Your LivTours’ Rome to Florence Tour by Train starts in Rome at the Termini Central Train Station where you will be met by a LivTours coordinator who will assist you in finding the train and give you your tickets – destination Florence!
Traveling in Premium Class in Italy is luxury and features cushioned, reclinable seats in the privacy of premium class train car. Your journey includes free WI-FI, a welcome drink, snack, and access to the Bistrò car. The high-speed trains of Italy offer super convenient and fast transportation between cities, making your journey not only quick, but enjoyable!
Upon arrival at Florence Santa Maria Novella Train Station, a LivTours representative will be there waiting for you and will accompany you to meet your guide in Piazza della Signoria. From this art-filled square, your full-day tour begins. After greeting everyone, your guide will start your tour by giving you an overview of this history-rich city. The L shaped square where you met is in the heart of Florence and known for notable statues that give a feel of being in an open-air museum.
UFFIZI GALLERY
After your introduction to Florence and the Piazza della Signoria, your LivTours expert guide will lead you into one of the most important museums in all of Italy – the Uffizi Gallery. This gallery, which houses 45 rooms of artwork, spans 8,000 square meters of space and originally was never meant to be a museum! As your guide explains the important influence the Renaissance had on the arts, you will see masterpieces by some of the greatest Renaissance artists such as Sandro Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and countless more great artists who have left an everlasting influence on the art world to date. Your expert guide will share with you stories about the political and social power of the Medici family who once owned this patrimony of art as their very own private collection. This is an absolute must-see museum for any art lover as it holds some of the world’s art treasures!
LUNCH BREAK
You are sure to have worked up an appetite and your guide will make a stop at a local restaurant so you can try some delicious Tuscan food and recharge for your afternoon! Florence is internationally known for its cuisine thanks to the wide array of food grown in the area! Why not try some affettati misti (sliced cured meats) with cheese, a dish of pasta, or if you are craving something a bit more substantial – the famous bisteca alla Fiorentina (thick-cut T-bone steak) all of which are famous for the region. And of course, you cannot have a Tuscan lunch without a glass of Chianti or Brunello to accompany your meal!
WALKING TOUR WITH MICHELANGELO’S DAVID & DUOMO
Once you have enjoyed a Tuscan lunch, it is time to hit the cobblestones and see more of Florence! Your afternoon will begin with admiring the plethora of beautiful Gothic, Romanesque, and Renaissance architecture which comprises this compact city and made Florence one of the first official tourist cities in Europe.
Walk across the Ponte Vecchio Bridge, the oldest bridge in Florence which crosses the Arno River and the only bridge which survived Nazi bombings during WWII. Your expert guide will tell you about the history of this bridge, which includes a secret walkway!
No trip to Florence would be complete without seeing the Cathedral of Florence, known as the Duomo. You will also get to see Filippo Brunelleschi’s Dome from the outside and learn about his clever construction plans. You will quickly understand why the architect’s rival Lorenzo Ghiberti was seething when he lost the bid to complete the dome himself. The Baptistery, which is a separate eight-sided building in front of the Duomo, has some of the most amazing bronze doors. Learn about the history of the doors and the Baptistery.
Your final stop will be to visit the David! Your guide will accompany you inside the Galleria dell’Accademia with priority pass tickets, which means no waiting in line. The magnificent 17-foot marble sculpture of David by Michelangelo was sculpted between 1501 and 1504, when Michelangelo was only 29 years old, from a discarded piece of marble! The David statue has transcended both time and culture to become one of the world’s most recognized and admired pieces of art.
Once your tour has come to an end, it’s time to make your way back to the train station where you will relax in premium class and make your way back to Rome.
Want even more time in this gorgeous art city? No problem. Premium Class guests are also given the option of changing their train ticket return time once, so if you would like to leave a bit later (or even earlier), you can take advantage of this flexibility to best optimize your day.
