Why go
Set out from Fontana del Nettuno, then use Ponte alla Carraia to cross into Oltrarno and reach Santa Maria del Carmine. The Brancacci Chapel is the natural anchor, rewarding a reserved interior visit while nearby streets offer a quieter change of pace. Continue past Palazzo Tempi toward Santo Spirito, where the piazza and church express the neighborhood's everyday rhythm. The return leg crosses back toward Santa Maria Novella and Palazzo Rucellai, connecting major Renaissance architecture with a practical route across the center. Ponte Amerigo Vespucci works best as an optional final river viewpoint rather than another long visit.
The route, stop by stop
World itinerary estimate: 240–390 min
Times are planning estimates. Unknown visit durations start at an editable 30 minutes; access is checked separately.
- 01
Optional · 20–30 min
Fontana del Nettuno
A monumental Neptune anchors Piazza della Signoria, turning Medici sea power into a mix of pale marble, dark bronze and restless water imagery.
Explore Walk · 12 min · Estimated
02Optional · 20–30 min
Ponte alla Carraia
A five-arched bridge between central Florence and Oltrarno, Ponte alla Carraia is most interesting as a record of repeated flood and wartime rebuilding.
ExploreWalk · 7 min · Estimated
03Optional · 20–30 min
Chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine
An unfinished façade conceals a Rococo interior, medieval remains and chapels that survived the fire of 1771, including the celebrated Brancacci fresco cycle.
ExploreWalk · 2 min · Estimated
04Optional · 45–60 min
Cappella Brancacci
A compact fresco cycle by Masolino, Masaccio and Filippino Lippi shows early Renaissance painters testing perspective, light, weight and human emotion.
ExploreWalk · 17 min · Estimated
05Optional · 20–30 min
Palazzo Tempi
This Oltrarno palace occupies a striking corner beside the Arno, where an arch carries Via de' Bardi beneath part of the building.
ExploreWalk · 10 min · Estimated
06Optional · 20–30 min
Basilica di Santo Spirito
This Oltrarno basilica pairs a restrained Renaissance interior with the deeper history of an Augustinian complex that helped shape the surrounding quarter.
ExploreWalk · 15 min · Estimated
07Optional · 45–75 min
Santa Maria Novella
Florence's principal Dominican church combines a patterned marble facade with major Gothic and early Renaissance fresco cycles across its interior chapels.
ExploreWalk · 25 min · Estimated
08Optional · 20–30 min
Palazzo Rucellai
An exterior architecture stop for seeing how Alberti adapted classical order to a restrained 15th-century Florentine merchant townhouse street facade.
ExploreWalk · 34 min · Estimated
09Optional · 20–30 min
Ponte Amerigo Vespucci
A restrained modern Arno crossing that links central Florence with San Frediano and contrasts clearly with the city's older bridges.
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