What's a good 3-day itinerary for Florence?

Florence's centro storico measures about 3 kilometres end to end, and most of it is a ZTL where cars can't enter. Most sights fall within a 15-minute walk of each other. Day 1 starts at the Duomo at 8am, when Piazza del Duomo is still quiet and morning light hits Brunelleschi's dome from the east. The dome climb is 463 steps with no elevator. The stairwell narrows between the 2 concentric shells, where you smell old plaster and stone dust warm from the day's heat. Vasari's Last Judgment fresco fills the interior ceiling at a scale no photograph captures. Back at street level by 10am, walk 5 minutes south to the Uffizi. Pre-booked timed entry at 10:15 is the move. The Botticelli rooms (10 through 14) tend to be the most crowded, so start there and work backward. Give yourself 2 to 2.5 hours. Lunch at 1pm at Trattoria Mario on Via Rosina 2, near San Lorenzo. Communal tables, no reservations, cash only. The ribollita is thick with black cabbage and day-old bread, served in a terra-cotta bowl for about 8 euros.

After Trattoria Mario, walk south to Palazzo Vecchio at 3pm. The Salone dei Cinquecento alone is worth the 14-euro entry, and the building dates to 1299. Cross Ponte Vecchio around 4:30pm, when the goldsmith shops catch afternoon sun and the stone arches still hold the day's warmth. Day 2 crosses the Arno into Oltrarno. Palazzo Pitti at 9am, 16 euros, gives you the Palatine Gallery with works by Raphael, Titian, and Caravaggio, and connects into Boboli Gardens on the same grounds. The gardens cover 4.5 hectares of sloped cypress alleys and loose gravel, so wear shoes with grip. By noon, walk 15 minutes downhill to Piazza Santo Spirito for lunch at Gusta Pizza on Via Maggio. A margherita costs 7 euros and the crust has that leopard-spotted char from a wood oven you can hear cracking from the sidewalk. In the afternoon, the workshops along Borgo San Frediano still do leather binding, gilding, and paper marbling by hand. End Day 2 at San Miniato al Monte by 6pm, a 20-minute uphill walk from Piazza Poggi. The Romanesque facade glows copper in the low light.

Day 3 stays east of the Duomo. Basilica of Santa Croce at 9am, 8 euros. Galileo, Michelangelo, and Machiavelli are buried here, and the Pazzi Chapel in the cloister is one of Brunelleschi's cleanest designs. Walk 10 minutes north to the Bargello on Via del Proconsolo by 11am. The ground-floor hall has Donatello's bronze David, smaller and stranger than you might expect. Lunch at All'Antico Vinaio on Via dei Neri, a 5-minute walk south. The Vinaio line moves fast. A schiacciata stuffed with finocchiona salami, pecorino, and truffle cream costs about 7 euros, and you eat it standing on the curb like everyone else. At 2pm, walk to Galleria dell'Accademia on Via Ricasoli for Michelangelo's marble David. The pre-booked slot matters here. The 4 unfinished Prisoners lining the corridor are, to be fair, almost as interesting as the finished piece. You can still see chisel marks in the Carrara marble. Finish at Basilica di Santa Maria Novella by 4pm, 7.50 euros. The Masaccio Trinity fresco on the left nave wall, painted around 1427, remains the textbook example of single-point perspective.

June temperatures in Florence currently sit around 34 to 35°C by afternoon. The stone along Via dei Calzaiuoli radiates heat back at you. Carry water and plan indoor stops between 1pm and 3pm. Gelato at Vivoli on Via Isola delle Stinche costs 2.50 euros for a small cup. The Uffizi and Accademia close on Mondays, but the Duomo complex and Palazzo Vecchio stay open 7 days. For dinner on any night, Buca Mario on Piazza degli Ottaviani has served bistecca alla fiorentina since 1886. A 1.2-kilo T-bone for two runs about 50 euros per kilo, grilled over oak coals, charred on the outside, cool and red at the center. It arrives on a wooden board with salt and Tuscan olive oil. Coffee at any Florence bar counter runs 1.20 to 1.50 euros. Standing is cheaper than sitting at a table, sometimes by 3 to 4 euros for the same espresso at the same cafe. The 28 kilometres across three days break down to about 9 to 10 per day, all flat except the 20-minute climb to San Miniato.