Planning your visit Through the year Florence is a delight. Winters are cold but well compensated by the lack of lines waiting to the netre the Museums and by a good musical season. Spring and Fall are probably the best with their profusion of fresh produce and typocal dishes. When shopping in Florence bear in mind the Florentine character, which is unique in Italy and is as remarkable a legacy of the Renaissance as any church or monument. The most magical walk in Florence is down the Lungarno.
Swallows fly over the domes of the many churches and the patched rooftops of the houses.
The iron lampposts along the river, look as though they were still lighted by gas. Rowers in long boats occasionally skim over the surface of the fast-flowing yellow river, which gurgles beneath the arches of stone bridges. The Ponte Vecchio, with its goldsmiths shops elbowing for room on either side, dates from 1345, and the tiny jeweler's boutiques that seem stuck to the sides of the bridge were once butcher shops. In the distance, atop one of the hills crested with cypress trees, sits the incerdibly beautiful churche of San Miniato, with its perfectly proportioned Romanesque facade.