This trip started as a challenge. Can you make the most of Florence in 24 hours with 2 kids? The answer is yes. Of course it is not the best way to explore Florence, but it is perfectly doable.
So this is how we organized the trip. We arrived by plane from Geneva with an Etihad Regional flight.
When we left the airport, we took a cab (25 Euros for 4 people) and headed directly to the Duomo. After touring the Duomo, we grabbed a small bite at one of the small pizza shops nearby (remember we are travelling with kids and they need to eat). After lunch was finished, we walked a couple of blocks to the Academia (kids have free access to most of the museums in Florence). We took the tour and discovered the amazing David. If you want to have a funny experience, take a 3-years old kid to see the sculpture of the David. I know this does not sound very “cultural” but six months after our visit to the Academia, my youngest son still remembers the naked guy he saw at the museum. In a few years he will probably know the name of the sculpture and the artist. But I am sure that he will always remember it as the “naked guy”.
After we finished our tour in the Academia, we started walking towards the Ponte Vecchio. Of course we had to make a stop at the Disney store. A small trade that you have to make when travelling with kids! It took us a while to convince them to continue our visit. It was around 4pm and since we had not left our backpacks at the hotel, we decided it was time to make a stop. We did not want to spend much money in accommodation for only one night. So we privileged location over luxury. And the choice could not have been better. We stayed at the Hotel Cestelli, a 1-star hotel, just around the corner from the Ponte Vecchio. The hotel is pretty basic (no tv, no wifi) but rooms are spacious, clean and well decorated. If you have limited time in Florence and don’t want to spend too much money, this is a good choice. We just dropped our backpacks in the hotel and continued our tour. Being around the corner from the Ponte Vecchio, that was our next stop.
We walked over the bridge back and forth several times. It is a magical place. To enjoy better the atmosphere of the place, we had ice creams and espressos at the Caffe Pontevecchio, located in one of the ends of the bridge.
Our trip then continued with the Gallerie degli Ufizzi. We arrived there one hour and a half before closing but it gave us sufficient time to visit the entire place. By the time we had finished, my youngest son fell literally asleep in the floor of the Museum. But we managed to wake him up to continue. It was already dark so after a quick dinner, we headed back to the hotel.
The next day, since the hotel was centrally located, we woke up early and had breakfast at Rivoire, a classic Italian café located at the Piazza della Signoria.
Just another stroll around the city and then we headed back to the airport to take our plane back to Geneva. So, all in all, it was a fantastic trip and 24 hours proved to be sufficient for this trip. Of course we know that we left out some important visits. But you always have to leave something for your next trip 😉
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