Treasures of Florence

Fly from London Heathrow to Pisa (Nov - Bologna airport) and transfer to the 4-star Hotel Kraft in Florence for five nights.

Discover the city’s churches today, beginning with San Lorenzo Basilica, decorated by Donatello and Lippi, and containing the ‘Medici Chapel’ tombs. San Marco combines the church, with the chapel of St Antony, and its former Dominican monastery, now a museum, the home of painter Fra Angelico, with his fabulous frescoes in the forty monks’ cells. Visit the Galleria dell’Accademia, where Michelangelo’s ‘David’ tops the bill among priceless artworks; continue to the Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiore, Brunelleschi’s Gothic structure dominating the city skyline, its stark interior carpeted in mosaics; and to the octagonal Baptistry of St John, the city’s earliest religious site; and then to the 13^th century church of Santa Maria Novella, its distinctive style complemented by the rose-window, the oldest in Florence.
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A walking tour to the pick of the palaces includes the Palazzo Rucellai, lauded for its symmetry and elegance, and still the private home of the Rucellai family; the Strozzi, considered the city’s finest Renaissance palace, built by the 16^th century merchant Filippo Strozzi, with an emphasis on meticulous workmanship; and the Bargello (Palazzo del Popolo), Italy’s first National Museum outside the Vatican, its fortress-like façade confirming its former use as a prison. Walk to Santa Croce church, with a feast of frescoed side-chapels and the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo. Later visit Palazzo Vecchio on Piazza della Signoria, lavish with Medici treasures; and enjoy a guided tour of the vast and revered Uffizi, home to Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’, Raphael’s ‘Portrait of Pope Leo’ and, Da Vinci’s ‘Annunciation’.
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Less is more on a walking tour of Oltrarno, less known, less heralded, less crowded than sights across the Arno. We see the beautiful Brancacci Chapel with its intensely colourful 15^th century frescoes of biblical scenes (visit the church of Santo Spirito which contains beautiful Renaissance frescoes by Brunelleschi and also the wooden cross, built by Michelangelo in April & May due to renovation works); enjoy a relaxing and refreshing interlude amid the 45 hectares of the Boboli Gardens, and visit the largest palace in Florence, Palazzo Pitti, now divided into four museums.
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Enjoy a day at leisure in ‘the birthplace of the Renaissance’ or join us on an optional excursion to Siena. Set amid Chianti vineyards, the astonishingly well-preserved city forms a Y-shape on its three hills, spills into the connecting valley via steps and steep alleys, and meets at the huge expanse of the Piazza del Campo. Encircled by 7km of fortified walls, the city’s churches, palaces, and fountains are cultural landmarks, and modern eateries in medieval buildings enhance the UNESCO listed ‘living museum’. Enroute back to Florence, visit a wine cellar to taste the local vino (£125, pre-bookable).
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Transfer to Pisa (Nov - Bologna airport) for your return flight to London Heathrow.
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