Vera’s Rooftop Tour Florence

When researching tours to do in Florence I wanted to try something different. Like really different. Sure, there’s plenty of wine, history and art tours. But I wanted something that combined everything, with a twist. Cause I am a twist kind of gal. So why not try out Vera’s Rooftop Tour.

So, on a rainy late Florentine afternoon, I find myself in a back street not far behind the famous Duomo. Standing under my little broken umbrella lost, I find an as confused British woman looking for the same place as me. We eventually find entry and are escorted up several flights of stairs to the smallest lift I have ever seen. We have to go up one at a time. 

Emerging on the penthouse level we eventually find ourselves on the top level of a beautiful apartment with an outdoor section on the rooftop which mean’s another flight of stairs to get to the view, the food and the Prosecco. 

AND WHAT A VIEW. All of Florence and surrounds on a 360-degree spin. It is stunning in the late afternoon sun that has finally emerged from the rain clouds. The setting sun on the Duomo is nothing short of spectacular. 

We meet Vera. An American musician who has long since made Florence her home. I mean, why wouldn’t you when you are an artist. Vera has undoubtedly immersed herself in her new life in Florence, learning everything she could about the city and its history. For a new local, her knowledge is outstanding. Sometimes it does take an outsider to get an unobscured view. 

We are filled up with yummy food and our glasses are never emptied as Vera goes through the years and years of Florentine history. There’s a big dose of Medici history and how they shaped Florence’s (and the world’s) history. There were even tales of the sordid kind (yay). When you’re standing on a rooftop in the middle of Florence listening to these tales you cannot help but feel a part of it all, Vera is such a great story teller. 

This was a highlight of all the tours I did in Italy. A different perspective, a different way of doing things but I was made to feel very welcomed and in a sense at home on that little rooftop in Florence. 

Thank you Vera. 

I booked this tour through AirBnB Experiences. 

You can read more about my Florence experience here: “6 nights in Florence – how to live and chill like a local”