There is no hotel pick-up. You should make your way to VIA DEI CIMATORI 9 RED, which is very close to the Dome.
Riding your comfortable rented bike, you will set off with your expert English-speaking personal guide. You will be able to stop and take pictures at the most photogenic spots.
Your route takes in the following highlights:
• Pizza Santa Trinita: This square contains the Santa Trinita church, originally erected in the 11th century and modified over the next 300 years. The church you see today was completed at the end of the 14th century.
• Piazza Santissima Annunziata: one of Florence’s loveliest squares. It contains Santissima Annunziata, the church founded in 1235 by seven Florentine noblemen, who chose the religious life instead of the usual endless feuding between factions and families.
• Piazza Beccarla: another charming Florentine square.
• Piazza Donatello: the site of the Swiss-owned, so-called ‘English Cemetery’ in Florence. Many famous poets and artists are buried here including Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
• Palazzo Strozzi (Strozzi Palace): the grandest palace in Florence. Completed in 1538, it was built for the wealthy Strozzi family who wished to assert their importance, especially to their rivals the Medicis. Now it is a temporary exhibition space.
• Il Duomo: Santa Maria del Fiore (the Dome) is the cathedral of Florence, renowned for its vast octagonal dome by Filippo Brunelleschi. On completion in 1436 it was the largest dome of its time and it is still the world’s largest masonry dome. Brunelleschi’s statue nearby looks up at his greatest achievement.
• Santa Croce: The Basilica di Santa Croce (Basilica of the Holy Cross), is the principal Franciscan church of Florence. It is famous for its Florentine artwork and the tombs of illustrious men, including Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli. Legend has it that Santa Croce was founded by St Francis himself.
• San Niccolo: one of the oldest parts of Florence, on the left bank of the River Arno. It has some outstanding monuments and interesting nooks and corners.
• Piazza della Signoria: this elegant L-shaped piazza has been the political hub of Florence for centuries. It is dominated by the 14th century Palazzo della Signoria: The square is now an open-air museum with splendid statues including a copy of Michelangelo’s ‘David’ and a bronze equestrian figure of Cosimo I by Giambologna.
• Piazza della Repubblica (Republic Square): on the site of the ancient Roman forum, later the Jewish ghetto. The maze of medieval streets once found here were swept away by nineteenth century modernization and many antiquities were lost. The square is home to the Caffé delle Giubbe Rosse, historically a meeting point for artists and writers.
• Bank of the Arno: here you can admire the sequence of magnificent bridges adorning Florence.
At the end of your exciting bike tour of Florence you will be dropped off at the start point.