Sadly, of the four major churches in Florence—The Cathedral, Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, and San Lorenzo—only the Duomo is now free.
And, sadly, Florence is one of those odd Italian cities where the cathedral is not actually the most interesting church in town (sure, its satellite sites are—the Baptistery, Brunelleschi's dome, Giotto's bell tower, the Duomo Museum—but all of those charge admission).
Every church page will list the hours you can attend mass, vespers, Gregorian chant, and other scheduled services. This is not only for the benefit of religiously-minded visitors, but for everybody—Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and non-believer alike.
You travel to experience the local culture, no? Well, Italy is a deeply Catholic country (heck, it's the Catholic country), and while most modern Italians are fairly non-observant in their daily lives and may only attend church on major holidays, religion and the church still exert a huge influence on Italy's culture and, obviously, its history.
Attending services at least once on your visit is as much a cultural experience as attending a soccer match, taking a cooking class, participating in a festival, or watching an Italian variety show on TV (four other activities I highly recommend).
Planning your day: Florence would well be worth a week, but you can still fit a lot into just a day or three.
To help you get the most out of your limited time in the Cradle of the Renaissance, here are some perfect itineraries, whether you have one, two, or three days to spend in Florence.
» Florence itineraries
