Florence for couples: know before you go (2026)

Why Florence for two

Florence is built on a human scale: no subway, few cars in the center, and a quiet bank, the Oltrarno, five minutes from the museums across the Ponte Vecchio. You spend the day on foot between stone facades, dine in a trattoria with tables packed tight, and end up on a low wall above the Arno. Michelangelo, Botticelli and Brunelleschi are three streets from one another.

What the city gives couples best is its heights: Piazzale Michelangelo at sunset, the Boboli and Bardini gardens on the slope, Fiesole on its hill twenty-five minutes away by bus. And in the evening, once the tour buses have left, the center shrinks back to village size: Piazza della Signoria empty, the lamps on the bridge, a last glass on Piazza Santo Spirito.

When to go

On Easter Sunday at 11am, the Scoppio del Carro sets off a cart full of fireworks in front of the Duomo: take your place on the piazza by 9:30am. On June 24, the feast of Saint John, the city's patron, the calcio storico final is played on Piazza Santa Croce and fireworks go up from Piazzale Michelangelo at 10pm; hotels book out two months ahead. Two fashion fairs, Pitti Uomo, fill the hotels for a week in January and a week in June, and around August 15 many trattorias close for two weeks.

Paperwork: passport, visa, health

At the border

On your first entry into the Schengen area, border police record your fingerprints and photo: allow extra time at passport control, especially if you connect through Rome, Paris or Frankfurt. Check a few weeks before departure whether the ETIAS travel authorization is required for your dates: it is applied for online on the European Union's site (travel-europe.europa.eu), costs a few euros and is valid for three years. Your passport gets stamped or scanned both ways; keep count of your days if you are touring Europe.

Getting there

By plane

Peretola (FLR, Amerigo Vespucci) is 3 miles (5 km) from the center, linked by tram: the runway is short, the planes are small, and in strong wind or winter fog a flight can be diverted to Pisa or Bologna. Pisa (PSA) is 50 miles (80 km) away, which means 1h30 more to the hotel; if a "Florence" fare looks much cheaper, that is usually where it lands. From the US, the smoothest routing is a nonstop to Rome, then the high-speed train (1h30) rather than a second flight. The trips to the hotel are detailed below, in "From the airport to your hotel".

By train

From Rome, Milan or Venice, Frecciarossa and Italo high-speed trains reach Santa Maria Novella station, in the heart of town, in 1h30 to 2h15; book two weeks ahead to pay $23 to $40 instead of double. From London, the Eurostar to Paris, a TGV to Milan and a last train to Florence make a long but doable day, about 12h door to door. Bologna is 37 minutes away, which makes its airport a workable alternative.

By car

Practical things to know before you go

Phone

Most US and Canadian plans charge a daily roaming pass of $12 or so, and some include Italy at no cost: check yours. A UK plan may or may not include EU roaming since Brexit, with a fair-use cap. For three days, an Italian or European eSIM installed before you leave costs less than any of them, and the hotel wifi covers the rest.

Money and tipping

• Cards work almost everywhere, but a few trattorias and the market stalls take cash only: keep $56 on you. ATMs are plentiful; decline the "conversion to dollars" the machine offers, it costs more.
• The coperto, $2.30 to $4.50 per person, covers bread and the table setting: it is legal, printed on the menu, and not negotiable. Do check whether a 10 % servizio is already on the bill before adding anything.
• Tipping is not the custom: round up, or leave $5.60 after a dinner that mattered; nobody expects 20 %. At a bar, you often pay first at the register, then order at the counter with the receipt.

Plugs, water and dress

• Type L sockets (three thin pins in a row) and type F, at 230 volts: US and UK plugs both need an adapter, and a US hairdryer or curling iron needs a voltage converter, while phone and laptop chargers do not.
• Tap water is safe, and cast-iron fountains, the fontanelle, refill bottles around the center and in Boboli.
• Churches are visited with shoulders and knees covered, and the Duomo turns people away otherwise; the streets are paved with flagstones and the hills are steep, so bring shoes that grip. In the evening Florentines dress neatly without dressing up: a shirt is enough anywhere.

What to book, and how far ahead

The big museums sell timed slots, and the dome cannot be climbed without a reservation: at Easter, in May and in September, mornings sell out three to six weeks ahead. Book as soon as your dates are set, then build each day around a single ticket; the rest of the city needs no planning.

From the airport to your hotel

© OpenStreetMap contributors

The T2 tram leaves from outside the terminal every five to eight minutes, from 5am to past midnight, and stops at Unità, 650 feet (200 m) from Santa Maria Novella station: buy the ticket at the platform machine or tap a contactless card on the validator on board. From there the Duomo is ten minutes on foot along Via de' Cerretani, the rest of the center under twenty. Taxis are white, with a flat rate between the airport and the center ($25 by day, $28 at night and on holidays, plus $1.20 per bag beyond the first); take them from the line outside the terminal, never from a driver who approaches you in the hall. Uber does not operate in Florence, apart from black cars at taxi prices.

From Pisa (PSA), the automated PisaMover shuttle reaches Pisa Centrale station in 5 minutes ($5.60), then a regional train takes 50 to 70 minutes to Santa Maria Novella for $11 per person; direct buses also link the airport to Florence's station in about 1h15 ($17). From Bologna (BLQ), the Marconi Express monorail reaches the station in 7 minutes, then a high-speed train takes 37 minutes: 1h30 in all, $28 to $45 per person depending on how early you book.

Getting around

On foot, almost always

The center fits in a rectangle just over a mile (2 km) long: the station is ten minutes from the Duomo, the Duomo seven minutes from Piazza della Signoria, the Signoria five from the Ponte Vecchio, and the Pitti Palace five more on the other side. Even Piazzale Michelangelo is a twenty-five-minute walk from the bridge, up the San Niccolò stairs. You will take a bus twice: for Fiesole, and perhaps back up to the piazzale.

Tram, bus and taxi

Tickets are sold at tobacconists and in the at bus app, and are validated on board each time you get on; bus 7 climbs to Fiesole from Piazza San Marco, lines 12 and 13 loop through the hills to Piazzale Michelangelo. Taxis are white and are called by phone (055 4242 or 055 4390) or through the itTaxi app, with a pickup charge of about $5.60 and a night surcharge: a ride within the center costs $12 to $17. City bikes exist, but flagstones and tour groups make the center unpleasant to cycle.

Budget for two

Florence costs more than Rome to sleep in and to visit: downtown hotels are small and in demand, and four museum tickets per person quickly add up to $112. Food stays affordable as soon as you step away from the Duomo, and the best moments, the hills, the bridges, the piazzas, cost nothing. Here is what three nights for two come to, flights excluded.

A hotel costs 30 to 40 % less from November to March (outside the holidays and Pitti Uomo) than in May or September, and Sunday night less than Friday. The city tax, $3.40 to $9 per person per night, is paid at the hotel; museum tickets add a $4.50 booking fee each, the price of one line avoided.

Reference prices

What to eat and drink

Florentine cooking is a cuisine of stale bread, beans and grilled meat, born in poor kitchens: plain, generous, and better in a trattoria with paper tablecloths than in a restaurant with white ones. Order few dishes, share them, and take the house wine, Chianti by the carafe.

At the table

• Bistecca alla fiorentina

  A T-bone of Chianina beef three fingers thick, grilled rare and sold by weight: a kilo (2.2 lb) for two, never well done, with white beans in olive oil.

• Lampredotto

  The cow's fourth stomach, simmered and served in a bun dipped in the broth, with green sauce and chili, eaten standing at a stand: the Florentine lunch for $5.60.

• Ribollita and pappa al pomodoro

  Two thick soups of stale bread, the first with beans and black cabbage in winter, the second with tomato and basil in summer; one bowl feeds two.

• Schiacciata

  Florence's flatbread, with olive oil and coarse salt, sold by weight at the bakery or filled with cured meats and truffle cream for a lunch to go.

• Crostini di fegatini and pici

  Chicken-liver toasts open the meal; pici, thick hand-rolled pasta, come with wild boar ragù or with garlic breadcrumbs.

• Cantucci and vin santo

  Almond biscuits are dipped in the amber dessert wine to end dinner; in February, the schiacciata alla fiorentina, an orange-scented carnival cake dusted with the city's lily.

In the glass

• Chianti Classico

  The red from the hills south of the city, with a black rooster on the label, $5.60 to $9 a glass; the house wine by the carafe often comes from the same hills.

• Brunello and Vino Nobile

  The two great reds of southern Tuscany, Montalcino and Montepulciano, to go with the bistecca: a bottle shared by two runs $45 to $90 in a restaurant.

• Negroni

  Gin, red vermouth and Campari in equal parts: the cocktail was born in a café on Via de' Tornabuoni around 1920, when a count asked for a stronger Americano. The city's aperitivo, $9 to $14.

• Coffee at the counter

  An espresso standing costs $1.50 to $1.70, three times that seated; cappuccino is a morning drink, and nobody will say a word if you order one at 4pm.

Customs and rules to know

Florentines live with millions of visitors a year in a city of 350,000, and they notice manners: a buongiorno when you walk in, a buonasera after 2pm, and a few table habits show them you are not just passing through.

• Lunch runs from 12:30pm to 2:30pm and dinner starts at 7:30pm; many kitchens close at 10pm, the Oltrarno trattorias serve a little later.
• The coperto is normal, bread is not free, and water is ordered by the bottle, still or sparkling; you ask for the check, it does not come on its own.
• At a bar the price depends on where you are: standing at the counter, or seated on the terrace at two to three times the price; both are posted.
• Monday closes the Uffizi, the Accademia and Pitti; on Sunday, churches keep their mornings for services and many trattorias close.
• Nobody climbs on the statues or picnics on the Duomo steps, and the municipal police enforce it with a fine.

Safety

Florence is one of the safest cities in Italy for a couple: you walk home at midnight across the Ponte Vecchio without a second thought. The only real risk is pickpocketing in the downtown crowds, plus a few station scams.

• Phone and wallet in a front pocket among the leather stalls of the San Lorenzo market, in the crowd on Piazza del Duomo, on the tram and at the bus 7 stop, and on Piazzale Michelangelo at sunset.
• At Santa Maria Novella station, refuse the "taxi" offered inside the hall and any help with your bags: real taxis are white, numbered, and wait in the line outside the exit.
• In front of the Duomo, a man announcing that the cathedral is closed and offering "another tour" is lying: it rarely closes, and never without a sign.
• The "Italian leather" bags sold on a sheet in the street are fakes, and the buyer risks a fine; for real leather, walk into a shop around Santa Croce.
• At night, avoid the station's west side around Via Palazzuolo, the Cascine park and the riverbanks under the bridges: nothing dangerous, nothing pleasant.

The mistakes couples make

Disappointments almost always come from the calendar: two major museums in one day, a Monday arrival nobody checked, a flight to Pisa taken for a flight to Florence. The rest, the city fixes on its own.

• Doing the Uffizi and the Accademia on the same day: three hours of painting in the morning, the David in the afternoon, and no eyes left for anything else. One major museum a day, and the other half of the day outdoors.
• Showing up without a ticket for the Uffizi or the dome hoping to "see on the spot": the day's slots are sold, the walk-up line takes two hours and sometimes ends at a closed door.
• Climbing the dome at 2pm in July: 463 steps in an airless passage at 95 °F (35 °C). Take the first slot of the morning or the last of the day.
• Dining on Piazza del Duomo or Via dei Calzaiuoli, with menus photographed in six languages: five minutes away, the Oltrarno and Sant'Ambrogio serve twice as well for less.
• Taking the David on Piazza della Signoria for the original: it is a copy, the original is at the Accademia, and the Loggia dei Lanzi next to it shows real sculptures for free.
• Sleeping "near Florence" in a highway hotel or an agriturismo without a car: every evening ends in a taxi, and the whole charm of the city is walking home.
• Wanting Pisa, Siena and San Gimignano in one day by coach: six hours on the road for an hour in each town. One day trip, or Fiesole by bus.