2 days in Florence is enough — IF the sequence is right. Wrong sequence = museum burnout by 2pm, tourist trap lunch, sunset in a queue. Right sequence = David at 8:15am (empty), Uffizi Botticelli speed strategy, lampredotto at Nerbone for €4, Oltrarno artisan afternoon, and sunset at Piazzale Michelangelo with the entire city gold below you. All 40 things to do →
8:15am: Accademia — David (pre-booked, 45 min). Stand at his left side. 9:30am: Walk to Duomo. Dome climb (pre-booked, 463 steps, Vasari frescoes 3m from your face). 11am: Espresso at Ditta Artigianale (Via dei Neri). 11:30am: Antico Vinaio schiacciata sandwich (arrive before noon queue). 1pm: Uffizi (pre-booked — skip rooms 1-9, go STRAIGHT to Room 10-14 Botticelli, then Leonardo Room 35, Caravaggio Room 66). 2h focused visit. 3:30pm: Ponte Vecchio walk (don't buy jewelry — overpriced). 4pm: Officina Profumo Santa Maria Novella (world's oldest pharmacy, free entry, sensory overload). 7pm: Aperitivo at Santo Spirito piazza (sit on church steps, Spritz €6). 8:30pm: Dinner at Trattoria Mario (communal tables, €8, cash only) or Il Latini (reservations, bistecca).
9am: Mercato Centrale ground floor — lampredotto at Da Nerbone (€4, since 1872). 10am: Palazzo Pitti + Galleria Palatina (Raphael, Titian). Walk through Giardino di Boboli (included). 12:30pm: Brancacci Chapel (pre-booked, 15 min, Masaccio's Expulsion — where emotion entered Western art). 1pm: Lunch at Trattoria Sabatino (€8, paper tablecloths, San Frediano — most local trattoria in Florence). 2:30pm: Oltrarno artisan workshops — peek into leather/woodworking/goldsmith on Via Maggio + Borgo San Frediano. 4:30pm: Walk uphill to San Miniato al Monte (better than Piazzale, Gregorian chant at 5:30pm). 5:30pm: Piazzale Michelangelo sunset (bus 12/13 or 15 min walk down from San Miniato). Watch Florence turn gold. 8pm: Final dinner: bistecca alla fiorentina at Buca Mario or Trattoria Sostanza.