by In early December 2025, I had a trip to Florence. It’s been quite a while since I visited the Italian city the last time. Thus, I was really looking forward, especially about being in the city three weeks before Christmas. In this Pictured Story, I show you some impressions of the light installations and Christmas decoration in city center. There is no Christmas market like in other European cities at that time. Most of the pictures have been taken on a Friday evening – Saturday has been significantly more crowded and sometimes even really annoying to me already. Hard to imagine how the city is like on a summer weekend, when the city is significantly more crowded and masses of tourists are especially in the historic district.
Florence During Christmastime
Most of the pictures below have been taken in the area between the Central Station and Ponte Vecchio, where my hotel (Hotel Continental) was located during that stay. I liked that the city had a lot of illumination across the streets. The most intense level of illumination was at Via de’ Tornabuoni, where a couple of posh boutiques are located.
A palace I especially liked was the Piazza della Repubblica (“Square of the Republic”). There was a small carousel and the light installations at the department store Maje La Rinascente (see below) were really beautiful. At some spots, you also into light versions of the city arms of Florence.
F.Lights Up Festival
For one month, there are additional video projections all around the city. I was lucky that I hit the first day of F.Lights Up in 2025, the 6th of December. However, due to the crowded city, I just visited a few places. Apart from the department store mentioned, here are some impressions of the famous Ponte Vecchio Bridge and Palazzo Vecchio at the Piazza della Signoria.
Christmas-related Attractions
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