New Year's Eve in Florence: tips and diary

(Distance from home 303 km). Travelling with my girlfriend and a whole group, 8 people in total: a tough test to pass for anyone accompanied by a bunch of wild ones in search of fun, certainly not driven by a love of travelling. The result was very positive, also because many more such trips followed and more will come. Even though, as a beginning, it had been a real disaster: we set off at dawn on a freezing morning and, arriving at Rome's Tiburtina station, our train had a 4-hour delay! But we don't lose heart; we head to Termini station, where we change tickets (thereby losing our seat reservation), but our train is still late and packed, and we reach Florence more than 6 hours behind schedule.

Still we don't lose heart: Florence is under the snow, something that hadn't happened for a very long time, and anyone who happens to see it can only be even more captivated by this splendid city. Florence is a living masterpiece, with squares where time has stood still, like Santa Croce or the famous Piazza della Signoria. The beauty of the city is best perceived by walking with no particular destination through the streets of the centre and discovering new scenic corners, wonderful squares and extraordinary monuments. As soon as you see Piazza del Duomo you have the feeling that the cathedral is resting there like a splendid stage set: it's hard to believe that such a marvel is real. The streets were full of colourful cows that brought cheer to the greyness brought on by the bad weather.

The Uffizi Gallery is an extraordinary thing even for those who, like us, aren't art enthusiasts: it holds treasures like Botticelli's Venus, and Bacchus, to name the ones that struck me most and that I remember, given the vastness of the collections. Absolutely not to be missed: the Uffizi, the cathedral, the climb up Giotto's bell tower, the church of San Lorenzo, the Ponte Vecchio and the Fiorentina steak, a truly inimitable masterpiece! Florence is an unbelievable spectacle where the beauties are all within reach of a pleasant stroll. As for entertainment, the city literally explodes with excellent little restaurants and parties for every budget; we even had to choose between 3 parties, then we went to the Facebook party and had a crazy good time, spending as much as a normal night out in Rome.

As I was saying, on 31 December you have to see in midnight in a square, among the fireworks, but then the city empties out and everyone goes to the parties; there are thousands of people and the atmosphere is wonderful, you meet loads of people. Florence will give you strong emotions, whether you're a couple or in a group; the one thing not to underestimate is that things are often sold out, so hotels and advance tickets for the various parties must be booked early. We did it with a website and were happy with it (also book a taxi for the evening of the 31st, otherwise you risk ending up like us — waiting 2 hours without seeing a single one. Florence at New Year is a magic that will strike you, and if you also find snow, like we did, you'll be enchanted.