If you love Renaissance art, a trip to the Uffizi is a no-brainer. In no other world museum is time so tangible. Walking from room to room, you’ll see painting transform itself from the Gothic of Andrea Orcagna and Lorenzo Monaco through the High Renaissance of Botticelli and Michelangelo to the 16th-century Mannerism of Pontormo and Andrea del Sarto.

Alas, however, thanks to the wheeze of bolting on compulsory entrance to temporary exhibitions, a ticket now costs €10 with a €4 booking fee (essential if you want to dodge a biblical queue) on top. Ouch.

Tickets to the Accademia, Michelangelo’s marble showcase, work the same. The churches of Santa Croce and San Lorenzo, for exemplars of Brunelleschi‘s chapel architecture, are €5 and €3.50 respectively. Even the Dominican church (€2.70) and cloisters (€2.70) of Santa Maria Novella, home of frescoes by Ghirlandaio (Michelangelo’s teacher) and Uccello, charge visitors to enter.

Add all that together and a long day touring Florence’s marquee museums and churches could relieve you of almost €40 a head – before you’ve browsed one gift shop. To enjoy the greatest artists in the world, admittedly. Whose work you couldn’t possibly see, in a city as notoriously pricey as Florence, for free.

Or could you?

Read the rest in The Times

A short roundup of some bits and pieces that have run while I’ve been away in Italy.

Not downloaded a travel podcast yet? Then perhaps it’s time you did – choice and quality have increased massively over the past few years and the best of them are very useful indeed, not to mention free. The following are my pick of this summer’s crop.

Read about them at Telegraph.co.uk

No matter how many times I travel to Tuscany, each visit teaches me something new. One welcome find this year is that accommodation prices have remained static, or even dipped, compared to 2008. Offering to pay in advance might secure a further reduction, making one of Italy’s most multifaceted regions still more affordable. Here are some more insights that may surprise you.

Read “5 Things You Don’t Know About Tuscany” at Frommers.com

There are times when you travel and want to stay connected, and times when you don’t. Or, at least, that’s what I hear… I haven’t done much of the second kind of travel lately, so my Nokia N95 is the first thing I pack.

Read “Travel Essentials… my Nokia N95″ at the travelintelligence.com blog

Though he claimed to be writing the history of all Italian art, Vasari knew what side his pasta was oiled on: he was a Florentine first, a Tuscan second, and everything else a distant last. Despite the fact that many of the works he describes are now lost, there’s still no one better to guide you around the art and artists of the Tuscan Renaissance.

Read “Ten Books to Take to Tuscany” at travelintelligence.com

First there was Flashdance, then there were flash mobs, now there are flash sales, where goods are offered at massive discounts for a limited period. The concept began in the high-street stores in an effort to galvanise consumer spending, but it lends itself perfectly to travel, too, and companies are starting to offer their own flash sales, with special deals available for anything from 15 minutes to a fortnight. Some of this summer’s deals promise huge savings – but blink, or at least, go and make a cup of tea, and you could miss out.

Read the rest at Telegraph.co.uk

So, you’re heading to the eurozone with sterling at a historic low; to Italy, where inflation is at a 12-year high; and to the country’s priciest region. Are you in for a cashflow nightmare? Not necessarily.

Booking value summer accommodation for families can be tricky [Read more →]