Top things to do/see in Florence?!?

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amomiocane

Forget the Davide, you'll spend 1 day in the queue, which leaves you with Nothing.

Here's what I'd do.

1. Duomo of Firenze (from outside)
2. Piazza della Signoria (amazing)
3. Ponte Vecchio
Those three will get you all the shopping en route as well.

I'd think about going to Trattoria Mario for Lunch.. No reservations allowed, get there before 1pm and you'll get a seat. It's crowded but it's crowded for a reason :)
http://trattoria-mario.com/

If you really want to go and see the Davide, go right at the end of the day. The queues fade right away in the late afternoon.

You can find other places here
http://www.tuscany-villas.co.uk/placestovisit.html
And the interactive map should help you get your bearings.

conley39

There is a lot of wonderful art in the Uffizi as indicated by Stan. The Pitti Palace also has several interesting museums and the Boboli Gardens that are worth a visit. Santa Croce Church is also very good. I would also recommend going up to Piazza Michelangelo for the postcard views of the city. While you're there, go a little further up the hill to the San Miniato al Monte Church - there are some very good frescos and a nice small shop run by the monks. The walk back down through the rose garden is nice. The Orsanmichele is also worth going in for the tabernacle and frescos.

The lines at the museums can be very long. However, there's a small ticket booth on the back of the Orsanmichele that sells tickets for the museums; I've never seen more than two or three people there buying tickets. It's only a couple of blocks from the Uffizi on the street between the Duomo and Palazzo Vecchio.

Stan

David is a must see. The disappointing thing is that the museum that it is in is for artists to study the art of sculpting so a lot of the pieces aren't finished.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accademia_di_Belle_Arti_Firenze

The #1 art museum in Florence (probably all of Italy; some may argue the Vatican) is the Uffizi. It requires reservations (they let in about 20 people at a time) so research that and get a time of day that works for you (earlier means you can spend more time in there before they close).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uffizi

Ponte Vecchio is a covered bridge with a lot of cool shops that crosses the river. Finding a restaurant in this area with a view of the river is really cool.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte_vecchio

The Duomo is pretty spectacular. If you are energetic you can climb to the top for the *highest* view of the city.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Duomo

On the other side of the river is the Piazzale Michelangelo which has the most famous view of the city.
http://diariodiviaggio.voloscontato.it/images/veduta-dal-piazzale-michelangelo.jpg

The Basilica of Santa Croce is nice as well and is the final resting place of many famous Italians - Galileo, Marconi, Michaelangelo, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Santa_Croce,_Florence

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