Florence Night Tour
- Private Tour
- $ 354
- Semi-Private Tour
- $ 79 /PP
- Duration
- 2 hours
- Location
- Florence
- Offers unique introduction to Florence
- Explore the city center during lively twilight hours with a local
- Florence Duomo, Ospedale degli Innocenti, Piazza della Repubblica, Piazza della Signoria, and Ponte Vecchio
This tour is intended as an orientation walk. We will not go into too much depth on any one topic or structure, especially spaces like the Duomo or Uffizi that are featured in other Context walks. Instead, the purpose of the Florence Night Tour is to give us a sense of the city, and to let us feel its pulse. We’ll likely visit the Piazza SS. Annunziata, an integral public space in the Florence city center, to look at the Ospedale degli Innocenti, a historic building designed by Filippo Brunelleschi. We may also stroll down the shop- and cafe-filled Via dei Servi to check out the exterior of Brunelleschi's later masterpiece, the Duomo, where we’ll learn about the importance of the cathedral and nearby Baptistery in Florentine art and civic history.
From here, our course will depend on the interests of the group and the specialty of the guide. We may move deeper into the center, perhaps to Piazza Signoria, the government center of Renaissance Florence, or to Piazza Repubblica, which is filled with fire-breathers, jugglers, and some of the most famous cafes in Florence. Or perhaps we'll take our time, stopping for a glass of wine or gelato and enjoying the atmosphere of the city. We may end up talking about anything from fashion or coffee to the Medicis or Michelangelo, depending on our mood. Either way, we will take our time to develop a thoughtful experience that, hopefully, will help us understand this most fascinating city, and leave us well prepared for future exploration.
Note: To visit the Florence Cathedral take a look at our in-depth Duomo Tour, which includes the Baptistry and Duomo museum. For the Uffizi, try our Uffizi Tour.
Jane first came to Florence as an undergraduate art student at the Maryland Institute of Art. She fell in love with the city, the region, and an Italian man. Soon after her BA she returned to continue her graduate studies at the University of Florence and settle in the area. She spends a lot of her time outside of the city, leading groups on trekking holidays through Tuscany, and as such has gained a broad knowledge not only of the art and artistic traditions of Tuscany but of the entire cultural context of the region. She lives with her husband and their two children in the Mugello area north of Florence.
Dr. Alan is professor of Art History and Art at New York University. He leads our Fresco Workshop in his studio in Palazzo Rucellai. He is intensely interested in the materials and technique of Renaissance art, and received his Ph.D in Renaissance Art History and Greek and Roman art from Washington University.
Monica completed her Ph.D in 2009 in history of art and architecture from the University of Virginia, specializing in the Italian Renaissance period. As a writer, she is interested in the literary culture of Florence as well as the city's art and architecture. Before coming to Florence, Monica lived in Rome, Venice, New York City, and Charlottesville, Virginia.