The book I read to research this post was The Berlitz Pocket Guide to Florence which is a very good book that I bought from kindle. This book is quite short around 150 pages but has sections on the various restaurants and hotels and presents the history and tourist attractions quite well. Pisa which used to be the local port until the River Arno estuary silted up and is 50 miles away. There is only a relatively small airport at Florence and most people travel to either Pisa or Bologna airports which normally work out cheaper. Budget airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet do good deals from Britain. Pisa of course has the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Florence is a great Renaissance city that has made a huge contribution to art, sculpture and science in times past. The Uffizi Gallery has the biggest collection of Renaissance art in the world. There is also a church built in a cavern. In World War 2 much damage was done to Florence and every bridge but one was blown up by the retreating German forces. This was the oldest bridge and presumably it was left due to its great historical significance. There are small shops built into the bridge and these have existed since the 16th Century. Probably the most famous exhibit in Florence is the statue David by Michelangelo. People who know a thing or two about sculpture marvel at the fantastic techniques incorporated into creating this sculpture and its amazing to think he was only 26 when he created this. It stands 15 ft high. Florence is also famous for the Medici family who were great patrons of the arts and have a palace that is worth visiting. That is largely why so many great Renaissance artists came here. I enjoyed reading this book and you might be interested to know there is a previous post on Florence based on another book on this site.
