Florence Italy Things To Do For $75 A Day

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When completing a grand tour of Italian cities, you have to stop in Tuscany’s best: Florence. The Renaissance city is full of art museums with work dating back to the Medieval times, as well as new-wave eateries that bring the traditional cuisine into the modern age. But you can still sip an expresso and take a “passagiata” (a long, leisurely walk) through the cobblestoned corridors with the best of the new and old on any budget. Here’s how we’d explore Firenze (the local spelling of Florence) on $75 a day.

Where To Stay: $30 To $50

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Where To Eat: $25 To $45

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The best way to eat your way through Italy is to try as many trattorias as possible (and as many scoops of gelato as you can handle). Trattorias are laid-back traditional restaurants where hearty recipes show off the cooking skills passed down from generation to generation in Tuscany.

Trattoria La Casalinga is a prime example of the epitome of Florentine eating. You’ll be in awe of the huge portion sizes and likely make quite a dent in the old-school dishes. If you’re looking for something more modern and less like a grandmother’s kitchen, try Oibo. It’s a slick cocktail bar where happy hour deals include an all-you-can-eat buffet to go along with a drink.

What To See And What’s Free: $0 To $20

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In Florence, you have a plethora of free options for activities. The intricately frescoed Duomo of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is free to enter (although there’s a fee for climbing the tower — definitely worth the $10) and it’s free to wander across the Arno River over the picturesque Ponte Vecchio. Across the piazza from Santa Maria del Fiore, you’ll find Basilica di Santa Croce, a detailed and geometric basilica. You can also climb the bell tower of the Palazzo Vecchio for about $10 or pay about $10 to go through the San Lorenzo churches, from the cloisters to the Medici Chapels.

If you do want to use some of your budget to see the world-class art museums, you can take in some serious wonders. In the Uffizi Gallery, you’ll find Botticellis and Rafaels and it’ll cost you around $15 (depending on the season). To view work by Michelangelo (the one and only statue of David), go to the Accademia (around $20 if you book online).

There are also numerous markets to explore, like the Mercato Centrale, although the expert craftsmanship on leather purses, jackets and shoes will tempt you into breaking your budget entirely. But we’ll be honest — most of what we dream of doing in Florence is eating, so we’d save most of your budget for pasta, pastries and gelato.

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