Florence – Day 1

РУССКОЯЗЫЧНАЯ ВЕРСИЯ ПО ЭТОЙ ССЫЛКЕ. CLICK HERE FOR RUSSIAN VERSION.

April 23 2026 – Thursday

So, today I arrived in Florence. Early in the morning I headed to City Airport – it’s the one most conveniently located for me, just half an hour from home. Once again at boarding they threatened us with having to check in our hand luggage, but thankfully some volunteers stepped forward, so my little suitcase stayed with me, and there was even space for it in the overhead compartment right above my seat.

But on arrival I still had to queue for ages, because across the entire Schengen area there’s now a new entry-exit system with biometric checks. I don’t fully understand how it works, because once you’ve submitted your biometrics, they’re supposedly valid for three years, yet everyone still has to queue anyway. At least I was quite near the front and only waited about half an hour, while behind me there was still a whole crowd of people.

After getting through, I took the tram – its final stop, San Marco, is about a 10-minute walk from my hotel. I walked past the Accademia Gallery and saw a very impressive queue there, then past the famous sandwich place All’Antico Vinaio, where the queue was even more impressive (I will definitely try Florentine sandwiches, but not here – Google suggested that although this place is very popular, it’s deteriorated a lot because of tourist hype, and there are much better panini places around).

While I was on my way, someone from the hotel was messaging me on WhatsApp, asking me to let them know when I was on the tram, when I was at the door, and saying they would open it remotely and come down in five minutes. Basically, it felt like there was only one person working there. After five minutes, a pleasant woman named Marta came and showed me to a very spacious and, I’d even say, quite grand room.

I left my things, freshened up a bit, and then went out with the mission of getting myself a sandwich for lunch at one of the Google-approved panini spots. These places specialise in traditional hot sandwiches made from a local type of focaccia (called schiacciata), filled with Tuscan cured meats, cheeses, and other ingredients. Another very popular filling is lampredotto – basically beef tripe – but that option is immediately off the table for me.

The Pino’s panineria also had a queue, but it was manageable, and I got myself a sandwich with salami, pecorino cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, peppers, and some kind of spicy sauce – it was very tasty.

And after the great lunch, it was time to go for a walk and get to know the city a little bit. My hotel is right next to the Old Town, but I’m planning to properly explore it tomorrow, when I have tickets booked for museums and for Giotto’s bell tower.

For today, the plan was to cross to the other side of the Arno River via the famous Ponte Vecchio, walk around the historic Oltrarno district on the left bank, have dinner there, and before that head up to Piazzale Michelangelo, which has something like a hilltop park and a viewing platform overlooking the city.

A couple of observations about Florence. There are a lot of people in the city centre – not quite the same level of madness as in Venice, but still a lot of tourists, especially Americans, British, Turks, and French. The central streets are narrow, and therefore, the pavements are very narrow too, and people stroll along them slowly and casually, so you can’t really get past.

On these narrow streets, you often see bags of rubbish placed outside doorways, which isn’t particularly nice. And in the city centre there’s also a bit of a sewage smell – interestingly, it’s not Venice with its canals, but it still smells a bit.

Around Ponte Vecchio, and along the bridge itself, there’s an abundance of jewellery shops – as in Florence in general – and also many shops selling leather goods: bags, jackets, gloves, and so on. The famous Italian leather! There are also plenty of places to eat – those same panini spots, wine bars, gelaterias, traditional trattorias and osterias, and all sorts of other places.


The bridge itself, and the yellow-orange houses hanging over the river, actually reminded me of Girona in Catalonia, Spain.
 
First, I walked around the Oltrarno area – it’s essentially also part of the historic centre, most of which lies on the other, right bank of the river. There are sights here too, like the Pitti Palace, but I won’t be visiting it. I wandered around a bit, checked out some of the shops, and then headed on foot along the river toward Piazzale Michelangelo and its viewing point.

Up to that moment, I hadn’t really had that “wow” feeling from the beauty yet (though I hadn’t actually been into the Old Town properly). But when you climb up to the viewpoint and look out over the river, and see the Duomo, the bridges, and other landmarks on the opposite side – then yes, it’s truly breathtaking.

I took loads of photos, and then went down into the nearby Rose Garden, with its many green terraces and even more beautiful views of the city. And most importantly, all this greenery and the landscape look absolutely Tuscan – even if you’ve only ever seen Tuscany in photos before, you immediately recognise it.

The Rose Garden then turns into a Japanese garden – overall I really liked it here, with people sitting on the grass, sunbathing, eating and drinking.

From there I went back to Oltrarno, as it was already getting close to dinner time and I had a restaurant booked there. I tried pasta with wild boar ragù (honestly, it’s basically just like Russian-style makarony po-flotski, even if it’s made with boar) and had a glass of Chianti.

Continuing the overall impression, I’d note that everyone everywhere speaks English, and in general it feels like everything is geared toward tourists, with signs and menus automatically duplicated in English. Though maybe that’s just the case in the city centre.

As for the weather, it’s very good – I’d say late April is the perfect time for Florence. Nights and mornings are quite cool, around 5–7 degrees, but during the day it’s about 25, sunny, basically summer weather.