La Terrazza sul Duomo: The Best-Value Rooftop View in Florence

Some hotel views you have to pay a fortune for. This one, honestly, feels like a steal. La Terrazza sul Duomo is a small B&B right on Piazza del Duomo, and from its rooftop terrace the cathedral, Giotto's bell tower and the Baptistery are so close you feel you could reach out and touch the marble.

It isn't a grand hotel, and it doesn't pretend to be. It's a B&B in a 19th-century building on Via Roma, with a terrace on the top floor that gives you one of the best views in Florence. For the price, the view and the location, we haven't found anything that beats it, and we've stayed here more than once.

The view

Espresso with the Baptistery, sunset with the Duomo

Our mornings started at the window: an espresso, the octagonal Baptistery right below, and the piazza slowly filling up. It's the most Florentine way we know to wake up.

But the real reason to stay here is upstairs. A door at the top of the building opens straight onto the rooftop terrace, and there it all is: Brunelleschi's dome, Giotto's bell tower and the Baptistery, all at once. In the evening, with a glass of Chianti, the marble turns from white to gold and the whole skyline glows.

The location

In the middle of everything

You step out of the front door and you're on Piazza del Duomo. Everything we wanted to see in Florence was an easy walk away, which is exactly what you want in a city made for wandering:

• Giotto's bell tower and the Duomo. Literally next door. Climb the bell tower for the view down onto Brunelleschi's dome, then come home to see it from your own terrace.
• The Baptistery. Right outside the window, with its golden mosaic ceiling inside.
• A wine window at Osteria Belle Donne. Look for the tiny arched window between the signs: one of Florence's buchette del vino, the little hatches once used to pass wine straight out to the street.
• An affogato at Vivoli. A historic gelateria a short walk away, where the affogato comes with the espresso already poured over.
• Bistecca at Trattoria Dall'Oste. The Florentine steak, cooked rare on the bone and served on a hot plate. Go hungry.
• Santa Maria Novella. The historic Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica, founded in 1221, and its cloisters are a short stroll away.
• Piazza della Signoria. The Fountain of Neptune in front of Palazzo Vecchio, and the statues of the Loggia dei Lanzi beside it.
• The Arno. A few minutes south for a slow walk along the river, bridge to bridge.
• Loggia Roof Bar. Across the Arno on Piazza Santo Spirito, a rooftop for a long lunch with the terracotta roofs, the river and the Duomo spread out in front of you.

Why it feels like a steal

Price, view and location

In Florence, a view of the Duomo usually comes with a five-star price. Here, you get a front-row seat to the cathedral, a rooftop terrace and a location you can't improve on, for the price of a simple B&B. It's not about marble lobbies or room service. It's about opening the window and seeing the Baptistery, and ending the day on the roof with the bell tower. For us, that's the luxury that matters.

A few practical notes: reception keeps set hours, so let them know your arrival time ahead, and they can hold your bags if you arrive early or leave late.

If you want five stars

The splurge: the rooftop at the Westin Excelsior

If you'd rather go all out, we'd point you to the hotel once known as the Westin Excelsior, now The Excelsior, a Luxury Collection Hotel, on the Arno. We didn't stay there, but we went up to its rooftop for drinks, and the view is something else: the whole of Florence laid out around you, from the Duomo to the hills. It's the one to choose for the full luxury version of a Florence stay with a view.

Even so, for price, view and being in the middle of everything, our little B&B on the Duomo is very hard to beat.

Our verdict

If you want to wake up with the Baptistery in the window and end every evening face to face with the Duomo, book La Terrazza sul Duomo. It's simple, it's central, and the view is worth so much more than you'll pay for it.

Quick questions

Does La Terrazza sul Duomo have a view of the Duomo?

Yes. A door at the top of the building opens onto a rooftop terrace facing Brunelleschi's dome, Giotto's bell tower and the Baptistery, and our window looked straight down onto the Baptistery.

Is reception open around the clock?

No, reception keeps set hours, so let them know your arrival time ahead. They can hold your bags if you arrive early or leave late.

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