiques
Prints Be Entertained Bars by Night Clubs
Discos Opera
Classical Music Live Music Venues Sports Venues Pageants in Tuscany Stay Luxury Hotels Mid-Range Hotels Budget Hotels Travel Facts Arriving
Departing Essential Fact Public Transportation Driving Media
Communication Emergencies Language
Credits and Acknowledgments
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

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Introducing Florence

Mention Florence and the words "cradle of the Renaissance" trip off the tongue. Works of art inextricably associated with Florence, such as Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Michelangelo's David, are potent symbols not just of the extraordinary flowering of creativity fostered in Florence in the 14th and 15th centuries, but also of the spirit of humanity itself.

However, a trip to Florence is sometimes not a joyous experience. Faced with the quite overwhelming artistic richness, you can easily become bogged down with a checklist of things you must do in Florence, and what should be a vacation is reduced to torture by culture. The streets can be noisy and dusty, without a patch of green in sight, and in the peak tourist season the city center almost collapses under the weight of tour groups. You can spend hours in line to see the Uffizi, so that by the time you get to the paintings all interest has evaporated.

Florence's reputation precedes it, and one goes burdened with weighty expectations of great beauty. The reality can be a rude shock: Florence has neither the abandoned, curvaceous hedonism of Rome, nor the languid sensuality of Venice. Much of its architecture is stern, stolid, and forbidding; its uncompromising beauty is a subtle working of mathematical proportion and harmony.

It is therefore essential to go beyond the narrow confines of the tourist circuit: the Duomo, Piazza della Signoria, and Santa Croce. Cross the river and wander through the streets of the Oltrarno, where countless artisans have their workshops. Visit the Boboli Gardens, the only green space of any note in the center of the town. Florence can feel like one big museum, but there is also a vital and living city. The trick is to combine the modern with the historical, the frivolous and the serious in just the way, one suspects, that the greats of the Florentine Renaissance would have done themselves.

Just as Florentine architecture does not attempt to please the viewer with lovely decoration, so, in general, the Florentines do not need to be loved and will not bend over backwards to keep you happy. They are quietly appreciative if you show the required degree of reverence; however, they harbor no doubt that Florence is the greatest center of culture in the world.

Excerpted from Florence by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. Staff
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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Fodor's Citypack Florence

Fodor's Citypack Florence

0679034269

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