The Solo Scale:

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Let’s begin with a caveat: The first and most important being that you should know how to do is how to ride a bike if you’re going to take this tour. Between the tourists that you’ll have to weave around, traffic that doesn’t care much for you, and the cobblestone roads, Florence can be a bit risky. The bike tour will offer you a helmet, but they also will keep going at a steady clip, so it’s in your best interest to know how to bike.

Second caveat — don’t expect this to be a lazy day. While you can purchase them, most of the bike tours aren’t e-bikes, which means you’ll be getting plenty of a workout. If you go in the summer months, you’ll get sweaty quickly. Plan ahead, dress properly (avoid skirts and dresses!), and read on if a cycling adventure through Florence interests you!

The meeting place for this particular voyage was just off the Arno. That meant wading through busloads of people beginning their own tours (though most of them were going to be walking). Our group was a total of four and a guide, Fabio, who outfitted us with our bikes, water, and offered helmets to anyone who wanted one. It had been years since I rode a bike, but the old saying is true — it really is like riding a bike. Within a few minutes, I had my cyclists’ legs back and was able to get back into the habit. The day after, you are going to end up a little sore, unless you’re a regular cyclist.

Once we began our 2-hour (approximately) tour, it didn’t mean we had to go continuously. Fabio allowed us to stop in multiple places so we could talk, and to give us a break. Throughout every stop, Fabio provided us with history, arts, culture, and food information. He kept it engaging by asking trivia questions, too!

To begin, we headed into the Piazza di Santa Croce to peer into the convent window. This is where you first learn to balance your bikes at a stop outside the church. Plus, there’s some learning about historical soccer that took place in the piazza. From there, we biked onto the birthplace of Dante Aligheri and the chapel dedicated to Beatrice. It was a quick pace from there, onwards to the Duomo where we saw the back of it.

Then, we entered the tourist frenzy that was the front. We did get yelled at in this area because we were on bikes in a pedestrian area. Some locals considered them “vehicles”. Our guide had us ride on and ignore them. The journey continues from there, onto San Lorenzo church, Santa Maria Novella, and Republic square. The next stop after all these churches was the bridge overlooking Ponte Vecchio (and its many tourists).

In the middle of these stops and before we made our way back over Ponte Vecchio, we had a stop at Gelato della Passera. This place is ranked one of the best spots for gelato in Florence. At the time that I took the bike tour, one scoop was included. The refreshing and cool scoop of ice cream after biking in the heat was a blessing. Even better was the provided water that we got at the start of the tour.

Once we’d finished off our treats, we made one last stop in front of the Pitti Palace. Then you take your bikes on foot across the extremely busy Ponte Vecchio. This is where you need to be careful of your belongings. Florence does still have a pickpocket problem and its close-space areas like this that can be most dangerous.

Once you cross the bridge, it’s a leisurely bike back to the garage, where you’ll return your bikes and say farewell to your guide and group.

If you’re eager to do a bike tour, you can check out a version of the one that I did. Keep in mind that they’ll be making modifications come March 2025 (including dropping the gelato portion, which was truly amazing considering it’s said to be the best in Florence).