Art within walking distance.
The historic centre of Florence contains statistically more art treasures per square metre than any other city in the world. At almost every step there is something worth seeing. An accommodation in the city centre is an absolute “must” for every tourist all over the world, but here in Florence it will not make you closer to the main attractions of the city: it will put you just in the middle of them.

Despite of its enormous fame, Firenze is not such an enormous city. Especially its historic centre is all within walking distance from the Duomo or Santa Maria Novella. Having your hotel in Florence in the this area will make you get up every morning feeling the city at hand. If you are an average walker, not even a good one, you will not need to take any public transport to complete your tourist program: don’t fill your schedule too much, by the way, or you will probably get an overdose of art! Booking an apartment or an hotel room in Florence’s historic heart will fit you even if you don’t have anything pre-organized to do. Outdoor sightseeing is the best thing to do here and it will fulfill you much more than any museum.

Exit the hall of your hotel in Florence or close the door of you apartment behind you, go down the street and enjoy the florentine life. The streets, of course, will be crowded with visitors like you, following the beaten track of well known attractions as in a sort of art greed trance. You can choose to join them and you won’t need to check any map: they will take you exactly where you “have to go”. But if you don’t like well-worn paths and if you’re one of those who like to chose where they “want to go”, avoid the river of people by diving down the nearest alleyway and follow your instincts.

There’s a lot to see for the curious ones: nice churches, quite little squares, hidden gardens and courtyards, artisan workshops (known as botteghe). There’s a variety of botteghe around the lovely piazza Santo Spirito, for example, as well as the sidestreets near Piazza Santa croce are full of grocers and bakeries filling the air with their tremendous scents. And don't be worried about getting lost: once you get the river just look for the peculiar shape of Ponte Vecchio (looking like the buildings didn’t want to stop in front of the river and decided to cross over it) and you will know you're not far at all from where you were.