City breaks offer tourists the chance to delve into its history and culture while marvelling at architectural wonders.
What’s also beneficial about many cities around the world is their accessibility when it comes to walking, meaning you won’t have to rely on public transport to get you from A to B.
Earlier this year, research from Insider Monkey revealed the top 30 most walkable cities in the world for 2024, with the Italian city of Florence claiming top spot.
Birthplace of the Renaissance, Florence is home to many artistic and architectural masterpieces of the time.
Insider Monkey also pointed out just how close the city’s most famous and popular landmarks are to each other. The city’s compact layout means that all of the main attractions can be found within half a mile of each other.
Landmarks like the Uffizi Gallery, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, Piazza del Duomo, and Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore all fall within this radius, or an easy ten-minute walking distance, making the city easily explorable by foot.
You can also walk through Central Florence in only two hours; some walking tours of the entire city take only between six to seven hours.
The city also scored highly on its cleanliness, so you’ll find its piazzas well-maintained and the banks of the Arno River. A top tip for exploring Florence’s famous Duomo is to not do it all at once.
According to Time Out, a ticket into the attraction allows you three days to explore, so if you don’t want to do it all at once, you can just come back another day.
One masterpiece you cannot miss can be found at the Uffizi Gallery: The Birth of Venus. Amble around the gallery for hours to view its extensive collection.
What’s even better is that Florence still offers tourists a slightly hotter autumn than they’d get in the UK. While the main winter months are cold and wet, if you jet out in October, you can still find an average temperature of 21.7C.
Florence also happens to be a recipient of Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards Best of the Best for 2024. The site has even mapped out three different walking routes for visitors, if they don’t know where to start.
These include: Iconic landmarks and standout food, History and intrigue: the Vasari Corridor, and Off-the-beaten-path Oltrarno. Of course it wouldn’t be a complete trip without sampling some of Tuscany’s best food and drink.
Autumn is a particularly important season in Tuscany, with many of its most famous produce hitting the table at this time of the year, according to Lonely Planet.
Chianti wineries are busy with harvest in the final weeks of summer together with olive oil producers in the farms that surround the city.
For a pre-dinner drink head to Vineria Sonora, or for something on the go, look out for the city’s famous wine windows (there’s over 150 of them).
Another seasonal special is the local white truffle from San Miniato appearing on the menus of high-end restaurants, followed by chestnuts and porcini mushrooms.
Head to Mercato Centrale, where you’ll find vendors selling wine, fruit, meat, fish, cheese, oil and spices on the ground level, and a food court upstairs serving up local dishes.
One such pick is Romualdo Rizzuti’s La Pizza, where you’ll find classic pizzas, traditional fried pizza, and panuozzo, an Italian sandwich made from pizza dough and stuffed with a variety of fillings.
According to BudgetYourTrip, the average daily cost of visiting Florence is £129 per person, usually encompassing accommodation, food, local transportation, and sightseeing.
But with it being so accessible on foot, you probably won’t need to fork out for public transport.