Florence is considered the ultimate city for art. UNESCO claims that 60% of the world's most important works of art are in Florence which is found in north west Italy and encompassed by the Chianti wine region.
Called the birthplace of the Renaissance, Florence's wealth was founded in its banking houses built on the back of the wool trade. In 1235 Florence minted the first gold coin - the florin - that became standard currency across Europe. Bankers payrolled artists and architects with the Medici family nurturing the talent of artists like Botticelli and Michelangelo.
Though loved from afar, it is not a particularly pleasant city to visit with traffic, tourists and touts thronging the narrow, dark streets and piazzas heaving with a succession of babbling tour groups. The peak summer months of July and August can be unbearable with the heat, traffic and the crowds.
Most visitors are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of fine art to be found in the city. The River Arno winds through a city so packed with galleries and museums that visitors can spend whole days dashing from one to another.
Key attractions are the Uffizi Gallery which houses the most important collection of art in Italy with works by Da Vinci, Botticelli, Titian, Tintoretto and Raphael; Cathedral Square which is dominated by the magnificent cathedral dome and is also home to the slender Campanile and inspired Baptistery; and the Ponte Vecchio bridge which was the only one not destroyed by the Nazis in World War II. Other museums include the San Marco and the Bargello National while across the river lie the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens.
There is a good bus network around Florence although most visitors find it easier to walk around the compact centre. Driving and parking in the central area is severely restricted and most visitors park in the guarded car parks on the outskirts.
Italy has an excellent network of toll motorways and the central A1 route links Florence to Milan, Rome and Naples. Pisa Airport is the main arrival point, about 80km from Florence and handling 1.1million passengers a year. There are good road and rail links from the airport to the city centre and approximate flight times are London 2hrs.
