The Family That Owned Florence
The Medici started as bankers and ended up owning a republic, a papacy, and immortality — four popes, two queens of France, a secret half-mile skybridge over the whole city. And the last of them gave every masterpiece to Florence forever, on one condition: none of it could ever leave.
What You'll Experience
Plan your walk
Know the route before you buy
- Starts at
- Introduction
- Ends at
- The Reveal
- Walking plan
- 1h · ~1.4 miles
- Schedule
- Start, pause, and resume anytime
Included in the app
- Professional narration
- GPS-triggered stops
- Downloadable tour audio
- Ask the Historian Q&A
- Optional end-of-tour reveal
- All 11 story stops
A taste of what you'll hear
11 stops, each with its own story. Here's a preview.
"You're in the San Lorenzo quarter of Florence, in a churn of leather stalls and market noise, and somewhere near you stands a big plain brown building that looks like a bank crossed with a fortress. Hold onto that image."
"You're looking down a long, narrow stone courtyard that runs toward the river, hemmed by two matching wings and lined with statues of famous Florentines gazing down at you."
"You made it — from a plain brown bank on a market corner all the way to a hilltop garden that taught Versailles how to be Versailles. One family, three hundred years, one very long walk. Nicely done. Let's settle up."
Tour itinerary
Every stop on this walk
Explore the route before you go. Each stop has its own story preview, location details, and place in the larger tour.
- 11IntroductionYou're in the San Lorenzo quarter of Florence, in a churn of leather stalls and market noise, and somewhere near you stands a big plain...43.7752, 11.2570 Read this stop
- 22Palazzo Medici RiccardiThe building on the corner is trying very hard to look like it has nothing to hide. Heavy blocks of rough stone at street level, smoother...43.7752, 11.2570 Read this stop
- 33San Lorenzo and the Medici ChapelsLook at the front of this church. It's bare. Rough brown brick, blank and unfinished, like the builders knocked off for lunch five centuries...43.7751, 11.2533 Read this stop
- 44The BargelloThis grim stone block with the battlements and the square tower has one of the darkest résumés in the city — a barracks, a courthouse, and a...43.7702, 11.2580 Read this stop
- 55Palazzo VecchioYou're back on the great square now, in front of a blunt stone fortress with a tall off-center tower stabbing up from one corner.43.7693, 11.2560 Read this stop
- 66The UffiziYou're looking down a long, narrow stone courtyard that runs toward the river, hemmed by two matching wings and lined with statues of famous...43.7678, 11.2553 Read this stop
- 77The Vasari CorridorLook up, along the top of the buildings by the river, and you'll see it — a long covered passage riding on brackets and little arches,...43.7676, 11.2540 Read this stop
- 88Ponte VecchioThe bridge in front of you is wearing shops — the Ponte Vecchio, gold and silver glinting in every little window box that leans out over the...43.7680, 11.2531 Read this stop
- 99Pitti PalaceYou've crossed the river, and the thing filling the square in front of you looks less like a building than a cliff face with windows.43.7650, 11.2500 Read this stop
- 1010Boboli GardensBehind the palace, the ground rises, and the whole hillside opens into the Boboli Gardens — avenues of clipped cypress, terraces cut into...43.7626, 11.2489 Read this stop
- 1111The RevealYou made it — from a plain brown bank on a market corner all the way to a hilltop garden that taught Versailles how to be Versailles.43.7626, 11.2489 Read this stop
Stories first
Every stop is built around people, conflict, ambition, and consequences—not a plaque read aloud.
Most of it is true. The extra mischief is just a wink at the end, but the story is what carries the walk.
Have questions? Just ask.
Curious about something you heard? Want to know more about a place? Ask us anything — we have a lot to say. It's more fun when it's a conversation.
Ready?
Download the app, head to the starting point, and press play. The stories start themselves.
Get the AppBefore you go
Quick answers
How much is this tour?
$9.99 as a one-time purchase in the iOS app. The Florence city pack is $14.99 and includes every currently available tour in the city.
Can I use it with spotty cell service?
Download the tour audio on Wi-Fi before leaving. Cached narration plays without streaming; map tiles and other online features may still need a connection.
Do I have to start at a specific time?
No. Start when it suits you, pause for a detour or meal, and resume later. Check the opening hours of any venue you personally plan to enter.
Are admission tickets included?
The purchase covers the Bad Historian audio experience. Transportation, food, and admission to third-party attractions are not included.
Other Florence Tours
Piazza della Signoria
Blood on the Marble
A pope's murder plot at Mass, a preacher burned where he'd burned the city's art, a poet sentenced to the flames. Florence's beauty had a body count — and every crime is in the records.
Historic Center
Florence Dressed the World
The city that invented fashion twice — the medieval wool and silk guilds that funded the Renaissance, then Ferragamo, Gucci, Pucci, and the 1951 show that made 'Made in Italy.' Two inventions, six centuries apart, on the same small grid of streets.
Duomo
Florence in a Mile
The Duomo, the David, the bridge — a straight walk through the heart of Florence, with the one insane true story behind every icon. Where the Renaissance started, and why any of it is still here.
Duomo
How to Build the Impossible
A reject block of marble became the David; a dome that shouldn't stand still holds; a 1401 contest built a genius by making him lose. A physics heist across the Renaissance, on foot, in about a mile.
The Family That Owned Florence
$9.99 · one-time