Italy’s Cradle of the Renaissance boasts millennia of history, art, and culture – and with a local host, you’ll soak it up in four hours. You could pass by the house where Lisa Gherardini (Mona Lisa) and her husband lived, or see the tombs of Botticelli and the Vespucci family. Maybe you’ll learn about the 1993 bombing of the Uffizi as you visit its commemorative olive tree monument. Or perhaps you’ll simply move between sun-dappled archaeological treasures like the site of the Roman amphitheater and markings outlining archaeological discoveries on Via del Proconsolo street before tucking into a typical Tuscan lunch among the ruins of the Fishing Lab – a remarkable restaurant with recovered frescoes upstairs and Roman ruins in the basement!

With your local host as your own personal GPS and guidebook, you’ll explore Florence’s most historically significant central districts. North of Arno River, you could spend hours in the old medieval San Giovanni quarter – surrounding the iconic Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore with one of the highest concentrations of art per square foot on the whole planet. Or, maybe you’ll head across the river to Oltrarno, a district of Florence that’s home to significant sites like the Santo Spirito di Firenze church and Palazzo Pitti. Wherever you decide to go, you can rely on your local insider to recommend the very best places to stop off for a delicious meal or a glass of “super Tuscan” wine (high-quality red blends using non-indigenous grapes).