Naturalistic itinerary in the historical center of Florence

Visit Florence’s most famous gardens, but also the most secret ones, in this naturalistic itinerary where I will show you another side of the city, less touristy and away from the crowds, to admire breathtaking landscapes and enjoy nature with its colors and scents.

A totally open-air experience to discover the green spaces of Florence, hidden behind ancient buildings and, in some cases, unknown even to the locals themselves, where you can observe an incredible variety of flowers and plants and learn about the typical landscape architecture of the Renaissance.

N.B. In this tour we will visit the Boboli Gardens, the Bardini Gardens and the Rose Garden, but with advance booking you can also replace the experience at Piazzale Michelangelo and the Rose Garden with the exclusive experience at the Torrigiani Gardens. You can choose among the experiences that I propose the ones that you like the most and I will customize the tour according to your requests.

Experiences

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Boboli Gardens

Boboli Gardens

Our tour will start from the Oltrarno district where the last residence of the Medici family, Palazzo Pitti, is located. This building hides behind its simple façade and courtyard, a huge Renaissance garden strongly desired by the Medici to relax, go hunting and enjoy some contact with nature. It is a perfect example of an Italian-style garden, characterized by a geometric subdivision of spaces through hedges, trees and bushes that inspired all the subsequent landscape architecture. It is also enriched by caves, fountains and statues made in different ages and full of funny details and curious anecdotes, which make the garden an evocative and fascinating place. It is truly an unmissable experience, perfect both for adults and children.

Bardini Garden

Bardini Garden

Crossing the Boboli Gardens, we will finally reach the Bardini Garden, which, despite its proximity and beauty, is much less known and visited. It has medieval and Renaissance origins, but since over the centuries, it experienced lots of changes wanted by its several owners and today shows itself as an English garden contaminated by many different artistic styles, which is probably what makes it so special. The garden’s most characteristic part is certainly the wonderful wisteria pergola that will give you the sensation of crossing a tunnel of colors and scents and from which you can enjoy a spectacular view over Florence. Noteworthy is the spectacular Baroque staircase, surrounded by roses and irises that leads to the seventeenth-century Villa Bardini, now home to the Annigoni Museum and various temporary exhibitions.

Piazzale Michelangelo and the Rose Garden

Piazzale Michelangelo and the Rose Garden

As the last stop of our guided tour, we will reach Piazzale Michelangelo in about 15 minutes taxi ride, a wonderful square with a panoramic view over the entire city, dominated by a copy of Michelangelo's David, the undisputed symbol of Florence. Not many people know that underneath Piazzale Michelangelo, there is Florence Garden of Roses with a huge collection of flowers and plants, including about 1000 varieties of roses, some of them very rare and ancient, which reaches its maximum splendor in May. It is an oasis of peace where, in addition to the scents of roses, you can feel a somewhat fairytale-like and enchanted atmosphere, and it is the perfect location to relax and enjoy nature.

Torrigiani Garden

Torrigiani Garden

In Florence, there is one of the largest private gardens of Europe, hidden within the city walls and open only by reservation and on special occasions: the Torrigiani Garden. Today, it is known for its botanical garden full of old and new greenhouses with plants and flowers from all over the world, and also for the works of art that adorn it and which can be found in the midst of the vegetation. It is a nineteenth-century romantic-style garden and still belongs to a historic Florentine family that has their home here; as a matter of fact, it’s going to be one of the owners who will guide you through the garden and tell you interesting anecdotes about it and the family that no one else could ever know.