Four travelers — Jane, Chuck, Dave W, and Teresa. Straight shot west on the A1 to Florence. Coffee and snacks from the villa; arrival at parking by ~8:45 AM gives plenty of time before the Accademia slot.

Head directly to Parcheggio Parterre (Piazza della Libertà, 50129 FI) — just outside the ZTL restricted zone, affordable (€2–3/hr), flat 15-minute walk to the Accademia.

Find a neighborhood bar for a proper Italian breakfast: espresso, cornetto, maybe a brioche con crema. Avoid the tourist bars near the Duomo — anything along Viale Don Minzoni or Via XXVII Aprile will be authentic and cheap. Stand at the counter: faster, cheaper, and correct.

~15-minute walk from Parterre through Piazza SS. Annunziata — the approach matters here. Route through the piazza and take it in before turning onto Via Ricasoli toward the museum. Then at ~11:15 AM on the way out, pause for a few minutes in the piazza proper — Brunelleschi's Spedale degli Innocenti (world's first orphanage, 1419) lines the east side, and the equestrian Ferdinando I anchors the center. Most tourists skip it entirely. It costs nothing.

Michelangelo carved him from 1501–1504. At 5.17 meters, no photograph does justice to the scale — or to the detail of the hands, the neck veins, the slight turn of the head. Jane and Chuck have seen him before; this time they'll notice different things. Let Dave W and Teresa have the first quiet moment with him.

The four unfinished slaves lining the hall leading to David are, in many ways, more moving than the finished work. The figures struggling to emerge from the marble are exactly what Michelangelo meant by liberating the form already inside the stone.

Musical instrument collection and plaster cast gallery — low-crowd, underrated, good for a slow walk if energy allows.

From Via dei Tavolini you're steps from Piazza della Signoria. Walk through — the Loggia dei Lanzi is a free open-air sculpture gallery: Perseus holding Medusa's head, the Rape of the Sabine Women. No entry, no queue. Then cross the Ponte Vecchio into Oltrarno. Touristy, but the goldsmiths' shops are the real thing.

A large, quiet piazza with neighborhood bars and Brunelleschi's Basilica di Santo Spirito on the far end. Less photographed, more lived-in. Sit for a gelato or a coffee if needed.

Drive or walk up. From Santo Spirito it's ~25 minutes on foot through the Oltrarno and up the hillside steps — rewarding, not strenuous. Driving takes 10 minutes; parking available above the piazza.

Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, the Arno, the hills beyond. Every photographer has taken this shot; take it anyway. Best light is late afternoon — which works in your favor. Bronze copies of Michelangelo's works stand in the piazza. Note the difference between standing with a copy here and having stood with the original this morning.