On your first day in florence I would recommend taking a large sum of money (nothing short of 300 dollars) and going crazy.  Buy what you want a disregard the prices.  If you're reading this before your going I would start setting aside for this now.  No matter how much self control you have I dare you not go buy at least one thing and wish you had bought a dozen others.  This way you won't have to leave Florence wanting and you can go home with presents for somebody (most likely yoursefl).  This will also familiarize yourself with the city.  Some  places were you must go are the San Lorenzo Market, a three block market packed to the bursting point with leather goods.  Also, go to the Ponte Vecchio if looking for gold and silver jewelry, plus it is just about the most beautiful bridge you will ever see.  Aside from those two places there aren't many must hit places so just walk around because shops line every street with fares from food to more jewelry to suits to souvenirs.

CLIMB THE DUOMO

Florence's most impressive church has an impressive feature.  A winding claustrophobic path of steep stairs can be taken from the bottom of the church to the very top.  This is an expierence like no other because first of all these passages transport you back to the renessance.  They're completely stone and in some places spiral and in others they just wind so it gives you the most enbelievably feeling on earth.  Once you're on top, it's even better.  You have a birds eye view of the entire city and the clay-redish rooftops is all you can see inside the city limits.  And then you look a little further and you see the hills.  The mountains outside of florence are the most amazing thing ever which hold castles, villas and endless expanses of olive trees.

EXPLORE A ROAD INTO THE HILLS

There are many roads which wind into the endless expanses of the hills outside florence and each one of them is equally stunning.  Ask your hotel concierge or any one like that for a map and a suggestion of a road outside florence to hike, take a cab to the city limits or werever the road starts and start walking.  I garauntee that after a half an hour you will be immersed in little town Italy.  Chances are that after a while you will run into a town, so walk through and explore the town, have lunch or dinner, maybe shop a little if you have any money left from your first day and either keep walking or call a cab service to bring you back (or you can walk back if you wish)

HIKE TO FIESOLE

Fiesole is a scattered little hill town and hour and a half hike from the outside of Florence.  It will be much like what you did when you hiked into the mountains except this time you will have an objective.  Along th way you will pass many olive farms, probably a villa and many nice houses.  You will know you are there from the clock tower which is at the lower portion of the town.  Across from it is a bus stop which will most likely be your escape route.  I would suggest having lunch then walking further into the town to see real Italy.  If you pick the right road you might even find your way to the very top of one of Italy's many mountains giving you a great view.  Whatever you pick to do I would suggest taking the bus back because more often than not you will be pretty beat by this.

UFFIZI

Unfortuantly I didn't get to go to the Uffizi during my time in Florence because I only had 3 days so instead I hiked to Fiesole.  What I do know is that many of the renessance's great works of art are kept here including The David and The Birth of Venus.  Deffiantly a must see if you ever go to Florence.

Top 10 Sights

The Duomo

Santa Maria del Fiore, the Duomo or Cathedral, is the very heart of Florence, dominating the city with its massive dome. The dome, designed by Brunelleschi was the largest of its time, completed in 1436 without the use of scaffolding. The Duomo is clad in Multi-coloured marble and is visible all over the city - towering over the neighbouring buildings, or glimpsed looming at the end of a narrow medieval street. If you have the energy, climb the 463 steps to the top and enjoy magnificent views.

Baptistry Doors

There are 3 sets of beautiful and artistically important baptistery doors, the most significant being the east doors commissioned by Ghiberti in 1401, and depicting scenes from the New Testament. Seven leading artists of the time entered a competition to create the doors, and some of these examples are regarded as the first products of the Renaissance. Michelangelo named these doors "The Gate of Paradise". However, the ones in place are copies; the originals can be seen in Museo dell'Opera del Duomo (just behind the Duomo).

Ponte Vecchio

This famous bridge, literally the "Old Bridge", was built in 1345, and is the oldest in Florence. It has always accommodated workshops of one kind or another, though by 1600, the butchers, tanners and blacksmiths, who polluted the river with their offal and waste and caused a choking stench over the city, were evicted. The shops were renovated and rebuilt, and leased to the inoffensive jewellery trade. To this day, the bridge is lined with pretty shops selling modern, classic and antique jewellery to suit every budget. The bridge escaped the bombs of WW2, some say as a direct result of an order from Hitler, while others say the bomber pilot approached the bridge at sunset and could not bear to destroy such an ancient and beautiful structure. So he dropped his bombs elsewhere, out of harms way.

Galleria dell'Accademia

This is the Academy of Fine Arts, founded in 1563, and the first European school to teach the techniques of drawing, painting and sculpture. Many of Michaelangelo's important works can be found in the Accademia, including a statue of St Matthew and the "Four Prisoners", dramatically depicting muscular figures struggling to escape from blocks

of stone. The most dominant work is the "David", Michaelangelo's magnificent, massive, nude classical statue of David, the biblical hero who killed Goliath. David, sculpted in marble in 1504, has recently been beautifully restored.

Palazzo Pitti

Started in 1457 for the banker Luca Pitti, this enormous building was intended to show the powerful Medici banking family that it had a worthy rival. Ironically, ongoing building costs bankrupted the Pitti heirs and the palace was bought by the Medicis who made it their main residence. The rooms are lavishly decorated and, today, exhibit many treasures from the Medici collections. The Renaissance style Boboli Gardens, are laid out behind the palace.

Uffizi Gallery

Originally a suite of offices for Duke Cosimo1, this is probably the oldest art gallery in the world. From about 1580, Cosimo's heirs began to use the building to exhibit art treasures belonging to the Medici family. Today, the gallery is laid out in such a way to guide the visitor through the development of Florentine art from the Gothic period to the High Renaissance, and beyond. A number of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures are also displayed.

Church of Sante Croce

Legend tells us that St Francis founded this church himself. The current building, started around 1294 to replace an older construction, is the biggest Franciscan church in the world. The beautiful, austere Gothic structure contains the tombs of several famous Florentines, including Michaelangelo and Galileo. There are also sixteen chapels, many of them decorated with frescoes by Giotto and his pupils.

Piazza della Signoria

This unique, spacious square is enhanced by the majestic Palazzo Vecchio, Florence's town hall (1322), and the Loggia dei Lanzi (1382), a graceful, airy loggia, housing famous statues by Cellini and Giambologna and ancient Roman statues of priestesses. Further sculptures in this unique square include an heraldic lion by Donatello, the spectacular Neptune Fountain by Ammannanti, Giambologna's statue of Cosimo 1 on horseback and a copy of Michaelangelo's David, all dating from the 1500's..

Piazza Michelangelo

The piazza is situated on a hill slightly south east of the city centre. It dates from 1860 and is home to copies of Michaelangelo's famous statues. There are far reaching views over the rooftops, spires, towers and domes of Florence, the largest being the rich, red dome of the Duomo itself. Beyond, lie the misty purple hills of Fiesole.

San Lorenzo Market

This outdoor market has an excellent selection of good quality and reasonably priced goods, such as leather gloves, jackets, belts and bags of all descriptions; scarves, pashminas and ties; painted trays; costume jewellery and Florentine souvenirs of every type.

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Bargello

Superb collection of beautiful Renaissance sculpture, including works by Michaelangelo, Donatello, Giambologna, Cellini and others.

Medici Tombs

 Adorned with some of Michaelangelo's finest works.

Casa Buonarotti

Michaelangelo's house for a short time, housing some of his personal belongings and works.

Palazzo Davanzati

Typical home of a wealthy Florentine family of the 1500's.

Church of Santo Spirito

 Augustinian church dating from 1250, with beautiful colonnaded aisles.

Church of San Lorenzo

 Parish church of the Medici family.

Church of Santa Maria Novella

 Gothic church housing important artworks.

Convent of San Marco

Beautiful, simple setting for a superb collection of devotional frescoes by Fra Angelico.

Brancacci Chapel

Frescoes depicting the life of St Peter, commissioned around 1424.

Mercato Centrale

Big, covered food market tucked away in the depths of the San Lorenzo market.