I Love Florence - Culture
I LOVE FLORENCE (CULTURE)
Loving Florence is easy: it's one of the best-known cities in the world for its artistic and monumental heritage, and has so much to show that visitors do not know where to start. In Florence there's not only a lot of beautiful museums, but also many restaurants where you can taste a divine, traditional Tuscan cuisine, and if you want to eat with a Florentine spirit and not like a tourist, small taverns and inns are a great place to start. The Tuscan capital is also worthy representative of Italian fashion, known and appreciated throughout the world. The city, spectacular and timeless, teems with markets, craft shops and irresistible streets. For all those who want to truly live a Florentine experience, not as tourists but as protagonists, WeVillas has created an "experiential journey" including the best museums of the city, but also on the waters of the Arno, the precious artifacts made by the Florentine artisans, through a kaleidoscope of essences and perfumes. Discovering every corner in Florence is almost impossible, but our luxury package is designed to make your experience truly unique and unforgettable.
Spotlight on:
- On boat on the River Arno
- The inimitable museums in Florence
- Gastronomic tour of Florence
- The Italian genius in Florence
- Florentine artisans
- Style tour in Florence
- Pitti Palace and the famous Florentine squares
- Vanity from the Renaissance - the most ancient pharmacy in the world
- Living in a dream villa
The experience, in a few words
This experiential package is design for up to 12 people, with an accommodation in the beautiful Villa Ibisco.
(Day 1): On boat on the Arno river - boat ride on the river - ½ day
(Day 2): The inimitable Florence museums - guided tour of the most beautiful museums
Gastronomic tour of Florence - food and traditional wines tasting, guided tour of the city's central market - full day
(Day 3): Florentine artisans - walking on the streets of Florence, visiting the artisans' workshops
The Italian genius in Florence - guided tour in the heart of the ancient Florentia, discovering the Italian Renaissance - full day
(Day 4): The icons of Florence - a guided tour of the icons of the Tuscan city
Vanity from the Renaissance - tour of one of the most ancient pharmacies in the world, with "perfume tasting" - full day
(Day 5): Pitti Palace and the famous Florentine squares - discover the charming residence of the Grand Dukes
Fashion tour in Florence - Private tour to the Costume Gallery in Palazzo Pitti - full day
Detailed description
The city of Florence explored in its most secret and timeless soul, in an experiential package made of scents, colors, flavors and unforgettable visits. Find out how to get into the heart of the most famous Tuscan city, in this dream travel created for you by WeVillas.
On boat on the River Arno
A different way of exploring Florence: on boat on the river Arno, parading in front of the most famous monuments, on the waters of the river that crosses the city. Discover the masters of Florence without queuing, gently accompanied by the sound of the boat on the water. Admire the Uffizi Gallery and the Vasari Corridor from a completely unexpected position, passing under the Ponte Vecchio and the bridge of Santa Trinità - rebuilt five times - a symbol of strength and resurgence.
Gastronomic tour of Florence
Florence boasts 134 restaurants, bars and taverns that are part of the “Tuscan food showcase”. From Borgo San Lorenzo to Montespertoli, from Certaldo to Vinci, there are a number of place where you can taste the real Tuscan cuisine. Every restaurant offers a unique tasting menu, but all of them focus on traditional recipes and local wines. From classic dishes like ribollita and pappa al pomodoro, Florentine steak and tripe, to more specific recipes, such as stewed duck or pork in vegetable sauce. The first courses range from the Traditional ravioli wth meat sauce, to strozzapreti (a type of short pasta) with pork sauce and risotto with porcini mushrooms. Many dishes focus on local products, such as patata saporita or tasty cake with Certaldo red onions, sbriciolana, pecorino cheese aged in cave with fig jam and Tuscan zolfini bean soup. With the support of our expert guide you will explore the colored central market, where you’ll find different types of food, from cheese to salami, from focaccia to bread and more traditional Florentine food. The traditional wine shops, tripe sellers and cheap taverns, which offer wine and pasta, will allow everyone to taste the traditional Florentine cuisine while you’ll enjoy the view of the most lovely and picturesque squares of the city.
The inimitable Florence museums
The Florentine masterpieces of the best figurative medieval and Renaissance: we offer you the chance to dive deep into the most amazing Tuscan art. A personal guided tour will introduce you to the Uffizi Gallery and to the largest collection of Renaissance paintings, where you will see up close the works of Botticelli, Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci. The Accademia Gallery, home to Michelangelo's David in the Bargello, offers masterpieces by Michelangelo and Donatello. The Palatine Gallery, finally, includes works by Raphael, Titian, Correggio and Rubens: the absolute excellence of figurative Renaissance will be at your complete disposal.
Florentine artisans
They call it “the other Florence”, the popular one, the traditional one. It’s the city characterized by dust gently leaning in the artisan shops, the one that unleashes creativity and colors, quality and uniqueness. Florence is renowned for its amazing traditional and artistic handicrafts, where innovation and local tradition blend to give life to precious handmade objects of different materials: from crystal to gold, from silver to pottery, from wood to leather. On the streets of Florence, framers, gilders, restorers populate quaint shops full of unique and unrepeatable products. Every business has a secular experience, passed down for generations: to this day, in Florence, raw materials are worked by hand with the same skill of the ancient predecessors. Entering the small shops and workshops means going back in time.
The icons of Florence
Florence, small and huge at the same time, is an open-air museum that has become more and more beautiful over the centuries; a casket surrounded by ancient walls that protect great masterpieces of art and architecture - so close that you can almost touch them. The city is located in a magnificent location, on the foothills of the Apennines, in a valley that opens towards the Arno. Its buildings and monuments tell stories of art, war and life. Its streets, now crowded with tourists, are the same trampled by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Dante and many others among the greatest minds of all time. Accompanied by a wordwide-famous guide, you will discover the real beauty of Florence: Santa Maria del Fiore, Brunelleschi's Dome, Palazzo della Signoria, Palazzo Pitti and Ponte Vecchio. A visit to the Uffizi Museum is also included in the package.
Vanity from the Renaissance
With the support of our expert guides, enjoy a visit to the magical Officina del Profumo Farmaceutica in Santa Maria Novella (1612), one of the most ancient pharmacies in the world, founded by Dominican monks in the early Thirteenth century. Visit then the Olfattorio, a “cafe parfum” able to offer a unique experience of “perfume tasting”. Discover the vanity of Renaissance through unique antiquarian collections. Finish the tour at the Museo degli Argenti in Palazzo Pitt, where you can admire ancient containers of perfume directly from the Medici collection.
The Italian genius in Florence
Why did the Renaissance begin in Florence? The answers to this question are varied, and one of the most famous speaks of the extraordinary wealth accumulated at that time by the growing middle and upper class of merchants and bankers. With prosperity, the desire to enjoy the pleasures of life also grows. Florence saw itself as the ideal city-state, a place where the individual's freedom was guaranteed and where many citizens had the right to directly participate in the government (the Duchy of Milan, ruled by a succession of Dukes with absolute power, was completely different). In 1400, Florence engaged in a struggle with the Duke of Milan. The Florentines feared the loss of freedom and respect for people that was the pride of their Republic. The Florentines of the early 15th century were, of course, very proud of their form of government. The republic is, after all, a place that respects individual opinion; individualism was a critical part of humanism that thrived in the Florence of that time. Our luxury package provides a unique visit, accompanied by an expert guide and aimed to discover the secrets of the three major geniuses that made Florence the city we know today: Lorenzo the Magnificent, Dante and Michelangelo. These three experiential itineraries go through the heart of the ancient Florentia, showing different aspects of the Renaissance, the "bridge" between the Middle Ages and the modern era.
Pitti Palace and the famous Florentine squares
We will continue our journey back in time by visiting the fascinating residence of the Grand Dukes, located on the left side of the river Arno. Palazzo Pitti, divided into winter and summer residence, belonged to the Pitti family. You will observe the fascinating jewels of the Silver Museum, the once-fashionable works of the Costume Gallery, and you relax walking in the Boboli Gardens, a stunning and unexpected corner showing a different Florence, an oasis of greenery that extends from Piazza Pitti and goes all the way up to Porta Romana, with some architectural gems such as the Cave of Buontalenti. Leaving the Palace, your guide will lead you through the streets of Florence, where the city shows its best face.
Fashion tour in Florence
"Shopping paradise" is undoubtedly an appropriate definition for universally popular cities such as Paris, New York, London, Chicago (which, with its "Millionaire's Row" offers an extraordinary shopping experience). However, no city in the world can match Florence perhaps, surprising district of Italian fashion. While Los Angeles has Rodeo Drive and New York Fifth Avenue, Florence boasts three distinct and unique fashion streets: Via Tornabuoni, Via della Vigna Nuova and Via Strozzi. Each has its own specialty and charm. Enjoy a unique experience of total immersion in the Florentine fashion, famous throughout Europe since the Middle Ages for its precious silk and wool. Along with a private guide, you will visit the Costume Gallery of Palazzo Pitti, including the new rooms with recently restored special costumes from the Sixteenth century De Medici's collection; enjoy a visit to the fascinating Salvatore Ferragamo Museum in Palazzo Spini-Feroni, and admire the shoes worn by famous movie stars such as Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland and Audrey Hepburn.
This experiential package is suitable for any time of year. The sections of this route can be further customized on request.
Activities
Cultural / Historical sites / Typical food and wine / Wine tasting / Local crafts
Themes
Wine, food, crafts, leisure and relax
Features
Leisure - Gastronomic culture - Local markets and crafts - Accommodation in a luxury villa