Best museums in Florence

The former Medici offices, now holding the finest collection of Italian paintings anywhere, spanning the 12th to 17th centuries. Highlights include works by Giotto, Leonardo, Michelangelo and Raphael, plus Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera; booking ahead or using a museum pass helps skip the lines.

"The former Medici offices, now holding the finest collection of Italian paintings anywhere, spanning"

Home to Michelangelo's original David, the centrepiece of a gallery that feels like a temple to humanism. The hall leading to it is lined with Michelangelo's unfinished Prisoners, which seem to struggle out of the marble.

"Home to Michelangelo's original David, the centrepiece of a gallery that feels like a temple to huma"

The Medici family chapel within the San Lorenzo complex, recommended as a must-see.

"The Medici family chapel within the San Lorenzo complex, recommended as a must-see."

The cathedral museum holds the originals of the cathedral's greatest treasures, including Ghiberti's panels, Donatello's choir balcony and his wooden Mary Magdalene. Its most famous piece is Michelangelo's late Pietà, in which Nicodemus is a self-portrait of the artist.

"The cathedral museum holds the originals of the cathedral's greatest treasures, including Ghiberti's"

A former monastery with a peaceful cloister, home to the greatest collection of Fra Angelico frescoes, including his sublime Annunciation and a meditative fresco in each monk's cell. Visitors can also see the cell of the firebrand monk Savonarola.

"A former monastery with a peaceful cloister, home to the greatest collection of Fra Angelico frescoe"

This is Europe's oldest foundling hospital and an early example of Italian Renaissance architecture. Its museum covers the building's history and the lives of the children who lived there, including a historical archive of their records.

"This is Europe's oldest foundling hospital and an early example of Italian Renaissance architecture."