It was my idea to go to the Tuscany region. I have heard so many positive, beautiful feedback about Florence! In fact, all the people I know that have been to Florence had nothing but awesome feedback about their trip. It was a good thing that the airfare and the hotel accommodation were all within our budget range. :) And besides, I have this notion that Italy is a romantic place. :)
In this post, I would like to share with you our family friendly itinerary and the joys that we´ve had during this trip to the Tuscany region. We stayed most of our 6 day holiday in Florence, spent one full day in Siena and half day in Pisa. This was absolutely a memorable and truly happy trip - the hotel, which is a 3 star hotel is wonderful! The staff is friendly, accommodating, helpful and multilingual! The service is great! The location is just spot on! The taxi drivers were nice. The restaurants food and the service were all great! The only downside if I may say, and actually a minor downside, was that it rained one day. The rest was fabulous!
Hotel: We stayed in Hotel Cosimo de Medici, situated in the Santa Maria Novella area. This is very central, accessible to the train station which we took to go to Pisa and to the bus station which we took to go to Siena. There are many ristorantes (restaurants) and trattorias (restos serving family meals) within the area. There are also many small groceries just in case you would prefer to buy something light and eat at your pace, convenience. The hotel service was amazing! The staff -cleaning ladies, reception, kitchen, were all polite, multilingual, helpful and very accommodating. The breakfast area, in terms of space is properly maximized. The breakfast buffet, which goes with the accommodation package provides a wide variety of selection - continental and european breakfast! Our room was neatly organized and cleaned on a daily basis.
Visit to Siena: We took a bus ride which was almost 1,5 hours one way. The bus ride was smooth and relaxing. It is advisable to know your schedule ahead so you know which bus you will take. Buses leave every 20 minutes.
Visit to Pisa: We took a train ride which was 1 hour one way. From the Pisa Train Station, we took a local bus that took us to the area of the Baptistery, Duomo and Leaning tower of Pisa. It is advisable to visit the website of the train company and know your schedule so you would be able to buy your ticket ahead of time. This is a very busy train terminal.
What to do and visit in Florence?
Florence is a city designed for walking. This is a place where you can absolutely hold hands with your love ones while walking! :)
1. Santa Maria Novella
2. Duomo - there is an entrance fee of 18€/head which includes the visit to the Duomo, Bell Tower and Baptistery. However, this cost does not include the visit/climb to the Dome itself as it requires a long notice period. From the outisde, the Duomo boasts of its unique architecture and design, the usage of the marble as statement pieces were really a statement! A visit here gave me the 15th century feels!
3. Ponte Vecchio - this literally means the Old Bridge. This is a long stretch, avenue where each side is occupied by jewelry and local artisans´merchandises. What makes this avenue really enchanting is the beautiful river and the hanging stores. Again, walking here gave me the vintage vibe!
4. Uffizi Museum - this is a MUST! Definitely a MUST when you visit Florence!! Entrance here costs 11€/head. There are no elevators, the stairs are wide and you have to climb the first 3 floors walking on stairs, again no elevators. BUT EVERYTHING IS JUST OH SO WORTH IT!!! We stayed here for 4,5 hours. It was jaw dropping, astonishing to see the works of the great artists such as Michael Angelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and Botticelli! We were able to see how the gears were shifted during the Renaissance period! Botticelli made the difference - The Birth of Venus, Primavera (Spring, etc). We were also able to see the sculptures of Tristan and Isolde, Cupid and Daphne. This was really one of the best museums that we have ever seen!
5. Pitti Museum - this also an entrance fee of 8€/head. Make sure that you visit this place early in the morning as they close around 5pm. And there are so many places to visit here. A kid friendly area is the Boboli Gardens, which is in the exterior part of the palace and will enable your kids to jump, run and freely move around. This is a well-maintained palace and huge.
6. Plaza de la Republica - this is a big square where you can enjoy sight seeing, basking in the beautiful architectures of the buildings. This is tourist-heavy so take care while walking and don´t lose sight of your kiddos.
7. Plaza de la Signoria - this square is filled with lots of youngsters and is like a museum in open air! It is beautiful, lively, with amazing sculptures.
8. Iglesia de Santa Croce (Holy Cross)
9. Leonardo da Vinci Museum - this is a haven for kids! We stayed here for another 3,5 hours and my son was just himself here! This is the place where you and your kid can enjoy the works of Leonardo da Vinci and at the same time, out yourself in the shoes of Leonardo, as you can see, touch and play with the gallery items exposing the theories and methods used by Leonardo da Vinci. Entrance fee is 8€/head.
10. Academia Gallery is the museum where you can see Michaelangelo´s masterpiece, the original David, made of marble. This is the centerpiece of this museum. Entrance fee is 11€/head.
11. Florence also boasts of its Italian leather and it seemed to me that there are genuine leather bags and other crafts store in every street. You can haggle/negotiate for a lower price if you were to buy some of their leather items. Otherwise, you can simply enjoy looking at the leather goods! They are eye candies!
10. We ate in the Mercato, which has a very good ambiance. Food is great and fairly reasonable. We had very good pizzas, pasta and cannolis!! There are also very good trattorias/ristorantes. However, be ready as there can be an overload of carbs. Hehehehe Btw, the ice creams are just great! Who says you can´t eat ice cream during winter? Hahahahah
12. On a personal note, we bought as souvenir of this very beautiful trip, the Uffizi Museum Gallery book, some toys, including experimental toys from Leonardo da Vinci museum for my son (as he has been watching Italian cartoons) and some leather goods.
What to do and visit in Siena? We took the bus and had a day trip to Siena. This is another city built for walking. We visited the Siena Cathedral, House of St, Catherine of Siena (as I studied in a Catherinean school), Piazza del Campo and Siena downtown. We also had the typical Tuscany dish here (fegato pasta - chicken liver pasta, pasta aglio). The old buildings are a sight to behold! The piazza del campo is a relaxing place even if there is a lot of vibe!
What to do and see in Pisa? We spent half day in Pisa where we went to see the trio of the Baptistery, Duomo and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
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