Since early in the nineteenth century Florence has been celebrated as the most beautiful city in Italy. Stendhal staggered around its streets in a perpetual stupor of delight; the Brownings sighed over its idyllic charms; and E.M. Forster’s Room with a View portrayed it as the great southern antidote to the sterility of Anglo-Saxon life. For most people Florence comes close to living up to the myth only in its first, resounding impressions. The pinnacle of Brunelleschi’s stupendous cathedral dome dominates the cityscape, and the close-up view is even more breathtaking, with the multicoloured Duomo rising behind the marble-clad Baptistry . Wander from there down towards the River Arno and the attraction still holds: beyond the broad Piazza della Signoria, site of the towering Palazzo Vecchio , the river is spanned by the medieval shop-lined Ponte Vecchio , with the gorgeous church of San Miniato al Monte glistening on the hill behind it. Yet after registering these marvellous sights, it’s hard to stave off a sense of disappointment, for much of Florence is a city of narrow streets and heavy-set, oppressively dour palazzi that show only iron-barred windows and massive, studded doors to the outside world. The alienating effects of this physical entrenchment are redoubled both by an unending tide of mass tourism. You’ll find light relief to be in short supply.

The fact is, the best of Florence is to be seen indoors. Under the patronage of the Medici family, the city’s artists and thinkers were instigators of the shift from the medieval to the modern world-view, and churches, galleries and museums are the places to get to grips with their achievement. The development of the Renaissance can be plotted in the vast picture collection of the Uffizi and in the sculpture of the Bargello and the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo . Equally revelatory are the fabulously decorated chapels of Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella , forerunners of such astonishing creations as Masaccio’s superb frescoes in the Cappella Brancacci , and Fra’ Angelico’s serene paintings in the monks’ cells at San Marco . The Renaissance emphasis on harmony and rational design is expressed with unrivalled eloquence in Brunelleschi’s architecture, specifically in the churches of San Lorenzo, Santo Spirito and the Cappella dei Pazzi . The full genius of Michelangelo, the dominant creative figure of sixteenth-century Italy, is on display in the fluid design of San Lorenzo’s Biblioteca Laurenziana and the marble statuary of the Cappelle Medicee and the Accademia - home of the David . Every quarter of Florence can boast a church or collection worth an extended call, and the enormous Palazzo Pitti south of the river constitutes a museum district on its own.

The City

Greater Florence now spreads several kilometres down the Arno Valley and onto the hills north and south of the city, but the major sights are contained in an area that can be crossed on foot in under thirty minutes.A short walk southeast from the train station brings you to Piazza del Duomo , site of the Duomo itself and the neighbouring Baptistry . The compact district from here south to the river is the inner core, the area into which most of the tourists are packed, and which boasts the best-preserved medieval parts of Florence and the majority of its fashionable streets. Just south of the duomo is Florence’s outstanding sculpture gallery, the Bargello . The large Piazza della Signoria , some 300m south of the duomo, is overlooked by the Palazzo Vecchio and the famous picture gallery of the Uffizi .

West of the duomo, and backing onto the train station, is the unmissable church of Santa Maria Novella . Immediately north of the duomo is the grand church of San Lorenzo , at the heart of a throng of market stalls around the covered Mercato Centrale . Clustered together just northeast of San Lorenzo are the monastery of San Marco , with its paintings by Fra’ Angelico; the Accademia , home of Michelangelo’s David ; and Piazza Santissima Annunziata , Florence’s most attractive square. The main attraction in the eastern quarters of the city centre is the vast Franciscan church of Santa Croce .

South of the river - preferably via the medieval Ponte Vecchio , which is still picturesquely lined with shops perched over the water - lies the Oltrarno district, where the array of museums within the Palazzo Pitti exerts the strongest pull, and the church of Santo Spirito stands at the focus of a lively student quarter. Overlooking the city from the south is the lavish hilltop church of San Miniato al Monte .

Santa Maria Novella
From its front view, the church of Santa Maria Novella is one of the city’s most gorgeous buildings, and inside it has yet more fabulous Renaissance frescoes, by Uccello, Ghirlandaio and others.

Bóboli Gardens
For a break from the streets, take a picnic into the meandering paths of the Bóboli Gardens behind the Pitti Palace, before entering the city’s number two art gallery.

Brunelleschi’s Dome
What Masaccio did for painting, his contemporary Brunelleschi did for architecture; he created the cathedral’s amazing dome, which offers a stunning view of the city.

San Miniato al Monte
Walk across the Ponte Vecchio and turn left to reach the marble-fronted church of San Miniato - the building itself is exquisite, and you get a classic view of Florence from its front door.

Benvenuto
Benvenuto looks more like a delicatessen than a trattoria from the street, but the groups waiting for a table give the game away; the gnocchi and arista are delicious.

Santa Croce
Santa Croce is a wonderful Gothic basilica containing superb frescoes by Giotto and others, with tranquil cloisters adjoining.

The Uffizi
The greatest art gallery in Italy - it’s as simple as that.

The Brancacci Chapel
Encapsulating the dawning of the Renaissance, Masaccio’s set of frescos in the Brancacci Chapel of the Carmini church is worth a visit, however long you have to wait to get in.

Vivoli
Vivoli serves up the finest Florentine ice cream; search it out in tiny Via Isola delle Stinche.

Fiesole
The little hill town of Fiesole is a great place from which to survey the city of Florence; and you’ll get a taste for the more bucolic pleasures that await elsewhere in Tuscany.

Three days is the minimum to get a feel for Florence and its trappings. Since many museums close on Mondays, and many churches close to tourists on Sundays, you’d do best to schedule a midweek visit. Watch out, too, for opening-times : some museums only open in the mornings, the Baptistry only opens in the afternoons, and almost all churches close in the middle of the day. The famous sights, notably the Duomo and the Uffizi, can get absurdly overcrowded - on a whistle-stop visit, it makes sense to reject them in favour of the under-visited Bargello, Cappella Brancacci and Cappelle Medicee. Booking entry to museums in advance is strongly recommended .

EU citizens under 25 and over 65 get a fifty-percent discount at state-run museums , and everyone under 20 gets a twenty-five percent discount at city-run museums. Note that most forbid entry one hour before stated closing times.There are three museum passes. The L10,000/¬5.16 Musei Fiorentini carnet gives fifty percent off all the city-run museums (the Cappella Brancacci, Palazzio Vecchio, Santa Maria Novella and half-a-dozen small collections; www.comune.firenze.it/servizi_ pubblici/arte/musei ) plus the private Museo Marini. The L20,000/¬10.33 Palazzo Pitti biglietto cumulativo gives free entry to the Pitti and the Bóboli gardens for three days. Best of all is the three-day L25,000/¬12.91 Michelangelo itinerary ticket , giving free entry to the unmissable trio of the Accademia, Cappelle Medicee and Bargello. All these grant only one admission to each museum.

All state-run museums ( www.sbas.firenze.it ) allow you to book in advance , thereby cutting down on the time you’re otherwise likely to spend waiting in very long lines. Currently, it’s possible to book at the Uffizi (with or without the Corridoio Vasariano), the Accademia, the Bargello, the Cappelle Medicee, the Museo di San Marco, the Museo Archeologico, and all the Pitti museums. You have to call Firenze Musei on tel 055.294.883 (Mon-Fri 8.30am-6.30pm, Sat 8.30am-12.30pm) and state which museums you want, the day and time you wish to enter, and your name; they then give you a reservation number . You can reserve from an hour to a year in advance for anything up to thirty people. On the day, you head straight to the dedicated reservations pickup desk, quote your name and number and pay the museum admission charge (in cash only) plus a L3000/¬1.55 booking fee per person.

At the time of writing, the only way to pay by credit card was online at www.weekendafirenze.com or english.firenze.net , a minimum of three days in advance. There’s a service fee totalling L10,700/¬5.52 extra per ticket. Once you’re in Florence, you can book in person at any of the above museums for entry to any other.