Florence has the Uffizi, the Accademia, the Duomo, and David. It also has some of the best food in Italy, extraordinary architecture on streets that most visitors walk past without noticing, and a genuinely distinct character from the rest of Tuscany. A good gift helps them see more of it.

The Most Useful Gift: A Good City Guide

The problem with Florence is that the headline attractions are so good that people often don't look much further. The Oltrarno neighbourhood, across the Arno, is one of the city's most interesting areas and consistently undervisited. The Bardini Gardens. The Brancacci Chapel. The lesser-known churches that are often entirely empty and contain extraordinary art. Knowing where to look changes the trip.

A good city guide that covers Florence in real depth -- the museums and how to book them properly, the best trattorias in the Oltrarno, the walks worth taking along the Arno, the day trips to Siena and the Chianti hills -- is one of the most useful gifts you can give someone heading there.

Experiential Gifts

Florence has excellent guided experiences. A private tour of the Uffizi with a guide who can put the Renaissance in context is a genuinely different experience from joining the crowds on a self-guided visit. GetYourGuide has strong Florence listings across the major museums, Chianti wine tours, and Florentine leather and art workshops.

A Chianti day trip with wine tasting is one of the most popular experiences for Florence visitors and worth booking as a gift. The vineyards are close, the wine is excellent, and the Tuscan hills in summer are hard to beat.

A Florentine cooking class -- pasta, bistecca, the ribollita -- is another strong option. Airbnb Experiences has good locally-led options.

Practical Gifts They'll Actually Use

Florence in summer is extremely hot and involves a lot of walking on stone. Comfortable walking shoes that can handle hours on cobblestones are a genuine practical need. The kind of shoe that looks reasonable for visiting churches (covered shoulders and knees are required at many) as well as walking the city.

A lightweight, breathable daypack is useful for museum days: somewhere to carry water, a jacket for the air-conditioned interiors, and anything picked up along the way.

High-factor sunscreen and a good sun hat are worth giving for anyone visiting in summer. The Piazzale Michelangelo climb and the Duomo climb both involve exposed outdoor sections.

The Gift That Gets Used Before They Even Pack

If you want to give them something they'll actually open before they go, a good Florence guide is a strong choice. One of the world's great art cities -- and the better prepared they are, the more they'll get out of it.