4Discover Florence’s Hidden Museums

Beyond the world-famous galleries, Florence is home to quirky and fascinating smaller museums. The Museo Horne is a Renaissance house-museum filled with paintings, furniture, and everyday objects collected by English art historian Herbert Horne. The Stibbert Museum, set in a villa on the city’s edge, boasts one of the largest collections of arms and armor in Europe, displayed in theatrical arrangements that make history come alive.

For something truly unusual, visit La Specola, Florence’s natural history museum. Among its collections of fossils and taxidermy is a famous series of 18th-century anatomical wax models—both scientific and eerily beautiful.