Florence Day Trip from Rome

Rome, Italy

No trip to Italy is complete without a visit to Florence, the city that gave birth to the Renaissance. Travel by motor coach from Rome to Florence on a full day guided tour. Florence is a treasure trove of important paintings and sculptures, medieval architecture and Renaissance palaces, and on this tour you will see Michelangelo's famous statue of David plus architectural treasures by Giotto and Botticelli.

On your full-day trip from Rome to Florence, you'll travel in a northerly direction to cross the green valley of the Tevere and the slopes of the Apennines covered with olive groves and vineyards. You'll also cross the famous wine-growing valley of Chianti before arriving in Florence.

Your Florence city tour begins with a guided visit to the Accademia Gallery (Gallerie dell'Accademia) to see the original statue of Michelangelo's David. You will continue on a walking tour with a local guide to the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (outside visit) to admire the beautiful dome by Brunelleschi. You'll see other treasures, such as the Baptistery and Giotto's Bell Tower, before arriving at Piazza della Signoria, the heart of Florence.

After lunch in a typical Florentine restaurant, you will continue to the church of Santa Croce, where great artists like Michelangelo are buried. Finally, you will have the opportunity to visit one of Florence's leather schools and discover other ancient crafts such as mosaics and goldsmiths. The coach will depart Florence at approximately 5pm for the return journey to Rome.

USD $188.97

Traveler Reviews

Review by: Bettina I	April 2012
Wonderful trip! They could leave off the down time at the end, because there really isn't enough to do in the "shopping" plaza for 2 hours.

Review by: Rene K	April 2012
The Florence trip was excellent - a great way to get an overview of the city. I would highly recommend doing this! Alina our tour guide was great - multilingual and had lots of knowledge!

Review by: Janelle O	April 2012
I disliked how rushed this whole day tripped felt. Not only that I had to sit there and wait for it to be spoken in my language which felt like more time wasted. I wanted more free time to explore the Florence but I was extremely pissed when I had only 1 hour to do anything and then on top of that I had to sit and listen to a sale pitch about the leather and gold here. I was completely dissatisfied by that. Other thing that bug my was our escort was hacking up and coughing the whole time. I wouldn't pay for tour again. Now I wonder if all Viator are like this. Not happy

Review by: Wendy T	April 2012
It was a very disappointed tour that I ever attended. We took the day trip tour to Florence from Rome on March 27. The tour was 45 minutes late in departure in the morning. After 3-hours ride, we were dropped from the bus stop at the outside of Florence and we then walked 45 minutes into the town to go the Academe Museum. There was no introduction of the city in our way walking to the museum. After arriving at the gate of museum, we again waited for 50 minutes in line to get in as oppose to "skip the line" per the advertisement. We were only able to spend about 20 minutes in the museum to just to walk to see the “David” sculpture. The local tour guide lady was knowable about this art work and gave a good introduction. After that we were took to the museum gift shop directly to ask us if we wanted to buy something. Then we stop by the plaza outside the Republican Brunelleschi's famous dome and Giotto's Bell Tower. Each of the sights was only about 15 minutes in duration. Then we walked for 15 minutes to the lunch place “Florentine”, the waiting was long and food was ok. We spent about 1.5 hours for lunch. Then we walked back to the Church of Santa Croce plaza in front of a leather shop. We were given 1 hour to freely use our time. Then we walk 20 minutes to the bus stop. The whole trip took 15 hours long without much tour guide or time to have any substantial meaning sightseeing at all. It was more a commercial agenda to put us in front or in the shop rather than taking us to tour the great church or museum. After 15 hours, I felt I did not see or know anything except seeing “David”. The trip cost is high and time is long, but the benefit or quality was very low. The whole experience was very frustrated and unfulfilled. The description of the tour was not accurate and mislead. I don't understand how this tour gets so high rating. All the people in our tour expressed the same frustration and disappointment. We all thumb down for this one.

Review by: Mark B	April 2012
we loved the day trip. the overhead speakers on the bus was irritating. the tour guide was knowledgable. I would have paid a little more for the lunch. overall good expericence.

Review by: Thomas C	March 2012
I thought it was rushed - with the three languages(English, Russian, Spanish) the tour guide really had to go quickly to keep up also it just seemed like we could have covered more in Florence.

Review by: Voya A	March 2012
the guide spoke a number of languages fluently without becoming annoying! she was knowledgeable. the lunch meal was very nice (unlike meals on other similar tours). tour was well paced and works well for those on a tight timeframe.

Review by: Laurie B	March 2012
Very disappointing trip. Too much time on the bus, rushed through the museum, no admission to the Santa Croce, guide spent more time talking Russian than English. Expensive for very little return.

Review by: Robert H	March 2012
Excellent tour bus guide. Trip was in small commuter bus - hot and crowded - not in big bus as advertised, Museum tour guide was very good. Free time should be scheduled near or in market/store area and not in vacant streets..

Review by: Mike	March 2012
Too short at the David museum. You MUST include the Uffizi museum in this tour. Bus is too slow for 1-day trip. High speed train would be better.

Review by: Mike	March 2012
This tour is too rushed. If a day is all you have for Florence I would advise taking the bullet train early. The time in the David museum was too short. I would eliminate all the other stuff and include the Uffizi museum. Even a short time there would have been far better than nothing. Better yet, make this a 2-day tour.

Review by: Christie H	March 2012
Trip was nice enough. Guide for the trip and the local guide were both very nice and knowledgable. I was disappointed in Florence. Little to see during the trip.

Review by: Lauren D	March 2012
This was a great day trip out of Rome. We spent plenty of time at the museum where Michaelangelo's David is located. My only complaint is that we had about an hour free time in an area where there wasn't much to do and I was nervous about wandering too far alone.

Review by: Frank T	February 2012
Guide gave LITTLE information, was more interested in talking to friend. Lunch was out of the way...LONG walk from last point of interest. Lucky I and my husband has been there before and was able to give our grandaught MOST of the information.

Review by: richard	February 2012
The guide in Florence was OK. I like the guide on the bus trip better. Guides must be friendly.

Review by: pkay256	February 2012
Great day trip to Florence. I was a cold, rainy day but we made the best of it. If you only stay in Rome for your whole trip then you are missing a lot. Saw the real "David" statue at the museum, as well as the site where it once stood (where it is replaced by a replica). Very informative guide.

Review by: Gary S	January 2012
Great, good guides, lots of walking.

Review by: Peter T	January 2012
Guides were informative

Review by: ELEAZAR F	January 2012
It was not so good. Because the tour guide in Florence was by herself, she had to divide her time between the Spanish speaking guests and the English speaking guests. I feel like we got only half of what we paid for.

Review by: zfawan	January 2012
Excellent tour. Great tour guide. would have liked a little more free time.

Review by: Tanja	January 2012
I was extremely disappointed with this tour. Of the 4 tours I arranged for my short trip to Rome this was by far the worst. _br/_ 1) The directions to the departing point was terrible and I spent 20 minutes trying to find the location. _br/_ 2) We spent half the day travelling by bus which could be substantially reduced by taking the train (I am sure people would pay the extra money if they knew they could spend more time in Florence) _br/_ 3) The tour was conducted in both English and Spanish even though the Spanish speaking group made up only 10% of the group. In addition because they were a smaller group they had more interaction with the Tour guide. _br/_ 4) Around every bend we heard "there is this wonderful museum/church but because of time constraints we cannot visit these places or it is not included in the cost of the tour". _br/_ 5) The lunch provided was terrible and the waiters made you feel that they were doing you a favour by serving you. _br/_ 6) The visit to the very expensive leather factory consisted of a 3 minute presentation followed by attempts to sell their over priced products. _br/_ Overall I would not recommend this tour.

Review by: zfawan	January 2012
Excellent trip. Would have liked a little more free time though.

Review by: Ed G M	January 2012
The pick up was great. The sound system on the bus was poor so was unable to hear anything she said. It was unfortunate as suggested to her to hold the mic further from her face but she ignored it. Was simply going thru the motions. Not once asked if we could hear her ok. Did not like the fact that there were four languages spoken for everything. Made the tour choppy and quickly lost interest. Was very cold on the bus and windows all fogged up so could not see anything._br/_ Stopped for a break and guide lost track of who was or was not on tHe bus. She stood waiting for about 20minutes when we were all on the bus. Really enjoyed Florence but the guide who took us around was much too detailed and passed along useless info. Would have enjoyed going into the cathedral but no option. Thought back to the rest stop where we wasted so much time. On the trip home was dropped off on a street corner and had no idea where I was. If I had not had a map with me would have been lost for sure. Trip was really enjoyable but execution was extremely poor. Will not do a tour thru these folks again.

Review by: Ramu N	January 2012
The trip was very disappointing. We expected a lot more from this day trip. We were shown only one museum which lasted about an hour and then were led off to the town square and from there to lunch. The museum was a guided tour and the guide Patricia was very knowledgeable and good. After lunch we were taken to a leather shop and were left on our own for an hour before getting back to our bus back to Rome. I could have taken a fast train from Rome and seen the museum and town square for far less on my own.

Review by: Robert Q	December 2011
We loved the info from the tour guide and the bus trip was even made to be very enjoyable. Highly recommended.

Review by: Georges M	December 2011
The trip was an OK trip, the pickup from the hotel was supreme, the van was nice and clean and the tour guide was extremely nice. Unfortunately, the tour guide was speaking in 3 languages because of the different people on the trip, which further delayed the tours, many places we saw from the outside only becasue there were no time to get in and to find out the history of the places. I took 7 tours with Walks of Italy tour company and they were much better setup for English speaking customers... In addition, the tour did not include many important sites in Florence which was also a disapointment to many. Next time, I will only request English speaking tours.

Review by: Lisa G	November 2011
The advertised price and what I was charged were different - I was charged more. The guide was wonderful, the bus ride nice, lunch was great and the museum tour was great. The tour should include the Rialto bridge but did not. Also, the St Croce church was listed on the tour itinerary, but once we arrived to the church, we were told - "here it is", if you want to go in - do it on your own and pay 5 euro. I didn't expect that. I would do this one again but would love to see the few details as mentioned to make it complete.

Review by: Jacquie	November 2011
What a great day trip. Alina (spelling) was an amazing tour guide. She spoke fluently in three different languages to accommodate us all. The trip was definitely worth the money. My only complaint was we had to be picked up at 6:45 a.m. which meant we missed breakfast and we easily would have had time since we didn't actually leave until about 8 a.m..

Review by: Janet G	November 2011
GREAT!!!

Review by: DEVATHAYALAN A	November 2011
a great day trip with good guides both enroute and in Florence.Just about enough time to appreciate the important things in the town and want to return.One small complaint-the lunch could have been better

Review by: Pilita V	November 2011
This trip is recommended if you have limited time in Italy. But if you can afford to spend the night in Florence, it would be worth it if only to see the awesome museums. Our guides Alena and Patricia are both excellent. Alena should be commended not only for her expertise and for her passion but also for genuinely caring about the members of her tour. She imposes disciple (as she must, given the number of the members of the tour) without being offensive at all. I give her 5 stars.

Review by: Roya	November 2011
Florence is great to visit, but the tour company that conducts the tour is very bad, they did not even take you for decent lunch in Florence, even though we already paid for lunch, visit Florence by your self not tour w/ Viator

Review by: PATRICIA F	November 2011
I can't say I was thrilled with the tour to Florence. I had requested the English speaking tour - which it was; however, it was also for Spanish and Russian speaking tourists as well. Therefore, everything the guide said she said it in three languages. During the road trip she would say in English to look to your left to see something and that something wouldn't be there for 10 more minutes because she then said the same thing in two other languages. It was a packed bus of 40 people and they had to rearrange the schedule since they couldn't get tickets to the statue of David in the morning. Once in Florence, there really was no way for 40 people to gather around the guide and hear what she was saying. I did love Florence, but I would never schedule it as a day trip.

Review by: Charles A	November 2011
Long trip but it was nice.

Review by: Arthur O	November 2011
Good. Almost got lost from the group twice.

Review by: Salvatore C	November 2011
This was the last of several Viator tours we took in Italy last week and we found this one a bit lacking (we loved the other ones). The tour guide gave us one hour to shop but did not stop where most of us wanted to. She took us to a vendor she obviously had connections with - an expensive leather maker. Compared to the other tour guides she offered little explanation and it felt like we were just cattle being herded.

Review by: Raymond H	October 2011
Long day 13 hours. Florence is relatively small. Not much time for shopping.

Review by: Heather C	October 2011
This tour was my favourite part of my week long holiday. The guides were very knowledgeable and organised. The lunch included with the tour was incredible and was the best pasta I had all week in Italy. The only downside was that our group consisted of 3 different languages, not just English. We had to wait for the guide to say everything in Spanish and Russian before moving on which slowed us down a little. However, it provided us with ample time to take photos. I would recommend this tour to anyone looking for a great day in Florence.

Review by: Blue	October 2011
Loved Florence. We had some drama getting there because the roads all flooded after storm in Roma but we got there in the end. Seeing David was great but because we were late getting there the churches where closed. But there was time for shopping.

Review by: Tamara M	October 2011
Very over rated, this tour was very disappointing. A 3 hr drive for a 10min musuem tour for the statue of David, disorganised as well as unable to hear the guide, would never ever recommend this

Review by: PAULA R	October 2011
Beautiful way from Rome to Florence. It was very nice to see David in the Museum!

Review by: Debra H, Australia	July 2010
Great Day - Couldn't take my eyes of "David". The guide was fabulous.

Review by: Yolanda B, United States of America	July 2010
Very well organized and very good guides!

Review by: Jennifer T, United States of America	June 2010
I thought the tour was well-planned, informative and a good value.

Review by: Ann L, United States of America	May 2010
How lucky can you get Saw so much in so little time, a nice flavor of Florence. ..Can't wait to visit again.

Review by: Adrian N, United States of America	May 2010
We really enjoyed this trip. Just seeing the statue of David was worth it.

Review by: Gary W, United States of America	November 2009
Enjoyable and worth the money.

Review by: Claudia B, Germany	October 2009
Just to admire the 5 tones and 5 meters high of 'David' makes this the visit of Florence unique!

Review by: Krish K, Canada	October 2009
Excellent guides. The tour was well organised and informative.

Review by: Elco D, Canada	October 2009
Well organized trip. We were picked up from our hotel and taken to the bus that would drive to Florence. The guide on the bus did a great job explaining the sights while driving to Florence and another guide did a fantastic job walking us through Florence.