Florence in 4 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
Florence in 4 Days on a Budget
Four days is the 3-day itinerary plus one more day for the Oltrarno’s artisan streets and Santa Croce, without touching the day-trip towns covered in our Florence, Italy guide . Daily spend swings from about EUR 30 on the quietest day to EUR 90 on museum days, averaging around EUR 60. See the 6-day and 7-day versions if you have more time to spread the same trip out.
Book these before you go
- Accademia Gallery ticket : smaller capacity than the Uffizi, book 3 to 8 weeks ahead depending on season.
- Uffizi Gallery ticket : the trip’s biggest single ticket cost; book at least a month ahead in peak season.
- Duomo dome climb : only the Brunelleschi Pass includes it, and the timed slot cannot be changed once booked.
| Day | Focus | Est. cost (no lodging) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duomo complex, Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio | EUR 45 |
| 2 | Accademia, Uffizi, Oltrarno dinner | EUR 90 |
| 3 | Piazzale Michelangelo, San Miniato, San Lorenzo Market | EUR 40 |
| 4 | Santa Croce, Oltrarno artisan streets | EUR 55 |
Day 1: The Duomo on the cheap
Buy the Ghiberti Pass (EUR 15) rather than the Brunelleschi Pass (EUR 30) at tickets.duomo.firenze.it unless the dome climb is non-negotiable; it still covers the Baptistery, the crypt, and the Opera Museum, home to Ghiberti’s original Gates of Paradise panels. The cathedral nave is free on its own separate line. Lunch on a schiacciata (EUR 4 to 6), then walk to Piazza della Signoria, where the Loggia dei Lanzi’s statues and the replica David outside Palazzo Vecchio cost nothing. Cross the Ponte Vecchio before dinner, and eat at a trattoria off the main piazza rather than on it, since a table two minutes off the square skips a coperto and servizio the postcard view does not.
Day 2: The two museums that are worth the money
Book the Accademia for the morning, when slots are easiest to get, via the official ticketing partner b-ticket.com . Lunch on a lampredotto sandwich (EUR 3.50 to 4) near Mercato Centrale. In the afternoon, book the Uffizi’s after-4pm slot, EUR 16 on-site or EUR 20 online through tickets.uffizi.it , cheaper than the standard EUR 25 daytime ticket and enough time for a full afternoon in the gallery. If your dates happen to land on the first Sunday of the month , both museums are free instead, though expect a 2 to 4 hour walk-up queue. Dinner in the Oltrarno, across the river, is reliably cheaper than anywhere within sight of the Duomo.
Day 3: The free day
Walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo, or take bus 12 or 13 for a EUR 1.70 transit ticket, and arrive 45 minutes before sunset. Ten minutes further, San Miniato al Monte is free, with Gregorian chant at Vespers most evenings. Spend the rest of the day browsing the San Lorenzo Market and the Mercato Centrale food hall, both free to walk through. Close with an aperitivo standing at the bar and a gelato (EUR 3 to 5).
Day 4: Santa Croce and the Oltrarno’s workshops
Santa Croce runs EUR 9.50 to 10 and covers the basilica, the tombs of Michelangelo and Galileo, both cloisters, and the Pazzi Chapel; hours are Monday to Saturday 09:30 to 17:30, last entry 17:00. Spend the afternoon in the Oltrarno’s artisan streets around Via Santo Spirito, where leatherworkers, gilders, and bookbinders still work at street level with the doors open, free to browse even if you buy nothing. If the budget stretches, the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens combined ticket runs EUR 22 same-day or EUR 25 booked ahead; if it doesn’t, the Santo Spirito piazza itself is a free and quieter place to spend the evening than anything on the north bank. Check rates on Booking.com if you’re extending the trip in this neighborhood, since Oltrarno rooms usually cost less than Duomo-side ones for a shorter walk to the Ponte Vecchio.
Four days gets you the whole center at a walking pace, and the only two lines in the budget that really move are the Uffizi and the Accademia. Everything added on Day 4 costs a fraction of either.