5 Best Sights in Around the Duomo, Florence

The Gothic bell tower designed by Giotto (circa 1266–1337) is a soaring structure of multicolor marble originally decorated with sculptures by Donatello and reliefs by Giotto, Andrea Pisano, and others (which are now in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo). A climb of 414 steps rewards you with a close-up of Brunelleschi's cupola on the Duomo next door and a sweeping view of the city.

The open-air loggia, built in 1551, teems with souvenir stands, but the real attraction is a copy of Pietro Tacca's bronze Porcellino (which translates as "little pig" despite the fact the animal is, in fact, a wild boar). The sculpture is Florence's equivalent of the Trevi Fountain: put a coin in his mouth, and if it falls through the grate below (according to one interpretation), it means you'll return to Florence someday. What you're seeing is a copy of a copy: Tacca's original version, in the Museo Bardini, is actually a copy of an ancient Greek work.

Florence's Children's Museum may be the city's best-kept public-access secret. A series of interactive tours includes "Encounters with History," during which participants meet and talk with Giorgio Vasari or Galileo Galilei and explore secret passageways. Events occur at different venues (Palazzo Vecchio, Museo Stibbert, and the Museo Galileo). Tours are in English and must be booked in advance. Though most are geared for the three- to eight-year-old crowd, adults will find them lots of fun, too.

Across the river from Galileo's former home, a monumental sundial, installed in 2007, sits outside the Palazzo Castellani, one of the city's oldest palaces and now home to this museum dedicated to Renaissance scientists and inventors. The permanent collection features both objects and videos that enlighten you on innovations from the 14th to 17th centuries. Particularly intriguing is Antonio Santucci's armillary sphere, created in 1588 for Ferdinand I de' Medici, and an engraved geometric and military compass built by Galileo in 1606. A research library with more than 170,000 scientific books, from ancient to modern, is also open to the public.

Begun in 1299 and built as a meeting place for the guildsmen governing the city at the time, Florence's forbidding, fortress-like city hall was presumably designed by Arnolfo di Cambio. Although its massive bulk and towering campanile dominate Piazza della Signoria, its interior courtyard is a good deal less severe, having been remodeled by Michelozzo (1396–1472) in 1453. A copy of Verrocchio's bronze puttino (cherub), topping the central fountain, also softens the space. (The original is upstairs.)

The main attraction is on the second floor: two adjoining rooms that supply one of the most startling contrasts in Florence. The first is the opulently vast Sala dei Cinquecento (Room of the Five Hundred), named for the 500-member Great Council, the people's assembly established after the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent, that met here. Giorgio Vasari and others decorated the room, around 1563–65, with gargantuan frescoes celebrating Florentine history; depictions of battles with nearby cities predominate. Continuing the martial theme is Michelangelo's Victory, intended for the tomb of Pope Julius II (1443–1513), plus other sculptures of decidedly lesser quality.

In comparison, the little Studiolo, just off the Sala dei Cinquecento's entrance, was a private room meant for the duke and those whom he invited in. Here's where the melancholy Francesco I (1541–87), son of Cosimo I, stored his priceless treasures and conducted scientific experiments. Designed by Vasari, it was decorated by him, Giambologna, and many others. Note, too, that spectacular 360-degree views may be had from the battlements (only 77 steps) and the tower (223 more).