Florence is the kind of city where the problem is not finding something to look at but deciding when to stop. The historic centre sits on a bend of the Arno, a compact grid of Roman origin with the Duomo at its middle, Brunelleschi's dome rising over the roofs, the Palazzo Vecchio at the civic heart and the Ponte Vecchio, the only bridge the retreating Germans spared in 1944. The Medici bankers who ran the place for much of the fifteenth to eighteenth centuries paid for most of what you are about to see, and they were rather good at it.
On a motorbike, Florence is mainly a place to arrive at, leave the bike, and walk. The centre is a limited-traffic zone with camera enforcement, and visitors who ignore it receive fines by post long after they have gone home. Check the current rules and park outside the ring, ideally in a supervised lot. The Fortezza da Basso, the Oltrarno side and the hills above the city are all easier. Fuel is no concern in a city of three hundred and fifty thousand people.
The better riding begins as soon as you climb out. The road up to Fiesole is a short, twisting hill climb through villas and cypresses, with Florence spread behind you in the haze, and beyond it the lanes of the Mugello and Chianti open up. Towards San Gimignano the road goes through the vineyards of Chianti, a landscape of low hills, olive terraces, small stone villages and the occasional hairpin. Cerreto Guidi, the other ride from here, takes you west into gentler country with a Medici villa waiting at the end.
Food is simple and meaty: the huge bistecca alla fiorentina, ribollita soup made with old bread, and lampredotto, the tripe sandwich that locals eat at street stalls. A glass of Chianti is the obvious accompaniment, though riders may prefer the espresso. In 1966 the Arno flooded the city badly and the marks are still visible on some walls, a quiet reminder of how fragile all this beauty has been.
Summer is hot and crowded, so aim for spring or early autumn, and leave early in the morning when the stone is cool and the tour groups are still having breakfast.