Category walking tours & hikes
Walking Tour: The Living Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa is intrinsically tied to France. Paris has claimed her as their own and rightfully so. Leonardo himself brought her to France when he went to work in the court of King Francis I. But Mona Lisa is not French at all. She’s Florentine. And while her portrait will likely never leave the Louvre, the […]
walking tour roundup: best fall walks
It’s no secret that Hannah and I are smitten with fall. Heavy heat just isn’t our thing–we’d rather take a grey day here and there with cooler temperatures. So as we feel now is one of the best times to explore the city, we thought we’d dig through the archives and share our favorite walks […]
walking tours with florence in august!
There has been a recent uptick in emails of people “RSVPing” for the walking tours featured on this site. Nothing makes Hannah and I as simultaneously happy and sad as receiving such a note–happy that someone thinks they’ll enjoy the tour enough to reach out to us, and sad that we can’t be there in person to […]
city search: the man, the myth, the baptist.
St. John the Baptist is a big deal in Florence. If the fireworks and parades didn’t tip you off, he’s an even bigger deal this week. What’s all the hype about this hipster mountain man, on the ultimate paleo diet of bugs and bushes? For starters, St. John the Baptist had some pretty famous family (like Jesus). […]
walking tour: via di san leonardo
“Runner’s high” is a phenomenon that has been explained to me time and again. I have yet to experience it and remain dubious of its existence. However, if you want to talk walker’s high–Meg and I are there! If you’re new to Florence for Free, you should know that our very favorite way to explore […]
walking tour: guccio gucci
This week, the city of Florence was invaded. Invaded by an army of good-looking, impeccably dressed, fashion-savvy men. As one may imagine, the city did not put up much resistance. In fact, women reportedly flocked to the streets, nonchalantly “hanging out in caffè” and “reading in piazze.” For those of us who were not in Florence, we followed […]
the palazzo crawl
In Italian/English dictionaries, the first translation of palazzo is palace, and let’s be honest, we all stop there. The rushed translation results in hoards of wide-eyed english speaking tourists awe-struck to hear that there are palaces on every single block in Florence. Italians, however, use the word palazzo to refer to many types of buildings (not just […]
walking tour: via del corso
Each and every palazzo, piazza, or strada in Florence has a history, composed of centuries of unique stories. While people have come and gone over the past 2,000 years, their legacy remains in the layers of the streets and the tops of the towers–we just need to look for it. It is certainly not a secret, however, that the […]
walking tour: san marco neighborhood
Meg had the worst day of her entire life in Piazza San Marco. A few summers back, the girl with the worst case of ornithophobia (irrational fear of birds) that I have ever seen, found herself face-against-wing with a neurotic pigeon. After three years of crippling flashbacks, and excessive face-scrubbing, Meg is still recovering. Not to stir-up the memories, Meg, […]
kimye’s wedding: finding history and culture in the hot mess
“Kim is even more beautiful than I am talented,” gushed the always humble Kanye West in one of his three, 20-minute speeches throughout the course of the Kimye wedding weekend. With five first dances, a massive gold box housing the bathrooms, one Jayden Smith running around in a white batman costume, and Kanye’s wedding present to […]
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