Perfect Two Day Itinerary in Florence with Kids
Looking for a 2-Day Itinerary for Florence with kids? You've come to the right place!
If you're planning a family trip to Italy, Florence is one of the best places to visit with kids!
Florence is widely accepted as the Birthplace of the Renaissance, making it a great place to show kids some of the most famous art and architecture in the world.
We visited Florence for 2 days during our week-long trip to Italy before heading to Greece. We felt like we had plenty of time to see all of the main historically and culturally significant sights, plus a few kid-friendly fun spots, too!
From the Uffizi Gallery to the majestic Duomo, from Michelangelo's David to Ponte Vecchio, we felt like we were seeing history come to life before our very eyes.
Our oldest daughter was 10 years old during her visit and shares a middle name with the city! As an art and history lover, she was especially inspired by Florence and decided she wanted to return someday and study Italian and art in the city of Florence.
We also had a 3, 6, and 7-year-old along on our trip to Florence, and felt like we were easily able to find something enjoyable for every age level.
So whether you're visiting with babies and toddlers or older kids, Florence is always a good idea.
I'm going to share with you the best things to do in Florence, whether you have kids with you or not, and how we fit everything into a 48-hour visit.
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Best Time to Visit Florence
The best time to visit Florence is April through June and September through October. These times of year offer warm weather and fewer crowds than peak season in July and August. Plus the weather is known to be quite hot during the late summer months!
You could definitely still get mild weather and fewer crowds in November through March.
We visited Florence right at the beginning of June and it was absolutely perfect! The crowds were not too bad yet and the weather was warm but not too hot.
Getting to Florence
We flew into Venice and spent 2 days exploring there before taking the train to Florence. We arrived at Santa Maria Novella Train Station and were easily able to walk from there to our vacation rental.
We were just a short walk from the city center and right by Piazza di Santa Maria Novella.
You could also fly into Florence Airport, or fly directly into Rome or Milan and take the train from there.
Do You Need the Firenze Card?
No, you do not need a Firenze Card unless you're planning to visit tons of museums. Kids under the age of 18 get in free to all museums, so it really wasn't practical for us to get the Firenze Card. It would have been more economical to pay for each entry fee separately.
However, I waited until about a month before our trip to look into skip-the-line tickets, and unsurprisingly there was no availability left online for the Uffizi Gallery or the Accademia.
For that reason, I decided to purchase a Firenze Card for the adults in our party only since that guarantees a skip-the-line reservation for the museums we wanted.
You can avoid having to purchase a Firenze Card if you book several months in advance. But it's good to know the Firenze Card is an option if you're like me and waited too long to book your tours!
Just a heads up: you will need to physically get on a phone call in order to reserve a spot for the Accademia and Uffizi Gallery. I was scared, but it ended up being easy enough and I survived.
Top Things to Do in Florence with Kids
Uffizi Gallery
The Uffizi Gallery is an art museum that houses a collection of some of the world's most famous paintings and sculptures. Among the most impressive are "Adoration of the Magi" by Leonardo da Vinci, "Birth of Venus" and "Spring" by Botticelli, and "Medusa" by Caravaggio.
There are 3 floors to the museum and a lot to see, so plan to spend at least 2 hours here.
I wasn't sure how kid-friendly the Uffizi Gallery would be, but I was pleasantly surprised! Kids under the age of 18 get free entrance to the museum, and there are activities and tours just for kids, such as the "Flower Tour" which helps kids locate flowers in the masterpieces throughout the museum.
Be sure to book your time slot well in advance! Because we waited so long, all of the time slots online were sold out, so we ended up purchasing the Firenze Card for the adults, which allows you to secure a time slot and skip the line when you arrive. The only catch is that I had to call to reserve our time slot ahead of time.
If you can get a time slot early in the day, I would recommend making the Uffizi Gallery one of your first stops to avoid the crowds.
Palazzo Vecchio
Palazzo Vecchio is a historic government building in Florence that now serves as a museum. As with other museums in Florence, you must reserve a time slot ahead of time. Both guided and self-guided tours are available, and there is even a "Kit for Families" for kids ages 6 and older with a map to help kids get the most out of their visit.
Pitti Palace
Pitti Palace (or "Palazzo Pitti") is one of the Medici Family residences and now houses 5 museums on 3 floors: the Treasury of the Grand Dukes and the Museum of Russian Icons, the Palatine Gallery, the Imperial and Royal Apartments, the Gallery of Modern Art, and the Museum of Costume and Fashion. You can also visit the Palatine Chapel on the ground floor.
There are typically long lines to enter Pitti Palace, but you can reserve your entrance time in advance for a small extra cost.
Boboli Gardens
Boboli Gardens are located behind Pitti Palace, so you could easily combine the two attractions in one morning or afternoon. You can buy tickets that offer admission to both Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens on the same visit. (Or use the Firenze Card like we did, which provided admission to both).
The gardens were designed by the Medici family and feature grottos, fountains, and Rennaisance statues, plus incredible views of Florence.
I loved this activity with kids since it allowed us to enjoy the outdoors where the kids could be a little louder and move about freely after using their inside voices inside the museum.
Just keep in mind that the gardens are not super stroller-friendly, so if you have a baby or young toddler you may want to bring the baby carrier for this activity.
Piazza Del Duomo
Piazza del Duomo, or Cathedral Square, is a plaza in the Historic Center of Florence (UNESCO World Heritage Site) where the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is located.
You can visit the Duomo Complex which consists of the Cathedral, Brunelleschi's Dome, Giotto's Bell Tower, the Baptistery of San Giovanni, the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, and the crypt of the cathedral.
The Florence Cathedral is free of charge to enter, but you can buy different passes to access the monuments.
The most comprehensive pass is the Brunelleschi Pass which includes entry to everything. You could also book a guided tour through the official Duomo website, or you can find other options on GetYourGuide or Viator.
My best tip if you want to visit the Duomo Complex is to book your tickets in advance to make sure there is availability.
Accademia Gallery
The Galleria dell'Accademia di Firenze, also known colloquially as the Accademia, is where you can find Michelangelo's David, one of the main attractions in Florence.
You can purchase an Accademia Skip the Line ticket ahead of time, or if you're doing things last minute like I did, you can always purchase the Firenze Card and call to reserve your time slot.
You probably only need an hour to do the Accademia since there is not a lot to see in the museum other than the David statue. You can certainly walk around and admire the other artwork, but with young children who are visiting a lot of museums, you might not be up to it.
I still think the Accademia is 100% worth visiting with kids since the statue itself is so impressive. I was not that excited to visit it personally, but once I saw it in person I got goosebumps and suddenly understood why this particular sculpture is so revered.
We did not book a guided tour, but we were next to a tour group and I learned a few really interesting things about the artistic choices Michelangelo made from the tour guide. If your kids are elementary age or older, this might be a good place to book a small group guided tour to really appreciate what you're seeing.
Piazzale Michelangelo
Piazzale Michelangelo is a plaza with a panoramic view of the city. It's located in the hills south of the city, so it's a bit of a walk, but definitely doable with kids. From the city center, you'll need to cross over to the South Bank of the Arno River where you'll begin to see signs for the viewpoint. (Or just plug it into Google Maps!). It probably ended up taking us around 35 minutes from our Airbnb.
It was one of my favorite things to do in Florence with kids. We had originally planned to visit at sunset, but with the threat of thunderstorms on the horizon, we decided to go in the early morning. Looking back, it would have been fun to grab pastries for a breakfast picnic as we enjoyed the view, but even without snacks, it was an incredible experience.
Because we were there in the early morning we had the place to ourselves and got so many great photos of our family with the Florence skyline in the background. It was truly so magical.
Piazza della Repubblica
Piazza della Repubblica is another main square in the Historic Center of Florence that used to be a marketplace before it was redesigned to bring new life to the square.
In the Piazza della Repubblica, you'll find a large pillar called the Colonna dell’Abbondanza (Column of Abundance) which symbolizes abundance and prosperity and sits in the geographical center of Florence! You'll also find coffee shops, the Arcone Triumphal Arch, and shopping centers.
What makes this historic square so kid-friendly, though, is the beautiful old-fashioned carousel which lights up as the sun begins to set. As soon as we walked past it I knew I would be taking my kids back so they could ride the carousel, and it was truly one of the highlights of our trip to Florence.
We saw a lot of art and historical buildings during our time in Florence, so it was nice to take some time to slow down and enjoy one of the simple pleasures of childhood: riding around and around on painted horses while accordion music played softly in the background.
Ponte Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio, or Old Bridge in English, is one of Florence's iconic landmarks. It stretches across the Arno River between Pitti Palace and Piazza della Repubblica and features dozens of souvenir and jewelry shops.
We loved the view of Ponte Vecchio from Ponte Santa Trinita, or from the walkway between the two bridges on the north side of the river. This is the best way to get some memorable photos with Ponte Vecchio in the background.
Vivoli - The Oldest Gelateria in Florence
My oldest daughter turned 10 while we were in Florence (and her middle name is Florence, which felt very fitting). To celebrate, we visited Vivoli, which is the oldest Gelateria in Florence.
While in Italy, we ate as much gelato as we could handle, and Vivoli was easily one of our favorite gelato shops. Not only did we feel like we were participating in something historical by visiting the oldest gelato shop in Florence, but we loved the variety of flavors and the consistency of the gelato.
I expected the shop to be crowded with tourists, but we had the place to ourselves when we visited, which was in the evening around dinner time.
We ordered our gelato, and since we were a larger group (4 kids and 4 adults), we decided to enjoy our sweet treats outside across the street from Vivoli where there were a few benches.
Don't underestimate what your kids are learning on a trip to Italy, even if you're just stopping to get gelato. I realized my 8-year-old had taken to calling his strawberry gelato by the Italian name, fragola. Maybe eating your way around Italy is the best way to pick up the language!
Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy - the World's Oldest Pharmacy
Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy, the world's oldest pharmacy, was right down the road from our Airbnb. Since our vacation rental had plumbing issues, we had some time to kill one evening before we could get back into the apartment, so we decided to stop by the pharmacy.
Now listen. It's not that you can't visit this place with kids, but definitely consider your children's age and temperament before bringing them here.
The inside is breathtaking, and I wish I could have spent my time more leisurely perusing the cosmetics and perfumes, but I was on high alert making sure my younger kids didn't bump into a table and send the fragile items flying.
Maybe reserve this activity for older kids, OR younger kids who are extremely well-behaved and aware of their surroundings.
I'm glad we went, though, and my only regret is not buying anything! I feel like I need to go back now.
Piazza di Santa Maria Novella
As the name suggests, Piazza di Santa Maria Novella is a square that's located near the oldest pharmacy and ended up being our family's favorite place to hang out, eat, and relax during our time in Florence, since it was just steps from our Airbnb.
There are plenty of coffee shops, restaurants, and gelato shops around the square, and we enjoyed taking in the view of Piazza di Santa Maria Novella while eating our gelato.
You can tour the Church of Santa Maria Novella, or enjoy the facade which is the oldest standing facade in Florence.
Leonardo Da Vinci Museum
The Leonardo Da Vinci Museum was on our list of things to do with the kids, but we ended up skipping it since it wasn't included on the Firenze Card.
The museum is interactive and kids can test out some of Leonardo Da Vinci's machines. The website recommends visiting with kids ages 7-8, but from what I can tell it looks like my 10-year-old would be fascinated by this, too.
Fontana del Porcellino
The Fontana del Porcellino is a bronze statue of a boar located in Mercato Nuove.
Legend has it that anyone who rubs the boar's nose will return to Florence. We all made sure to do it, so hopefully it's not too long until we visit again!
You can also try putting a coin inside the boar's mouth to see if it will fall into the grate below, which is supposed to bring you good luck!
It's a fun ritual to do with kids, and reminded me of rubbing Abraham Lincoln's nose in Springfield, Illinois outside of his tomb.
Venchi Chocolate Wall
Venchi is a chocolate and gelato shop in Florence with an entire wall made of flowing chocolate. Venchi is a chain shop with other locations around the world, so it's not necessarily a unique Florentine experience, but it's still fun to see!
If you have chocolate lovers in your family, definitely try their gelato in the chocolate-dipped cones!
Day Trip to Pisa
One thing I'm sad we couldn't fit into our 2 day itinerary in Florence was a day trip to Pisa. My daughter begged me to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but we were already trying to fit so much into 2 days, so I decided we would just have to come back someday to visit Pisa (and other amazing locations in Italy).
You can easily find guided tours for half-day visits to Pisa if that's a priority to your family, though.
2-Day Florence Itinerary
Keeping all of those options in mind, I'll share how we fit everything into a 2-day trip to Florence as part of a larger Italy with Kids itinerary.
Day 1:
Arrive by Train
We took the train from Venice (read: 15 Best Things to See in Venice with Kids) and arrived at Florence Santa Maria Novella (SMN) train station around 11 a.m.. We dropped our bags at our Airbnb in the Santa Maria Novella neighborhood, then headed out for lunch.
Lunch in Santo Spirito Neighborhood
Our Airbnb host recommended the Santo Spirito Neighborhood for lunch, and we ended up eating at Trattoria Borgo Antico because they were one of the few restaurants that had available seating for our party of 8. It did not disappoint!
Visit Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens
Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens are very close to the Santo Spirito plaza so we headed over to the Pitti Palace museum after lunch. We had a Firenze Card which granted us access to most museums in Florence, including Pitti Palace.
Boboli Gardens is directly behind Pitti Palace so it made sense to combine the 2 attractions into this one visit. We spent about 2 hours wandering the museum and gardens, especially because we got caught in a thunderstorm when we were exploring the gardens, so we ended up staying at the museum until the rain let up.
See Ponte Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio is just a short walk from Pitti Palace so it was the perfect stop on our way back to the Santa Maria Novella Neighborhood! We just walked around and took some pictures at this time.
Enjoy Piazza di Santa Maria Novella
We actually had a plumbing issue at our Airbnb, so at this point, we were trying to kill some time before we were able to get back into our apartment.
Thankfully Piazza di Santa Maria Novella has plenty to see and do, so we grabbed some gelato and sat for a while, enjoying the view of the church and the plaza.
Stop by the oldest pharmacy in the world (the Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy
The last thing we fit into our day before heading back to our apartment was seeing the world's oldest pharmacy.
As I mentioned in the description above, the pharmacy is full of breakable items, so we didn't end up staying here long. This is a place I would really like to explore more if I ever make it back to Florence, so I can stock up on skincare items!
Day 2 Morning:
Breakfast at Caffeteria Letizia
We had an early morning reservation for the Uffizi Gallery, so we grabbed breakfast and a caffe latte at Caffeteria Letizia in PIazza della Signoria which is near the museum.
Uffizi Gallery
We had called in advance with our Firenze Card to make reservations at the Uffizi Gallery, so we were able to skip the line. Our reservation was at 8:30 a.m. so we were able to get in almost immediately after it opened.
I would highly recommend arriving early with kids. As the morning went on the museum got more and more crowded, so early morning is a great time to go. We spent about 2 hours exploring the museum.
The Accademia to see Michelangelo’s David.
We once again used the Firenze Card which gets you skip-the-line access. You do have to call ahead of time to make your reservation for the Accademia as well.
Our visit here was a lot shorter than the Uffizi since the main attraction is the David statue, and we didn't find much else of interest there.
But just because there's not a lot else to see here, do NOT skip seeing the David statue. It's so much more impressive in person than any picture or video you'll see online.
Day 2 Afternoon:
Lunch in PIazza di Santa Maria Novella
Since our Airbnb was on this side of town, we ended up walking all the way back here for lunch. We were feeling overwhelmed by the crowds in the Duomo area, so we decided to just make our way back to our neighborhood where it was quieter.
After lunch, my husband and I decided to take the kids back to our Airbnb for some quiet time. It had been a long morning of exploring museums, which wasn't exactly the most appealing thing for the younger 2, so we decided to give them a little break.
Explore the Duomo Complex.
My parents headed back to the Duomo and explored the inside. If you want to push your kids and keep going, it would make more sense to grab lunch near the Duomo, and then schedule a skip-the-line ticket for the early afternoon.
Day 2 Evening:
Ride the carousel in Piazza della Republica
After our rest time in the early afternoon, we decided to head out to Piazza della Republica for a carousel ride. The kids had seen the carousel when we were walking around earlier in the day and asked if we could ride it. We happily obliged. They had been so well-behaved at the museums, and we wanted to make sure everyone got to do something that day that would be a highlight for them.
Go to Vivoli, the oldest Gelateria in Florence
We were getting hungry after our carousel ride, so we walked to Vivoli to try out the gelato at the oldest gelateria in Florence. It did not disappoint!
We also stopped at a bakery on the way home to stock up on desserts since it was my daughter's 10th birthday.
Option A: See the Fontana del Porcellino
Our weather apps showed a thunderstorm approaching, so we decided to skip our original plan of making the climb to Piazzale Michelangelo for sunset and opted to wander around the Duomo Complex and the different piazzas in the historic part of town.
We made sure to visit the boar statue and rub its nose to ensure that we would return to Florence someday!
Option B: Go to Piazelle Michelangelo for sunset
If the weather is cooperating, this would be the perfect end to your second day in Florence. From what I've heard it gets pretty crowded at sunset, but the atmosphere is so magical and fun.
Day 3 Morning
Get up early and walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo
We had a late morning train to catch, which left us with plenty of time to head up to Piazzale Michelangelo for fantastic views of the Florence skyline.
We didn't quite make it for sunrise, but it was absolutely empty when we arrived, and we had the place to ourselves! We got tons of amazing pictures and videos without having to fight the crowds.
Get coffee and pastries at a sidewalk cafe
The kids were definitely pretty hungry after our walk up to the lookout point, and the grownups were in need of a caffeine fix, so we found a cafe near our Airbnb (which was just a few blocks from the train station).
It was a perfect end to our time in Florence.
Catch a train to your next destination.
Assuming you're moving on to another city in Italy, it's time to head back to SMN Train Station to catch a train to your next stop. For us, that was Rome.
What I Would Change About Our Trip to Florence with Kids
Overall I thought everything went pretty smoothly for our 2 days in Florence with kids. There are a few things I wish I had known ahead of time.
First of all, I would book everything further in advance. If you wait to book your accommodations only 4-5 months in advance like I did, there will be fewer options to choose from. As a consequence, we ended up staying a bit further from the historic city center than I would have liked. However, the positive side to that would be that we were very close to the train station.
I think staying close to the historic center of Florence would have given us the freedom to get up early and wander around the Duomo complex with fewer crowds to really enjoy the unique feel of historic Florence. I wonder if part of the reason Florence was not my favorite city on our Italy trip was because we were so far removed from the history.
We also were very late on booking our skip-the-line passes for the museums, and I think we all would have enjoyed the museum experiences more if they had been more spread out instead of one after the other.
I think we could have added one more full day in Florence to take our time exploring, but we had a tight schedule visiting Venice, Florence, Rome, and then spending a week in Greece, and I truly felt like I would have loved an extra day in almost every city we visited! But then we would have had to make our trip 3 weeks long, or we would have had to cut out one of the cities on our itinerary,
I suppose that all comes down to personal preference!
If 2 days is all you have in Florence, I really do think it's enough time to fit everything in, even if it means you'll be doing a lot of walking.
Other blog posts about Europe:
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Emily Krause is a Wisconsin-based travel content creator who writes about exploring the world with kids.
On A Mom Explores you’ll find the best family travel destinations, Disney World tips, and how to make travel with babies and toddlers a little easier.
Emily believes that exploring starts in our own backyards, and adventure can happen anywhere with the right mindset.
