{"id":7049521,"date":"2026-08-27T23:28:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T23:28:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/florence-italy-what-to-do-and-where-to-stay-in-our-favorite-city-3\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T23:28:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T23:28:26","slug":"florence-italy-what-to-do-and-where-to-stay-in-our-favorite-city-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7049521","title":{"rendered":"Florence, Italy – What to Do and Where to Stay in Our Favorite City"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Florence with Kids (or Without Kids)<\/h2>\n

We love Italy. We\u2019ve rented villas in Cortona<\/a>, in Positano<\/a> and on Lake Como<\/a>. We\u2019ve hiked and cycled in the Dolomites<\/a>. We had a family reunion in Rome, centered around my niece\u2019s baptism at the Vatican. I hiked across Tuscany<\/a>. We\u2019ve taken a cruise from Sicily to La Spezia. And we\u2019ve visited Naples twice for the sole purpose of buying umbrellas (a story I\u2019ll tell someday). But Florence is the city we keep returning to.<\/p>\n

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\"Things<\/a>
At Il Porcellino \u2013 the boar fountain. If you rub his snout, it means you\u2019ll return to Florence. Not sure what rubbing his leg does?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

I studied in Florence for a year in college, and I\u2019ve returned virtually every year since then \u2013 sometimes several times a year. When Conde Nast Traveler had its 2012 Dream Trip contest and required essays on where people would go if they won the $25,000 grand prize, I wrote that I would take my kids to Florence. Even though I traveled to Florence every year, I didn\u2019t want the first trip with my kids to be about my favorite things or my memories. They needed their own kid-centered trip (not organized by me) in order to hopefully fall in love with the city too. It worked. We won the $25,0000, we had an amazing trip to Florence<\/a>, and it became one of my kids\u2019 favorite places. Since that trip, in 2013, we\u2019ve returned with the kids more than a dozen times, including for the start of the Tour de France in 2024. I\u2019ve also traveled back solo more than twenty times, and did two trips with my old college roommate<\/a> as well. In short, we visit Florence often, and we\u2019ve figured out how to do it right.<\/p>\n

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\"Things\"Things<\/a>
When you\u2019re walking through Florence, be sure to look down at the puddles!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Is this post \u201cdefinitive\u201d or \u201cultimate\u201d? Nope. I don\u2019t think anyone but a local, or someone who\u2019s lived somewhere 10+ years, has the right to use those terms. But it includes our favorite activities and where we stay. There are elements of those in my other posts, but this is my first attempt to tie together all of my Florence thoughts in one place. Enjoy! And if you don\u2019t love Florence, that\u2019s fine. I\u2019ve had great conversations with people who feel like the city hasn\u2019t changed and modernized enough, and conversations with others who feel like it\u2019s changed too much. But whatever you do, please don\u2019t judge the city based on a half-day excursion from a cruise ship<\/a>. You\u2019ll only be seeing the main sites (hey kids, the Duomo), and when they\u2019re the most crowded, and at the hottest time of day, and it will be miserable. And you\u2019ll probably get crappy gelato too. Nope. Give the city at least a couple of days. Wake up early. Stay out late. Get lost. Take a private tour. Find the best artisanal gelato. Take advantage of the museums being free the first Sunday of every month and go to as many as possible. Then at least you\u2019ll have the experience to be able to judge the city.<\/p>\n