Things to do in Florence

Landmark · Centro storico

The cathedral and the octagonal dome raised without centring in the 1420s, still the largest masonry dome ever built.

Local tip: The dome climb is timed, sells out days ahead and involves 463 steps between the two shells. The nearby Campanile has no reservation queue and gives you the better photograph, because it includes the dome.

Neighborhood · South bank

The artisan half of the city — workshops, a plain-fronted Brunelleschi church, and the square where Florentines actually spend their evenings.

Local tip: The morning market in Piazza Santo Spirito and the workshops along Via Toscanella and Via de' Serragli are the real neighbourhood. Cross at the Ponte Santa Trinita rather than the Ponte Vecchio and you will see almost no one.

Food · Santa Croce, east of the centre

The neighbourhood food market Florentines use, as opposed to the tourist-facing one at San Lorenzo.

Local tip: Go before one o'clock, when the covered hall and the outdoor produce stalls are both working. The trattoria inside serves a two-course lunch to market traders at market-trader prices and does not advertise.

Nature · Above San Niccolò, south bank

A terraced hillside garden with a wisteria tunnel, a baroque staircase and the best framed view of the city.

Local tip: It shares a ticket with the Boboli but takes a fraction of the visitors, and the wisteria in late April is the single best week in the Florentine calendar. Enter from Via de' Bardi and walk down through it rather than up.

Nature · West, along the Arno

A 160-hectare former Medici hunting estate along the river — the city's only large park and its running, cycling and market ground.

Local tip: The Tuesday morning market is the biggest in the city and where residents buy clothes and household goods. The tramvia T1 runs along the edge, so it is easy to reach from Rifredi or Scandicci.

Culture · San Marco, north of the centre

Andrea del Castagno's 1440s Last Supper, in a former convent refectory, restored and almost always empty.

Local tip: Free, open most mornings, and typically holding fewer than a dozen people. It is a five-minute walk from the Accademia queue and the contrast is the whole point. Check the opening days, which are limited and change seasonally.