A Florentine February: Why Off Season is the Best Time to Visit Florence

Florence without the crowds, with a side of queer romance and Renaissance drama.

'Do you always wear a hat indoors?' - A February Weekend in Florence

There is something magical about Florence in February. Not just the gentle hush of the cool wind blowing through the cypresses or the warm glow of winter light on golden sandstone churches - but the change to walk through centuries of history without bumping into a hundred people in a tour group doing the same thing.

Ash and I didn't expect Florence to feel so intimate. After all, this is the birthplace of the Renaissance (the first one - not Beyonce's), home to some of the world's most prized art and architecture. In the summer it heaves with tour groups and selfie-sticks - but in February? You can almost imagine the Medici peeking out from behind a loggia or Lucy Honeychurch fainting into your arms at Santa Croce.

And that's why we came.

A Room With A View (and Without the Queues)

We landed in Pisa and took the short train to Florence, arriving just as the evening light faded and the Arno reflected the final fading glow of the sky. Florence in February is not "quiet" in the silent sense - it still buzzes - but the pace slows down. There's room to breathe and to take the city in.

We checked into a Palazzo that we'd booked near Piazza Santa Spirito, a full 9 rooms with enormous frescos and antique furniture that we got for an absolute steal - a steal I'm sure we wouldn't have found in the height of the tourist season - and bedded down for the night after an incredible hearty Risotto in a piazza-side trattoria. It was cool, but warm enough to sit outside in a jumper, and enjoy the plate of amazingly creamy and rich comfort food we had in front of us.

Waking up from our palatial surroundings we did what anyone who's read A Room With A View would do: headed straight for the views.

The steps to Piazzale Michelangelo are fewer than they feel, and as we stood looking down over the Duomo's perfect dome, the river cutting through endless terracotta rooftops, the whole city felt like it was holding its breath just for us. February Florence is quieter, cooler, and deeply romantic - especially if you've got a scarf you can dramatically toss in the wind like you're auditioning for a Merchant Ivory film.

Florence's Crowded Legacy: Overtourism and Renaissance Pressure

Florence has always been popular. Since the days when Michelangelo was chiselling David from a block of marble hauled from the nearby hills, and Botticelli's Venus had not yet broken the surface of the waves, people have flocked here in search of beauty. In recent decades it has become the poster-boy (along with Venice and Dubrovnik) for European over-tourism: a small heritage jewel of a city that creaks under the weight of millions of yearly annual tourists.

In the high season, the narrow streets buckle under coachloads of visitors, museum entry times sell out weeks in advance, and local Florentines are priced and pushed out of their own city.

But in February? You can walk into the Uffizi without elbowing your way through a queue. You can take a selfie on the Ponte Vecchio and actually get the bridge in the frame. And you can sit in a café near Palazzo Vecchio and actually hear your negroni being made.

It's the kind of peace that lets you experience Florence the way it deserves to be explored - not in a rush and without a hassle.

Renaissance Encounters and Off-Season Discoveries

One of the true joys of winter in Florence is the space you get inside the galleries. In the Uffizi's Botticelli galleries, The Birth of Venus had an energetic but constantly moving crowd which gave everyone the ability to get up-close, Primavera - just around the corner - barely drew a crowd at all, and we could stand in front of it unhurried and undisturbed taking in the beauty of the painting - you could almost hear the breeze blowing through the flowers.

In the Piazza della Signoria we could get up close to the copy of Michelangelo's David (the real deal not far away in the Accademia) which loomed larger than ever. There's something deeply humbling about looking up and the marble muscle of the statues here and remembering that queer art history runs through the veins of Florence. Michelangelo's poetry, his letters, his statues - they all hold an intimacy that still speaks to LGBTQ+ visitors today. Florence is quietly queer if you know where to look. From Renaissance artists with hidden gossipy biographies to modern queer-owned cafes and boutiques tucked into side streets, the city offers little nods of visibility for those paying attention.

A Taste of Florence: February Foodie Fun

Now, don't let the word "off-season" fool you. February doesn't mean things just shut down - it means you don't need to book dinner a week in advance. And with Valentine's Day around the corner, some restaurants even have special menus for couples, whatever shape they come in. We at Penne alla Carciofo in Mama Eat, shared a flaky filled cornetto in Cortese Café, and grabbed wine from a window near Santa Croce; Florence is blessedly accommodating for GF travellers. Trattoria Za Za is a must for coeliacs - think huge plates of pasta in 16th-century dining rooms, a restaurant famously difficult for finding a table in but, believe it or not, we walked straight into. Even random cafes tend to label things well, especially if you say senza glutine with just enough charm and a hopeful smile.

Climbing the Duomo Without the Summer Sweat

Lets talk about that dome. Brunelleschi's masterpiece - the terracotta-tiled crown of Florence - is as impressive as it is iconic. And in February? You can actually get inside it without losing the will to live. Climbing the Duomo in summer is practically a fitness class: 463 narrow, breathless steps in 35-degree head, sandwiched between tourists wondering how close we really were to the top. Romantic? No. Claustrophobic? Extremely.

But in winter? Game-changer. Fewer people. Cooler temperatures. And a quieter, slower ascent that lets you take in the architecture on the way up - the ribs of the dome, the painted Last Judgement above, you even have time for your borderline vertigo to really kick in if you occasionally suffer like I do. Fortunately, I could train my eyes on the incredible ceilings and not the huge drop down to the altar - white-knuckle much! It's still a climb (bring water, not drama), but without the crowds it's surprisingly meditative.

Once I'd settled my nerves a little, the view from the top is everything. Florence spreads out below like a Renaissance model village, all warm hues and gentle Tuscan hills. You get a real sense of how compact and walkable the city is - and yes, it's very Instagrammable. I even managed to get a picture of my friend up there (white-knuckles a thing of the past by this point) which looked like they were about to drop their debut acoustic album: wind-blown hair, Duomo vibes, Very Florence-core.

If you're planning to go inside the cathedral itself or explore the Baptistery and museum, winter means shorter queues and longer moments of awe. You can linger by Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise without being elbowed by someone holding an iPad. And the sheer scale of the cathedral interior - with its echoing silence - is even more powerful when you're not fighting for space. Honestly, if you're coming to Florence and don't do the Duomo in February, you're missing out on one of the most stress-free iconic experiences in Europe.

A Room With a View (Revisited)

I'll admit it - I'm a sucker for literary tourism. Give me a well-placed Austen quote in Bath, or a Joyce quote in Dublin, and I'll go misty-eyed before you can even say E.M. Forster. So of course, when we booked our Florentine escape, I rewatched A Room with A View - both the 1985 Merchant Ivory classic and the sultry 2007 ITV adaptation. I even packed a floaty scarf and some unnecessary yearning, just in case.

Our Palazzo in Spirito Santo sadly didn't overlook the Arno, but we were close by, and I could see the tiled rooftops and feel the soft February light drift through the shutters in the morning. In the winter, the city feels like yours. No tour group masses, just you, a espresso, and the sense that you've slipped into your own novel. We retraced the steps of Lucy Honeychurch and George Emerson, wandering along the Lungarno where even the pigeons seem to have a little more sophistication. But it wasn't just the film nostalgia that hit us - it was the way that Florence, like Forster's story, invites you to look beyond propriety and lean into beauty, spontaneity, and the unexpected.

There's something about traveling as a queer couple that sharpens those themes. Florence has a long and tangled relationship with queerness and you feel it everywhere: we didn't need rainbow flags to feel welcome - just the freedom to be ourselves, holding hands across the Ponte Vecchio without a second glance from passers-by. In the quiet off-season, it's hard not to imagine Lucy and George sharing a quiet February kiss on the terrace, and it's even easier to imagine two husbands doing the same.

LGBTQ+ Travel Tip

Florence doesn't need the heat to feel alive. In fact, when the crowds thin and the pace slows, it's spirit shines through a little more strongly. February offers something rare in a city so famously overrun: the change to connect with the art, the atmosphere, and your own story within it. And for LGBTQ+ travellers - especially those who like a little romance with their Renaissance - the off season offers space to be yourselves, to walk hand-in-hand across the Ponte Vecchio, and to whisper jokes about Michelangelo's sculptural choices without judgement.

Planning a trip to Florence? Save this post for your next Italian escape - especially if you're craving guilt-free romance, renaissance, and a little peace and quiet. Have you been to Florence in the winter? Let me know in the comments or drop me a DM on social media @biggayworldtravel.