Florence

[Bbbananas]

I am in the lucky position of being taken to Florence for my birthday. Anyone any tips or personal experience? Siena and Pisa are also on the agenda if we have time.

[Curious G]

Try the "trip advisor" city app, if you have a 'smartphone'. I didn't spend much time in Florence or Pisa but went to the Duomo and the Uffizi gallery. It is a very beautiful city and the iconic view is looking over the rooftops towards the Duomo.
Siena is probably one of my favourite places in the world. I stayed in the convent of St. Catherine which is worth a visit. Duomo di Siena ( I call it the Beetlejuice Cathedral). Look out for the colours worn by previous winners of The Palio. The best thing to do in Siena is just get lost in its streets, you will discover so many things! Finally if you get the time visit (or at least look out for) San Gimignano. Its towers are known as the skyscrapers of Tuscany.
Divertiti!

[Graham-W]

Massive queues to see Michelangelo's David in the Accademia Gallery.
There is a copy of it in the square near the Duomo where it was originally. Quite magnificent. Ponte Vecchio is a must see.

[jno]

you used to be able to just walk into the Uffizi (of course Michelangelo was still alive when I first went there) but now there are huge queues and it's very crowded. But there are wonderful things in it, including Botticellis before he got religion. I think the following is probably still valid

http://www.uffizi-gal...e-uffizi-gallery.html

You might like to try the Vasari Corridor, which goes from the gallery along the street and then across the river on the top floor of the bridge.

[buildersmate]

Unless you happening to be flying in/out of the airport at Pisa, there is very little else to commend it other than the immediate campus around the Leaning Tower, IMHO. There are no attractive bridges, limited decent architecture and the river is tidal so muddy and full of rubbish; no-one seems interesting in keeping it tidy. Rather a lot of graffiti as well.
The area around the Leaning Tower and the Duomo itself are attractive and clearly worth a visit, simply because the unique nature of the tower. Pisa is a university city, so lots of decent places for students to eat, though you have to keep away from the Tower area and the immediate walking route from the city centre to it to avoid 'tourist prices'.
You can do the Tower/Duomo area in half a day - I'd tack it onto the back of a flight back, but wouldn't recommend a specific journey for any other reason than visiting the tower.
(I went to Siena, Florence and San Gimignano as part of the same holiday as above - the first two are rightfully tourist destinations to linger in their own right. SG is far more interesting as a day trip than Pisa)

[Mosaic]

Depending on your health, the climb to the top of Florence cathedral's Dome is great and the views wonderful. Can get quite sharp cold in winter, so be prepared to wrap up. Like others have said, big queues to see 'David' and the Uffizi. The big red tour bus is a reasonable way to see Florence from all around the edges and the hills on the far side of the river. Personally, I found Florence fine but was soon looking for more - I'd say a couple of days max. Very expensive shops if that's your thing.
As other s have said, the glory of Pisa is the 'Miracoli' area around the cathedral, campanile and baptistry. As a boring historian I loved this area, like buildersmate says ignore the tat and the Japanese tourists posing.....
Pisa also has a museum of roman ships found recently; a botanic garden, tiny and pretty in an unkempt way, many junkies who do not seem to bother you and some ridiculously overpriced restaurants.
The same fast railway line that connects Pisa and Florence also stops at Bologna, which I believe is worth a squint, and eventually Venice. Last time I went I flew into Pisa and out from Venice, so didn't need to retrace my steps.

[spudqueen]

Ah, Bologna, I went there for a day this summer and it is well worth a visit. There are a number of medieval towers in the city, the most famous and the symbols of the city being 'Due Torri' (the two towers). You can climb up one of them (498 steps to the top), but what a view!
Bologna is also the home of the worlds oldest university and has many miles of arcades, so you can keep dry even if it's raining. And the shopping is fantastic.
Bologna is also famous for food, and is the home of ragu (bolognaise sauce to us!).

[zebo]

Keep checking the news/front desk about strikes! We found by accident that the trains were going in strike the day we were going back to Pisa to fly home, managed to get the last 2 seats on the bus.
It's worth the extra euros to book online, or the day before at the booking office, for the Uffizi, the queues are horrendous.

[dosset]

Just come back from four days in Florence loved every minute ..pre booked Uffizi and Accademia well worth it .... original David in Accademia amazing Copy in Piazza Della Signoria poor.worth walking to Piazzalo Michelangiolo the views across Florence magnificent. Food and drink on par with most cities but paid 13.5 euros for two small ice creams (only paid 4 euros in Venice in May)

[bushbaby_de]

I agree with BM that Pisa doesn't need more than half a day. If you're flying into and out of Pisa do it on one of those days, otherwise there is a Terravision Bus that goes between Florence and Pisa several times a day. There is a good local bus service that goes to Siena and it's definitely worth a visit for the best part of a day. San Gimignano (sp) is also beautiful. In Florence itself I would recommend walking or getting the bus up to Piazza Michelangelo for an unrivalled view of the city and another version of the David to look at.