We visited the Boboli Gardens and the Palazzo Pitti on our first afternoon in Florence, and what…read morewith the Duomo views and the Medici glamor, it was a nice introduction to the city. The palace was originally commissioned in 1458 by a Florentine banker named Pitti. The Medicis picked it up in 1549, and it remained a ruling class residence until 1919, when it was gifted to the nation and turned into a museum. It's a giant place, literally palatial, with a kind of forbidding, fortress-like aesthetic. Seems like a weird place to live, but what do I know. We walked in on a Wednesday afternoon, and neither the gardens nor the museum were crowded. We started with the Boboli Gardens, which were quite attractive, even in mid-November with nothing in bloom. It felt like a large, inclined park, pleasant to walk, with impressive fountains and tremendous views. There was an empty amphitheater and an ancient Egyptian obelisk. Tons of old statues, including a fenced-off 17th century work called "The Abundance," where we saw a weird lady sneak in to molest the base. We wandered up the garden's main axis and reached the Giardino del Cavaliere, an intricately landscaped walled garden with truly fantastic views. We spent about an hour in the gardens and another hour in the Palatine Gallery, Palazzo Pitti's primary museum space. The gallery contains over 500 paintings, most of them from the Renaissance, a collection that once belonged to the Medicis and their successors. I'm sure we would've gotten more out of the visit had we taken a guided tour, but we did pretty well walking through those endless rooms on our own. We had a good time at the Palazzo Pitti and would recommend it to anyone visiting Florence. Less mandatory than the Uffizi or the Accademia, but a great place to absorb the lavish splendor of the Medicis.

From the front, it doesn't look like much - a standard U shaped brick palace. But what you don't…read morerealize is the majestic, jaw-dropping botanical maze that follows. This place is HUGE, with views beyond what the eye can meet - spanning from Tuscany country side on one end and the city's architecture on the other. After landing at the airport, dropping our bags, we headed straight here and did not regret a minute of the exploration.

AVOID AVOID AVOID…read more The garden is all around beautiful. But I went to the bathroom right above it, and basically paid to be assaulted. I was groped and forced into the bathroom by the man working there while waiting for my friend. Had to scream to get away. Truly traumatized. I've been living in Florence for 6 months and never felt that un safe. The sad truth I have to leave reviews to warn people because I don't know what the staff will do after I informed them. Be safe.

Everyone hypes about Piazzale Michelangelo or the San Miniato church, but this rose garden is…read moreliterally right behind these tourist magnets and yet offers the same stunning view of Florence except in a much more lovelier setting! Welcome to Florence's city rose garden! Located downhill of Piazzale Michelangelo, this is an easy walk down to quickly escape the crowd. In fact, if you are hardcore and are trekking to the Piazzale on foot from the San Niccolo neighborhood, why not take the more scenic route through this rose garden. Sure it's not well-manicured like a palace garden but it's free to enter and is still decently maintained enough to have roses blossom around you! Most likely, Piazzale Michelangelo that you are heading or coming from is filled with a huge crowd, so take a quick breather here and experience the Florence skyline in a less-stressful and more floral way! --- tl;dr version: 1) Located downhill of Piazzale Michelangelo with almost equal skyline view 2) Perfect scenic route if you are trekking to the Piazzale 3) Much less crowded and more beautiful than the Piazzale

So, I didn't actually get to see much of the spectacular gardens, but I exchanged emails with one…read moreof the owners, and he offered a tour the next day for 20 euro per person. Think this would be better to see than the Boboli Gardens next door which I have seen a few times. Unfortunately, I was leaving the next day and couldn't make the tour, but the owner was very kind and courteous and offered to let us see it next time I'm in Florence.

Cute park for bringing your kids to run around in and play. Lots of space, nice selection of…read moreequipment for kids to play on ... swings, slide etc. The park is open also to animals on and sometimes off a leash. During the summer there is a little chiosk bar with tables and chairs. Only downside of the park that I can think of is that sometimes the teens/preteens come to smoke up in the play equipment leaving their trash around ;-/ which is lame.

Beautiful and peaceful garden near piazza della Liberta. it is very nice to just sit there or walk…read moreamong the little hills of the garden. You should climb until the top of the garden where you will have an amazing view on the city. There is also a very nice coffee place that I have not tried yet - but whose location is great. I will come back to hang there for sure!

This was a fun little walk. Its basically a huge hillside garden that has YEP tons of Iris's…read more It is only open during a narrow window and I was at the nearby Piazzale Michelangelo so I stoped by. It boasts and endless amount of Iris's species and given its somewhat niche appeal it was one of the few activites in Florence not overun with people. It has killer views and to be honest after the endless jostling, getting hit with selfie sticks and other shenanigans it was a nice break

We have visited this beautiful garden (Giardino all'Italiana) with our history of art teacher…read moreCaterina and fell in love with it ! It is just 20 minutes by bus from the center of Florence, but it is really a dnother world, you are surrounded by beauty - ideal also to take a book with you and just enjoy the place.

It's sad how much potential this square has, such history and beautiful architecture is wasted…read morebecause the city seems to neglect this Piazza. The arch is impressive, beautiful and detailed, built in 1738. There are trees and some grass, benches, birds and a pool sized working fountain, which is not common in the center. But there are also homies sleeping on the lawn, and well the birds aren't quite just birds but hungry, vicious pigeons that poop 24/7. I wish the municipality would put a little bit of money in landscaping this Piazza or up-keeping it. There is way too much vehicular activity for it to be a relaxing place, but it's worth to visit the most northernmost point of the historical center and you can sit and daydream about when the old city wall was here (demolished in 1865) and bring your cold bread if you feel like makin those pigeons even fatter.