In 2015, my spouse and I used the Firenze Card for our trip. August was when we could go, along with lots of others & the hottest weather of the year. I got us the Cards because this pass lets you skip the Lines. It was wonderful. We passed by spots that we hadn’t planned to go into, but because the small museum or chapel was included on our card, we stopped in discovering new treasures in Florence. For this trip, I purposely planned three full days & bought my FirenzeCard online ahead of my trip. I downloaded & explored the Museum & Event list in the Firenze Card APP. I had my flexible to do list all set. I used the digital version on my phone and it worked wonders everywhere I went.
Firenzecard is a 3-day official museum pass for the city of Florence which includes:
A 72-hour pass to access more than 60 museums in the Firenzecard circuit, activated at your first entrance
Museum reservations and special exhibitions with no surcharges.
Free entrance for family members under age 18 with
A physical card and kit, or a digital format via the Firenzecard App (compatible with last two iOS versions or last four Android versions)
In 2015, the Firenze Card was €72, for 72 hours, and 72 museums or sites. This year, 2025, it was €85 and when I skipped the line for the Bardini Gardens, and got my tickets for the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens in the Bookstore, again with no line, I was smiling ear to ear. So that’s my best Travel TIP for today.
Day 1
I arrived at the Hotel Horto Convento in the early afternoon. My room was ready and after starting my trip roughly 20 hours prior, I was due for a shower & a nap. I set my alarm for 4 PM so that I could stay awake through the evening. Georgio at Reception gave me a map & oriented me to the neighborhood. I headed out to explore. In just a 3 minute walk from the hotel, I passed the Brancacci Chapel which was high on my list! Shoutout to my Upper Valley friend Jean for telling me about it! One of her favorite Firenze finds a few years ago, it was already on my list so I’ll start there tomorrow! 2-3 blocks from there was a small artisan gelato shop with a very big Italian speaking crowd. At 5:30 PM before dinner? Oh, it’s the local favorite and must be good! It’s called S Brino & I decided I would come back later. You’ll find it on Serragli near the corner of Santa Monoca.
I walked farther up on Serragli thinking I was headed towards the river. Actually I was walking away from the Arno deeper into the local neighborhood of shops, restaurants, trattorias & even several storefront leather workshops (factories). Before I turned around, I passed Sila Thai Massage, and it looked like a good prospect for tired feet for another day! 
Once I turned toward the river, I was right in Santa Spirito, after working hours when the Bars, cafes and galleries come alive! I made a loop between two bridges, one up from the Ponte Vecchio & snapped this photo! 
I’m in Firenze, & it’s so energizing! I consulted my map and headed back towards the hotel, stopping in a tabachi, (newsstand) for a liter of water to bring to the room. In Florence, it’s best to drink only bottled water from a reputable source. (The hotel provided 1 bottle pp per day, but I would need much more.) Across the street I saw Georgio from the hotel in a bakery. Wow I knew someone in Florence already? He was picking up piece of pizza and he says, this is a really good place. I left with a bag of pistachio and hazelnut biscotti. And you know I stopped in again in the coming days.
Restaurants don’t open until seven for dinner and they serve until 11 PM. I chose a restaurant down the block from the hotels, it’s the one named for the street, Via Della’Orto, it was a popular lively place & the typical Florentine menu food being served others of meat fried what nots looked good with large portions. But I did not really like my riboletta, vegetable stew. It was way too salty. That’s OK, I get to eat again tomorrow, right? And, there is always gelato!
I similarly explored different neighborhoods throughout the next three days. You’ll see some of my “finds” in my photos. The fun discovering your own favorite art treasures & museums, food, treats, or an undiscovered restaurant that turns out to be amazing.
Firenze is a treasure of the world’s renaissance art & architecture. Everywhere I turn seems to be a photo moment!
Day 2
The Brancacci Chapel
The Brancacci Chapel is one of the few museums that require a reservation for a timed entry. The Ufizzi and the academia with the unfinished prisoners and Michelangelo’s famous sculpture of David are two other examples. I easily reserved a 12:45 PM entry, and headed over to S Brino to try the gelato first. I got dark chocolate with pear, orange the first time and dark chocolate Forest Nero, which was with Cherry when I went by there a second time. Oh was it good.
TIP: You don’t need your ticket to walk into the cloister garden before entering the Chapel. There is a clean Toilette accessible from the Courtyard. That will come in handy to know.
Sometimes called the “Sistine Chapel of the Renaissance,” “The Brancacci Chapel has one of the supreme masterpieces of renaissance painting: the fresco cycle of Scenes from the life of St. Peter, mostly painted in collaboration by Masaccio and Masolino between 1425 and 1427. The frescoes in the upper register are: Adam and Eve in the Earthly Paradise, and Original Sin by Masolino, and the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Earthly Paradise with the Tribute Money and the Baptism of the neophytes by Masaccio; also by Masolino are the Preaching of St. Peter with the Healing of the lame man and the raising of Tabitha. In the lower register, Masaccio painted the two scenes on the end wall, St. Peter curing the sick with his shadow and the Distribution of goods, with the death ot Ananias.
The work was left unfinished by Masolino, who took off for Hungary, and by Masaccio, who decamped to Rome (where he died in 1428). Between 1435 and 1458, when the patron Felice Brancacci fell into political disgrace, the friars changed the dedication of the Brancacci Chapel to that of ‘La Madonna del Popolo’, moving the celebrated 13th-century Madonna and Child from the high altar into the chapel. It was perhaps on this occasion that part of Masaccio’s fresco with portraits of the Brancacci patrons was destroyed, a kind of damnatio memoriae. The chapel’s decoration was completed by Filippino Lippi, who between 1481 and 1485 worked on the lower register of the left wall, finishing the Raising of the son of Theophilus and St. Peter enthroned which Masaccio had begun, and painting on his own St. Peter in prison visited by St. Paul on the adjacent pilaster. On the opposite wall he frescoed the Disputation of St. Peter and St. Paul with Simon Magus, and the Crucifixion of St. Peter, and on the pilaster St. Peter visited in prison. Between 1746 and 1748 the chapel was extensively redecorated: Vincenzo Meucci frescoed the ceiling with the Virgin consigning the Scapular to St. Simon Stock, thus destroying Masolino’s Evangelists. At the same time the lunettes of the Shipwreck of the Apostles and the Calling of the Apostles were painted over”.
My understanding is that the underlying frescoes have been rediscovered and restored & that’s what you’ll see photographed here. 
The Pitti Palace & Boboli Gardens
“The wonderful Boboli Garden lies behind the Pitti Palace. The Medici first created it, inventing the model of the Italian garden that was copied by many European Courts. The Garden was designed by Niccolò Pericoli, called Tribolo, an artist who had already proven his skills by designing the gardens of two Medici villas at Castello and Petraia, however the work was executed by others. Starting with a rather simple initial design, the architecture became more complex in the 17th century and today’s style is the result of other changes that took place in the 18th and 19th century.
The vast green area is indeed an outdoor museum, filled with ancient and Renaissance statues, adorned with caves, above all the famous cave by Bernardo Buontalenti, and large fountains topped with mythological sculptures. The terraced area is particularly suggestive, where the 18th century Kaffeehaus pavilion is located, rare example of rococo architecture in Tuscany, or the Limonaia, built by Zanobi del Rosso between 1777 and 1778 to house the Medici citrus collection. A walk through this garden in any season captures the spirit of court life.” Description borrowed from the FirenzeCard APP.
I had heard about an underground cave called the grottos at the Boboli Gardens. I’ve read that there is a passage from the Uffizi across the river through these caverns. I wanted to find the entrance but it seemed a mystery to enter from this side of the river. I trekked back to the Bookstore where I had my Firenze card scanned for the entry ticket to ask. They gave me a clue, and I found the usual entrance. But at least when I was there in April 2025, the entire structure is close to visitors as they are repairing and renovating it. The entrance is down toward the garden exit but to the left instead of exiting. Here’s a couple of photos to help you find it.
The formal gardens and informal nature paths were bursting spring green! Not many flowers but perfect weather for climbing, the hills & walking many steps. I rested for a good bit on a bench in the sun, sharing FirenzeCard tips with other interesting travelers. There is a path that connects the Boboli to the Bardini Villa & Gardens if you want to visit both in the same day. I’m planning to go to the Bardini tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned to my blog, as I am told that the amazing Wisteria Tunnel there only blooms in April & is in full bloom!
TIP: To find the Toilettes go to the Cafeteria on the right side where entry tickets are presented. They are downstairs from the cafeteria.
Once back at the Hotel Horto Convento, guests were gathering in the front garden for beautiful aperitifs. I rested in the sun before heading out to Ristorante Paradiso, just around the corner from the hotel on Via Dell’Orto. The sign says, “Where Food is Art” & it was indeed! Delicioso & so pleasant. I enjoyed meeting the passionate young owner of this new restaurant, already frequented by neighborhood locals.
This featured blog entry was written by Nsevers from the blog On the Road Again.
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