Professional English-speaking tour guide
Skip-the-line tickets
Radio headphones (depends on party size)
Hotel pick-up (centrally located hotels only)
IMPORTANT NOTE ON GROUPS: as per the rules of the Accademia Gallery, every guide cannot have more than 19 people. If you’re trying to book for a larger group, you will have to make two (or more) bookings each for 19 people or fewer. Don’t hesitate to contact us for more info on this.
Florence walking tour is an introductive tour that will show you all the main architectural attractions of the city plus the Accademia Gallery, giving you all the needed info about the history of Florence and the Renaissance.
The tour starts in Piazza Santa Croce, hosting the second most important church in Florence: the Basilica di Santa Croce. You will see the church from outside, hearing stories about this ancient Franciscan convent, but also about the many important people whose graves are inside the church. The square is frequently used for events, including the famous Calcio Storico (Historical Football).
From Piazza Santa Croce, you will walk through Borgo Dei Greci, a Medieval alley built on the place where, 19 centuries ago, Roman gladiators fought for their lives and early Christians were tortured. The layout of the buildings in this area still resembles the shape of the ancient Roman amphitheater. Reaching Piazza San Firenze, you will see examples of Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque architecture and also the place where Leonardo Da Vinci executed a portrait to the wife of a rich merchant that later would become the most famous painting ever: the Monna Lisa.
Few steps away is Piazza della Signoria: an open-air museum of Renaissance sculpture, but also the place from where the city hall towers on Florence since 1299. Your expert local guide will show you the magnificent statues in the square and the decoration of the main courtyard of Palazzo Vecchio, explaining the different functions of this palace in history, but also telling you about the people who were imprisoned in the tower, as a consequence of the political intrigues of the Renaissance, when the powerful House of Medici ruled the town.
You will see the Uffizi Gallery from outside, learning how it was built as a block of offices, and how it is connected to both Palazzo Vecchio and the Pitti Palace by the Vasari Corridor, a passageway reserved to the Medici family.
Next is Ponte Vecchio, the old bridge on the river Arno that survived to World War II (unlike any other bridge in Florence). Then you’ll head north, walking through a district which has been rebuilt after the devastation of the war, and another one that has been “renovated” in the 1860s when Florence, for a short while, became the capital of Italy. Along the way, you will stop to see the Loggia Del Porcellino, where tourists use to toss coins in the mouth of a wild boar statue, the Orsanmichele church, which once was a granary, and Piazza Della Repubblica.
You will finally reach the most amazing place in Florence: Piazza del Duomo, where stands the ancient Baptistery of San Giovanni with the amazing Gates of Paradise, but also one of the largest Cathedrals in the world, highlighted by the greatest achievement of Renaissance architecture: Brunelleschi’s Dome. You will learn how this place was built over the span of 140 years, and how a famous conspiracy against the Medici family took place right inside the Duomo.
Finally, you will take a quick look from outside to the Medici Palace, the place where the powerful bankers became the godfathers of the Renaissance, before reaching the Accademia Gallery. The guide will collect your skip-the-line tickets, reserved in advance, and you will get inside to see beautiful works of art culminating with the statue of David by Michelangelo.
After about three hours of tour, the guide will leave you and you will have a chance to continue exploring the Accademia Gallery on your own or follow the guide outside. If you’re tired, the guide will call a taxi for you to reach your hotel (at your expense).
This tour has a duration of three hours. Here is the itinerary of the tour:
- Santa Croce (outside)
- Piazza della Signoria
- Uffizi (outside)
- Vasari Corridor (outside)
- Ponte Vecchio
- Loggia del Porcellino
- Church of Orsanmichele
- Piazza della Repubblica
- Baptistery (outside)
- Duomo (outside)
- Accademia Gallery
Meeting point: Piazza Santa Croce 9, in front of J&S Leather Factory
Hotel pick-up: available for selected hotels, you must contact the guide after booking the tour
Drop-off: Accademia Gallery

The itinerary is indicative and can be changed in case some monument is inaccessible for restoration; furthermore, the itinerary can be changed if hotel pick-up is requested, based on the location of your hotel; in particular, the Basilica di Santa Croce can be replaced with the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella, and the order of the attractions can be changed to better suit the different starting point.
Your jackets and bags will be scanned by a metal detector at the Accademia Gallery. Knifes, cutters, multipurpose tools and any sharp object that might represent a danger for the works of art will be seized at the sole discretion of the museum personnel.
Large backpacks and long umbrellas will have to be left at the entrance of the Museum and be collected at the exit (this service is free of charge).
Entrance to religious places is subject to restrictions: your clothing must be appropriate and cover your shoulders and knees.
- 3-hour private tour with an expert licensed tour guide of Florence
- skip-the-line tickets for Accademia Gallery
- radio headphones (depends on group size)
- hotel pick-up (on request and free of charge: available only for hotels in central Florence)
Exclusions:
- lunch
- gratuities
- any other personal expense
Here are some important things to know in order to ensure you have the best possible experience with your tour:
- having a camera with you is your choice. Someone prefers to immerse in beauty not being distracted by taking pictures/making videos, someone else prefers to build printable memories of his trip. It’s really up to you. Inside the museums included in this tour, pictures and videos are allowed, but the use of a flash or selfie-sticks is prohibited
- we recommend afternoon tours, to have less crowds. The best timeslot is 3:30 PM
Your entrance tickets for this tour are bought immediately to avoid availability issues, and they are not refundable. If you cancel this tour at least 8 days in advance, there is a cancellation fee of € 30/person. There is no refund in case of late cancellations (in the final 7 days).
Joann E. Decker –
We visited Florence on March 15th and we had the best tour of all our trip to Italy and Greece. Our guide Siro was punctual and walked us around the beautiful city of Florence. We lined up at the Accademia for the security checks, but no more than 10 minutes. Everything was perfect. After the tour, Siro reserved a table for us at a delicious restaurant and accompanied us until we sat down for lunch.
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Sandra Williams –
This tour gives you an excellent introduction to the city of Florence. We learned about the history of the city, we saw wonderful buildings and statues, and we heard funny stories and anecdotes, which made the tour really enjoyable, not boring at all. This thanks to Vanessa, a lovely young woman who made us feel part of the city. Thank you Vanessa: we’ll come to Florence again!
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Kelly Kinzel –
Florence is fantastic. A sunny day, no crowds (but the guide told me there are crowds during high season), no lines. Tha attractions are amazing and thanks to our guide Siro we learned a lot!!
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Robert L. Wold –
I would recommend Guidaly for any private tour in Florence. Everything was perfect from the first contact. Very friendly staff and knowledgeable guides.
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Orlando Wright –
I always thought the best tours always involved riding around through town in style… that is until I took this really great walking tour of Florence and experienced the city from an angle I’ve never considered before. If you really want to see Florence, this is how you should do it.
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Alyssa Galik –
This tour gives you a thorough introduction to the city, showing you all the amazing churches and buildings of the city, plus the Accademia visit, with the spectacular Michelangelo’s David.
Our guide added a lot of value giving us historical details but also mentioning funny stories and legends, making the tour much more enjoyable.
We’ll definitely come back to Italy and use Guidaly again.
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Teresa –
Our day in Florence was lovely, even though we could have used more than one day. We met our guide, Martina, one hour late for parking issues, but she waited for us and extended time at the end of the tour, which we were grateful for. She showed us “The David” which is magnificent and also many other things. We also had a lovely 15 min break to have gelato. Martina was such a pleasure.
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Camille Munger –
It’s such a beautiful city, and the statue of David is amazing. I recommend this tour.
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Grace Sullivan –
We wanted a tour that introduced Florence, and this was the suggestion we got from the company. We saw and understood so much more than we would have had we attempted it by ourselves, and we are really satisfied with our choice
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Alan –
We wanted a guide who could relate to our child but also keep us entertained and interested as well. Valerie did a great job and showed us the beauties of florence, keeping everybody engaged for three hours.
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Samantha Jackson –
We booked this tour knowing we had just a few hours in Florence (coming from Livorno Dock). I have been on cruise excursion tours before and this was nothing like that. It was tailored to us. The guide did a great job taking care of all our needs. It was our best day in Europe!
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Kloe –
We had never been to Florence before and were really looking forward to it this summer. Siro our private tour guide did not disappoint. He was exceptionally knowledgeable (with a good combination of art and history), very pleasant and articulate and presented the history and architecture of Florence in a spectacular fashion
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Rachel Franklin –
Hello Martina, thanks for getting in touch with us. We are still talking about our great afternoon together in Florence: it was a wonderful tour, and we loved Florence and Italy!
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