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Now being refurbished to three-star status, the Bigallo has long been famous among the Florence budget-conscious for its views of the Duomo group. The only drawback is the noise of pedestrians on the streets below.

This massive Gothic cathedral complex is filled with art by such masters as Michelangelo, Pisano, Pinturicchio, Bernini, Duccio and Donatello. It qualifies as one of Tuscany’s Top 10 sights, and is fully covered on pages 26–7.

Brunelleschi’s noble dome, Giotto’s slender belltower, Ghiberti’s robust gates, Michelangelo’s tortured Pietà and two panoramic terraces, all wrapped in red, white and green marble.

The shops hanging from both sides of Taddeo Gaddi’s 1354 “old bridge” have housed gold- and silversmiths since Ferdinando I evicted the butchers in the 16th century (his private corridor from the Uffizi to the Pitti passed overhead, and he couldn’t stand the smell). Even the Nazis, blowing up bridges to slow the Allied advance, found the span too beautiful to destroy and instead took down the buildings at either end.

A veritable who’s who of the greatest Renaissance masters installed in the former offices (uffizi ) of the ruling Medici family.

The greatest gallery of Renaissance art on earth, a veritable living textbook of Western art’s most shining moments, showcasing masterpieces from Giotto and Botticelli through Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci to Titian, Caravaggio and Rembrandt.

Florence’s public living room and outdoor sculpture gallery. Michelangelo called Ammannati’s Neptune fountain a “waste of good marble”. Lining the Palazzo Vecchio’s arringheria – the platform from which orators “harangued” the crowds – are copies of Donatello’s Marzocco (Florence’s leonine symbol) and Judith , and Michelangelo’s David . The only original, Bandinelli’s Hercules (1534), was derided by Cellini as a “sack of melons”. Orcagna’s lovely 14th-century Loggia dei Lanzi shelters Cellini’s masterpiece Perseus (1545) and Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabine Women (1583).

Arnolfo di Cambio’s mighty town hall (1299–1302) is still Florence’s seat of government. Cosimo I hired Vasari to redecorate in the 1540s, frescoing a Medici marriage around Michelozzo’s 1453 courtyard and swathing the gargantuan Sala dei Cinquecento with an apotheosis of the Medici dynasty. Francesco I shut himself away from matters of state in his Studiolo to conduct scientific experiments.

Small roundels of bread, toasted, brushed with olive oil, and garnished with a number of toppings. The most popular toppings are cubed tomatoes, or fegatini , a chunky fresh pâté of chicken livers, capers, onions and a bit of anchovy.

Risorgimento intellectuals met under this historical café’s stuccoed ceilings in the 1850s and 1860s to discuss the unification of Italy.

Not wishing to miss out on the latest fashion, Florence has its very own Irish pubs; this one is the best.

A famous outdoor market offering leather goods, fashion items and marbled paper. The adjacent food market is open every morning except Sunday.

Chain of stationery stores specializing in marbled paper and leather-bound blank books.