Florence is the city that invented the Renaissance — and the concentration of art, architecture and craft that resulted from that invention is still, five centuries later, without equal anywhere in the world.

The Uffizi is the reason most visitors come, and it justifies every hour spent in the queue: Botticelli's Birth of Venus, Leonardo's Annunciation, Caravaggio's Medusa — a collection that traces the entire arc of Italian painting from Cimabue to Caravaggio. Bella Via can arrange private early-morning access that transforms the experience.

The Oltrarno, on the south bank of the Arno, is the Florence that Florentines actually live in — a neighbourhood of artisan workshops, wine bars and the Boboli Gardens, with the Pitti Palace at its centre. The leather school at Santa Croce, the bookbinders of the Via dei Serragli, the goldsmiths of the Ponte Vecchio — these are the crafts that have defined Florence for five centuries.

The hills above the city — Fiesole, Settignano, Arcetri — offer views of Florence that the city itself cannot provide, and a quietness that is impossible to find in the centre. Bella Via designs Florentine itineraries that combine the essential with the overlooked.

Florence rewards those who arrive with curiosity and leave with a deeper understanding of what the Renaissance actually was. We will help you find the journey that does it justice.