Tours and Tickets to Experience Piazza Santa Croce
Piazza Santa Croce
Piazza Santa Croce is lined with restaurants and cafés, perfect for a snack or drink.
Flat and paved, the square is easy to navigate with wheelchairs or strollers.
Be sure to wear a hat and sunscreen if visiting in summer as the square has no shade.
The Basilica of Santa Croce requires modest clothing covering shoulders and knees to enter.
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There are plenty of ways to experience Piazza Santa Croce. Looking at ratings and reviews previously given by customers, these are the best tours available right now:
Visiting Piazza Santa Croce, a public square in Florence’s historic center, is free. Stop by on your own or visit with a sightseeing, street food, bike, or golf cart tour of the city. Tour prices generally start at US$40 and increase if any tastings or admission fees to landmarks are included.
The focal point of Piazza Santa Croce is the Santa Croce Basilica, a massive church housing Michelangelo’s tomb, masterpieces by Giotto and Donatello, and other treasures best seen on a guided tour. One of Florence’s larger piazzas, the square is also a destination for seasonal events, markets, and festivals.
Yes, Piazza Santa Croce famously hosts a tournament called Calcio Storico, a Florentine Renaissance sport akin to a soccer-rugby hybrid, played in traditional costumes. There’s also a German-style Christmas market in the square every winter, plus seasonal markets for ceramics, textiles, and other crafts.
Yes, guided tours are recommended for making the most of your visit to the Santa Croce Basilica. Get an expert’s insights on the Italian luminaries buried in the church and the Renaissance artworks and influential architecture found inside. Or, admire the basilica’s neo-Gothic facade on a sightseeing tour that stops by Florence’s top attractions.
If you’re most interested in visiting the Santa Croce Basilica, head to the square before the church closes at 5:30pm—ideally in the morning before the midday crowds arrive. The piazza is also lovely at sunset, when you can sit at a bar overlooking the square while sipping a spritz.