Places to see in Florence

The Renaissance collection everything else is measured against — Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Titian, Caravaggio. Big enough to exhaust anyone, so pick a few rooms rather than walking all of it. Book a timed entry; the walk-up queue routinely runs over an hour and the corridor windows over the Arno are worth arriving fresh for.

The Medici's later palace across the river, holding several museums at once — the Palatine Gallery's Raphaels are the reason to come — with the Boboli Gardens climbing the hill behind. Easily a half day if you do both, and much quieter than the Uffizi. The Oltrarno around it is the least touristed part of central Florence.

Florence's sculpture museum in a former prison, and the quiet alternative to the Accademia — Donatello's David, Michelangelo's early work, and a courtyard worth sitting in. Rarely busy even in August. An hour, and a good pairing with Santa Croce five minutes away.

Michelangelo's David, and the unfinished Prisoners in the corridor leading to him, which many people end up preferring — half-carved figures still emerging from the block. A small museum built around one sculpture: an hour is plenty. Book ahead, and go early or late, because the room around David fills.

A cast-iron market hall from 1874 — butchers, cheese and tripe stalls on the ground floor in the morning, a food court upstairs until late. The ground floor is the real one.

Florence's cathedral, and Brunelleschi's dome is the reason the city looks the way it does from every hill around it. The nave is free and surprisingly bare; the dome climb is ticketed, steep, 463 steps with no lift, and books out days ahead. Cover shoulders and knees. The complex ticket also covers the baptistery and the campanile.

The neighbourhood market east of the centre, smaller than the Mercato Centrale and almost entirely locals doing their shopping. Mornings only, and there are a couple of very plain places to eat inside it.

The view of Florence everyone has seen: the whole city, the dome and the river in one frame. A steep twenty-minute walk up from the Arno or a short bus ride. Go for sunset and expect company; go in the morning and have it nearly to yourself. San Miniato al Monte, a few minutes further up, is better and almost empty.

Trading since 1733 and on Piazza della Repubblica since the square was built, with a belle époque interior and a pastry counter worth the stop on its own.

The octagonal building facing the cathedral, older than it, with a ceiling of gold mosaics that most people miss because they are looking at the doors. Ghiberti's bronze Gates of Paradise on the east side are replicas; the originals are in the cathedral museum opposite. Twenty minutes, covered by the Duomo complex ticket.

A narrow wine bar on Via Tornabuoni, open since 1885 and famous for one thing — small truffle butter rolls, eaten standing with a glass of white.

Florence's civic square, open-air sculpture gallery and the front door of the Palazzo Vecchio. The Loggia dei Lanzi on one side holds real Renaissance sculpture that anyone can walk up to for free, including Cellini's Perseus. Crossed constantly; worth ten minutes standing still.

The medieval bridge lined with goldsmiths' shops, the only one in Florence the retreating army left standing in 1944. Crossed rather than visited — five minutes on it, and the better photographs are from the next bridge downstream at either end of the day. The Vasari Corridor runs above the shops.