Florence for The Family Explorers: a Friday-to-Monday weekend

The goldsmiths' bridge is flat and short enough for small legs; children like the shop windows and the buskers on the quay.

Dense, fruit-led gelato at a counter with cone sizes for small hands; the pistachio and the Florentine cream are the usual picks.

An early supper of ribollita and steak at big tables near the market, with a high chair and a children's menu on request.

Children join the costumed family tours through secret passages and painted ceilings; the Museo dei Ragazzi books them for the weekend.

A pizza, a pasta or a gelato of your choice upstairs, with seats for the whole family and no waiting for a table.

Space to run after the nap: fountains, grottoes with statues and lawns that slope down to the Pitti palace; a paved path suits strollers.

The pizzeria that launched a hundred stools: Neapolitan-style pies, shared among the family and eaten at 18:15, before the crowds.

Galileo's telescopes, armillary spheres and a hall of old instruments, plus a room of working machines children can try with a guide.

A friendly Oltrarno pizzeria with a long menu of pies and a quick service; a short walk from the river after the museum.

A big flat park by the Arno with playgrounds, lawns for ball games and an unhurried Sunday crowd of Florentine families.

Michelangelo's late Pietà, Donatello's wooden Magdalene and the original Gates of Paradise, plus a lift to the terrace for the dome.

A shared-table lunch before the train, with pasta that arrives fast and a staff used to families; it opens at noon and closes at 15:30.