You can start your day with a relaxing breakfast at Gilli, the oldest café in the city and the only one with Art Nouveau décor. Overlooking Piazza della Repubblica and Via Roma, it has attracted fashionable and refined clientèle since 1733.

After breakfast, you can visit the exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi, one of the various museums also open on Christmas day. It is a Renaissance masterpiece which has hosted the artworks of artists such as Jeff Koons, Ai Weiwei and Anish Kapoor, with amazing solo exhibitions that have filled the historic rooms and the large courtyard.

To get into the Christmas spirit, we suggest a stroll along the elegant Via de’ Tornabuoni. From there, you can reach the Basilica of Santa Trinita, which features a wonderful nativity scene in the Sassetti chapel, the last on the right transept: the beautiful Adoration of the Shepherds by Domenico Ghirlandaio.

For lunch, you have many options to choose from. Nearby you will find Palazzo Portinari Salviati with the Michelin-starred Atto by Vito Mollica and the Salotto Portinari Bistrot, or you can try the famous Christmas brunch served by the Four Seasons Hotel Florence.

After lunch, you can head toward the Cascine, the largest park in the city which during the holidays houses a 55-metre-high Ferris wheel and a skating rink with more than 1300 square metres.

When it starts to gets dark, you can rest with a delicious hot chocolate from the historic Rivoire bar in Piazza della Signoria or have a cup of tea at the Café Ginori, the first one to be opened around the world, located within The St. Regis Florence. Here you can enjoy the beauty of the city centre all lit up with the magical Christmas illuminations; you can also admire the Christmas tree and the living nativity scene in Piazza del Duomo, as well as the Green Line Festival which illuminates and gives colour to the most famous monuments such as Ponte Vecchio and Palazzo Vecchio.

A breathtaking spectacle with a touch of romance, that you can admire in a single glance, as you walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo.

(ph. Nicola Neri)