I know a lot of you are planning your Italian vacations so I wanted to recap our incredible experience in Florence!
At the time of this trip, our kids were 6, 3, and 9 months. We knew that we were going to start our trip in London, and finish in Rome, so we were looking for a city somewhere generally in the middle to have a second stop. I had been to Florence years ago, but never with Bryan (or kids), so we had some idea of what we were doing, but it ended up being one of our favorite cities we’ve ever visited!
It is beautiful, the people are so kind, and the food was so good! If you’re a history buff, there is plenty of opportunity for that as well – although with kids as young as ours, we weren’t spending much time in museums!
How we got to Florence: We flew out of London City Airport (LCY), which we have never done before, but it was a good experience. It’s a much smaller airport than Heathrow, closer to the center of London, and has direct flights to Florence (FLR). It was about a 2 hour flight on British Airways.
How we get to and from the airport: Transfeero
I’m linking the website, but Bryan loves this app while we are traveling. You can book airport transfers of all types and it’s always been very reliable and fairly priced (in our opinion).
Where we stayed: Sina Villa Medici
Booking a hotel in a big city is always tough, especially with kids. You always seem to read reviews that are all over the map and it’s hard to know who to trust. That said, we would 100% stay at this hotel again, it was perfect for us! The location was great, walkable to just about everything and far enough away from the super touristy part that it was very quiet at night. It’s also Marriott affiliated, so book direct with Bonvoy if you can.
The hotel staff could not have been nicer, especially to our kids – called them all 3 by name daily. Which is pretty above and beyond in our opinion! Our room was very spacious, super clean, and had a beautiful view of all of the red rooftops throughout the city.
Another huge perk of this hotel is the pool. It’s in the back of the hotel surrounded by a beautiful garden. Our kids had a blast here and we swam almost every day! Harry’s Bar is onsite – amazing bellini’s, and Harry’s Garden Bistro opens at noon and serves meals inside as well as poolside. The food was delicious, drinks were perfect, and it was a great way to either unwind after a day of sightseeing or get some energy out of the kids before we headed out for the day.
The Golf Cart Tour: LINK
One of the best experiences of our whole trip and probably one of my most asked questions of any trip we’ve ever been on. We booked this through Viator, which we have used many times and like very much. I will say, sometimes you book something after reading several reviews and you’re still hoping for the best. This tour/experience far surpassed what we were hoping for!
I’d highly recommend doing this at the beginning of your stay. We felt like we got a good idea of where the major things were in the city so we could go back and check them out later on foot.
Our guide also took us up the road to Piazzale Michelangelo, which we would have never made it to with a stroller, and it is without a doubt, the best view of the city you will get. It’s breathtaking and maybe worth the tour by itself. Our guide was more than willing to take pictures and was super entertaining driving around the city. Eloise was SO into it and laughed most of the way.
Where We Ate, Wine Windows & Gelato
I mean, this is really why we’re here, right? One of our favorite strategies to find good (authentic) food while traveling to a new city is to utilize the hotel. Ask the concierge for some recommendations that fit your needs. For us, it’s authentic/delicious food, fairly easy to get to, and kid friendly. A lot of times the hotel can make a reservation for you – we do this often in Paris, but definitely a couple of times on this trip to Italy as well. There is no shortage of good food and wine in Florence, but here are a few places we ate at that we thought were very good:
Casa Ciabattini – 5 minutes from the hotel, this food was perfection. Everything we ate was melt in your mouth good, and the wine was amazing.
Canto De’ Nelli Ristorante – After exploring the Santa Maria Cathedral, we found this spot that looked (and smelled) amazing. It didn’t disappoint. Pizza was fantastic, the staff was super friendly and we ended up feeling very Italian as the kids fell asleep so Bryan and I could relax and have a glass of wine.
Fiorino D’Oro – We spent a lot of time in the Piazza della Repubblica as there are some really cool shops and restaurants in that area. There is also a carousel for the kids, live music at night, and lots of fun performers throughout. The food at this restaurant (albeit in a pretty touristy area) was actually very good. We had Aperol and Limoncello spritzes and the kids loved their margherita pizza!
Rooster Cafe – After several days of eating pizza and pasta, our kids were looking for American breakfast. For us, having your kids eat a full meal while you travel is huge, and this place absolutely hit the spot! Tons of pancakes, eggs, bacon, breakfast sandwiches and an awesome drink menu! We had a blast here and it was a good way to break up our choice of food. There will be a line outside for breakfast, so put your name in and wait, it’s worth it. This is very close to the Piazza della Signoria and Ponte Vecchio.
There are wine windows scattered throughout the city. You can look them up on your phone via your maps – search “wine window.” Having never been to a wine window before, we weren’t quite sure what to expect. You walk up, there’s usually a line, ring the bell, order your wine through a hole in the wall, and a shop employee will pass you your glass. It’s wild, but so fun! Then hang out on the street and enjoy your delicious wine! Highly recommend it as a fun experience!
Gelato is everywhere within most big Italian cities but we’ve picked up a few tricks to help narrow down the really good ones. You’re looking for generally less flavors, not a ton of bright colors, and metal containers.
Some of our Europe travel must haves:
How we got from Florence to Rome: ItaliaRail
We have taken the Eurostar a number of times between London and Paris, but this was our first experience on an Italian train. The train station was easy to navigate, train was clean and comfortable, and an hour and a half later we were in Rome.
A Few Additional Florence Thoughts:
- We pushed a double stroller everywhere we went. Sometimes the sidewalks got a bit tight, but for the most part it’s a very walkable city, even with kids. A lot of the smaller streets barely have any cars passing through, so people walk on the street and move when they need to.
- Our hotel was 10-15 minutes from some of the bigger ‘attractions,’ but honestly this was kind of perfect as we took our time getting there and found tons of fun stops along the way. Coffee shops, wine shops, sweet treats, and even shoes for Georgie! One of the best parts of travelling to new cities is exploring as you go and finding fun/new experiences as you go.
- Hard to put an exact number on it, but most people you come in contact with speak pretty good English. As with any city while traveling, a little bit of effort goes a long way – learn how to say hello, please, thank you at a minimum. It is always appreciated and you will more than likely get better service. If you walk in and ask for a cheeseburger and a coke without a simple greeting, you are ‘that’ American.
- We always get some of the local currency, in this case Euros, especially for smaller purchases and tips for hotel staff, but your travel credit card (make sure there are no foreign transaction fees) will work just about everywhere.
- You will have to ask for the check when you’re done eating, it’s just how it works especially in Italy. Tipping is not expected, but if the service was good, leaving a couple of euros behind is considered a nice gesture.
- We felt very safe within the city, never had any issues, but as with any bigger city in the world, just watch yourself especially in crowded areas. Be aware of your surroundings, don’t leave your phone or wallet unattended on a table, say ‘no’ and wave off anyone that approaches you and tries to hand you something. Of all of the cities we’ve been, this was hardly a thing in Florence, it was a really nice place to travel. I will say, based on the ages of our kids, we are almost never out and about after dark. On our way home most nights after dinner, there was definitely a new crowd forming and it appeared like a pretty good nightlife was present.
We loved traveling with this mini seat for Georgie – folds up so small!
All in all, we can’t recommend Florence enough! We left and said, “we’ll definitely be back someday!”
