3 Days in Florence: Renaissance Art, Rooftops and Oltrarno

This three-day itinerary keeps each morning focused on one major pre-booked sight before the midday heat and crowds build, leaving afternoons for churches, artisan lanes and hillside views. Remember that both the Uffizi and the Accademia close on Mondays; adjust Day 1 and Day 3 if your trip starts on a Monday.

Day 1: David, the Duomo Complex and Piazza della Signoria

• 08:15: start at the Galleria dell'Accademia with the first timed slot of the morning to see Michelangelo's David and the unfinished Prisoners, then visit Fra Angelico's frescoed cells at the quiet Convent of San Marco two minutes north.
• 11:00: walk down to Piazza del Duomo for the Baptistery mosaics and the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, followed by a warm schiacciata or lampredotto lunch near the Mercato Centrale.
• 14:30: use your timed Brunelleschi Pass slot to climb the 463 steps of the Cathedral Dome (or climb Giotto's Bell Tower).
• 17:00: stroll down Via dei Calzaiuoli past Orsanmichele into Piazza della Signoria for the Loggia dei Lanzi and Palazzo Vecchio courtyard, ending with a Negroni and shared bistecca alla fiorentina dinner.

Day 2: The Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, Oltrarno and Sunset at San Miniato

• 08:15: enter the Uffizi Gallery at opening time and go straight to the top floor for Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo and Michelangelo.
• 11:30: cross the Ponte Vecchio into the Oltrarno for lunch around Piazza Santo Spirito and a visit to Brunelleschi's Basilica di Santo Spirito and the Brancacci Chapel.
• 14:30: tour the Pitti Palace or wander the hillside paths and wisteria pergola of the Boboli or Bardini Gardens, stopping at an Oltrarno wine window (buchetta del vino) on Via Santo Spirito.
• 17:30: climb the stone ramps of the Pogge from the medieval gate at San Niccolò up to Piazzale Michelangelo and continue five minutes higher to the abbey of San Miniato al Monte for sunset over the entire Arno valley.

Day 3: Medici Chapels, Santa Croce and Sant'Ambrogio

• 09:00: visit Michelangelo's Medici Chapels and the Laurentian Library staircase at San Lorenzo, or spend an hour with Donatello's bronzes inside the Bargello Museum.
• 11:30: explore the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo and the Pazzi Chapel at the Basilica di Santa Croce, then walk five minutes east for lunch at the Sant'Ambrogio market.
• Afternoon: visit the frescoed pharmacy of Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella (operating since 1221) and the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella before your onward train from Santa Maria Novella station.
• With a 4th day: take the morning bus to Siena or the regional train to Lucca and Pisa.