Finessing Florence, Florence, Italy

Florence, Italy is a beautiful city. It’s old. It’s classy. It’s unforgettable. With the help of a few tips I picked up before arriving, we made the most of the short time we were there. We were finessing Florence!

We drove into Florence from Milan in early May 2014. Traffic was abominable, so all we wanted to do was find our hotel, park the car, and start exploring the city by foot. That was a little tricky because the hotel entrance was obscure. But with the help of the hotel manager, we were able to find Il Terrazino su Boboli. We chose this hotel because it was 1) close to the entrance of old Florence and 2) very affordable-only 139 euros per night for four of us. With free wi-fi and a small parking garage available for 15 euros a day, it was perfect for our family. (Although we didn’t need a car in Florence, we would use it again to travel to Rome and beyond).

The only thing that put a damper on our arrival was the rain, but we didn’t waste time fretting over it. We headed straight to the Uffizi Gallery to purchase our Amici Degli Uffici membership (worth its weight in gold!). Let me explain…

When we arrived, we were shocked by the length of the lines. There were three of them: one to buy tickets, one to enter, and one for groups. We bypassed them all and entered the Amici degli Uffizi office. This is a private association (Friends of the Uffizi) whose mission it is to raise funds for the protection, conservation and restoration of the Uffizi Gallery collections. The membership is good for a year and also includes admission to 23 other museums, gardens, villas, and galleries in Florence. We filled out a few forms, they gave us our membership cards, and we walked right into the Uffizi Gallery! ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).