The Grotta Grande
Buontalenti's artificial cave of dripping walls — Florence's strangest corner.
Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Nemo bis — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Nemo bis — CC BY-SA 3.0
Boboli is the Pitti Palace's royal garden and the mother of all Italian gardens: on this slope in the 1500s the Medici invented the "giardino all'italiana" — engineered cypress avenues, green terraces, statues, grottoes and fountains — copied by Europe's palaces from Versailles downward. It is an open-air museum of forty-five acres: a stone amphitheatre around a genuine Egyptian obelisk; Buontalenti's weird Grotta Grande with its dripping walls and embedded statues; Neptune's fountain; and the Knight's Garden at the top, looking over olive hills that make you forget the city. It is also Florence's only great green lung — so take it as a long stroll, not a quick sight: two hours of climb and descent through the shade, with the upper exit handing you to the San Miniato and Piazzale Michelangelo path.
Buontalenti's artificial cave of dripping walls — Florence's strangest corner.
A stone theatre round a Luxor obelisk — the Medici's outdoor stage.
The top terrace over olive hills — Tuscany from inside the city.
Piazza de' Pitti 1, 50125 Florence
Palazzo PittiThe Pitti is Florence's most massive palace: a titanic stone block on the south 1 minute walk4.5
La Specola Natural History MuseumIn a quiet room off Via Romana, a wax woman lies on a silk cushion, real human h3 minutes walk4.6
Basilica of Santo SpiritoAround 1492 a boy of about seventeen struck a bargain with the Augustinian friar4 minutes walk4.5
Ponte VecchioThe Ponte Vecchio is Italy's most famous bridge and its strangest survivor: a 135 minutes walk4.6
Basilica di Santa TrinitaStand in Piazza Santa Trinita, walk through the door, and you will find the same7 minutes walk4.5The ticket usually joins them, so no choosing: Boboli has the sweep, history and grottoes; little Bardini owns what it lacks — the full dome view and April's purple wisteria tunnel. Best order: Boboli at length, Bardini as the closing terrace.
Among Florence's best for them: running space, a "scary" grotto, stone tortoises and a famous bronze duck for photos — but no playgrounds; it is a historic garden with rules, and the fenced lawns are untouchable.
In through the Pitti courtyard, amphitheatre, Neptune, up to the Knight's Garden — then down the great cypress avenue to the Isolotto and Ocean fountain, out by the Annalena gate: the whole essence in two hours.