Home > Rick on TV > Guide to Shows > Florence: City of Art

Florence: City of Art: Travel Details

This is a quick and handy source for details on the sights, hotels, tour guides and restaurants featured in the "Florence: City of Art" show. For much more (and updates), see this year's edition of Rick Steves' Florence & Tuscany guidebook.

Santa Maria Novella and Perfumery

Church of Santa Maria Novella — This 13th-century Dominican church is rich in art. Along with crucifixes by Giotto and Brunelleschi, there's every textbook's example of the early Renaissance mastery of perspective: The Holy Trinity by Masaccio. The exquisite chapels trace art in Florence from medieval times to early Baroque. The outside of the church features a dash of Romanesque (horizontal stripes), Gothic (pointed arches), Renaissance (geometric shapes), and Baroque (scrolls). Step in and look down the 330-foot nave for a 14th-century optical illusion (€2.50, Mon–Thu and Sat 9:30–17:00, Fri and Sun 13:00–17:00).

Nearby: A palatial perfumery is around the corner 100 yards down Via della Scala at #16 (free but shopping encouraged, Mon–Sat 9:30–19:30, closed Sun, tel. 055-216-276). Thick with the lingering aroma of centuries of spritzes, it started as the herb garden of the Santa Maria Novella monks. Well-known even today for its top-quality products, it is extremely Florentine. Pick up the history sheet at the desk and wander deep into the shop. From the back room, you can peek at Santa Maria Novella's cloister with its dreamy frescoes and imagine a time before Vespas and tourists.

I Fratellini

I Fratellini is a rustic little eatery where the "little brothers" have served peasants 27 different kinds of sandwiches and cheap glasses of Chianti wine (see list on wall) since 1875. Join the local crowd, then sit on a nearby curb or windowsill to munch, placing your glass on the wall rack before you leave (€4 for sandwich and wine, daily 8:00–20:00, 20 yards in front of Orsanmichele church on Via dei Cimatori). Be adventurous with the menu (easy-order by number). Consider Finocchiona (the special local salami), Lardo di Colonnata (lard aged in Carrara marble), and Cinghiale Piccante (spicey wild boar) sandwiches. Order the most expensive wine they've corked (Brunello for €4). Bottles are labled.

Hotel Loggiato dei Serviti

Hotel Loggiato dei Serviti, at the most prestigious address in Florence on the most Renaissance square in town, gives you Old World romance with hair dryers. Stone stairways lead you under open-beam ceilings through this 16th-century monastery's classy public rooms. The 33 cells — with air-conditioning, TVs, mini-bars, and telephones — wouldn't be recognized by their original inhabitants. The hotel staff is both professional and warm (Sb-€120, Db-€180 promised with this book in 2006, family suites from €263, elevator, Piazza S.S. Annuziata 3, tel. 055-289-592, fax 055-289-595, www.loggiatodeiservitihotel.it, info@loggiatodeiservitihotel.it, Simonetta, Francesca speak English). Ask for a room in the back to avoid piazza noise at night. When full, they rent five spacious and elegant rooms in 17th-century annex a block away. While it lacks the the monastic mystique, the rooms are bigger and gorgeous.

Museum of San Marco

One block north of the Accademia, this 15th-century monastery houses the greatest collection anywhere of frescoes and paintings by the early Renaissance master Fra Angelico. The ground floor features the monk's paintings, along with some works by Fra Bartolomeo. Upstairs are 43 cells decorated by Fra Angelico and his assistants. While the monk/painter was trained in the medieval religious style, he also learned and adopted Renaissance techniques and sensibilities, producing works that blended Christian symbols and Renaissance realism. Don't miss the cell of Savonarola, the charismatic monk who rode in from the Christian right, threw out the Medicis, turned Florence into a theocracy, sponsored "bonfires of the vanities" (burning books, paintings, and so on), and was finally burned himself when Florence decided to change channels (€4, Mon–Fri 8:15–13:50, Sat–Sun 8:15–19:00, but closed first, third, and fifth Sun and second and fourth Mon of each month, on Piazza San Marco, tel. 055-238-8608). While you can reserve an entrance time here, it's entirely unnecessary.

Cantinetta dei Verrazzano

Cantinetta dei Verrazzano is a long-established bakery/café/wine bar, serving delightful sandwich plates in an elegant old-time setting, and hot focaccia sandwiches to go. Their Specialità Verrazzano is a fine plate of four little crostini (like mini bruschetta) featuring different local breads, cheeses, and meats (€7). The Tagliere di Focacce (confirm the €6 per person price), a sampler plate of mini–focaccia sandwiches, is also fun. Either of these dishes with a glass of Chianti makes a fine light meal. As office workers pop in for a quick bite, it's traditional to share tables at lunchtime (Mon–Sat 8:00–21:00, closed Sun, just off Via Calzaiuoli on a side street across from Orsanmichele Church at Via dei Tavolini 18, tel. 055-268-590).