Santa Croce to Sant’Apollonia, Florence: free self-guided walking tour
Quick answer. A free self-guided walking tour from Santa Croce to Sant’Apollonia in Florence: 3 stops, about 2.1 km, about 30 minutes of walking plus about 22 minutes of listening. Start at Santa Croce, the largest Franciscan church in the world and the burial place of Michelangelo, and walk north across the centre to the Chiostro dello Scalzo, near Piazza San Marco, where Andrea del Sarto painted the life of Saint John the Baptist in shades of grey. Finish round the corner in the former refectory of Sant’Apollonia, once the largest female monastery in Florence, where Andrea del Castagno painted the Last Supper in 1447.
- Stops:
- 3
- Distance:
- about 2.1 km
- Walking:
- about 30 min
- Listening:
- about 22 min
Santa Croce to Sant’Apollonia, Florence: how long does the walk take?
About 52 minutes in all: about 30 minutes on foot over about 2.1 km, plus about 22 minutes of audio at the 3 stops. Time inside the sites is extra.
Santa Croce to Sant’Apollonia, Florence: in what order should you visit the stops?
Follow the stops in this order: Basilica of Santa Croce, Chiostro dello Scalzo, and Cenacolo di Sant’Apollonia. The longest stretch between two stops is about 1.7 km, about 23 min on foot.
Route and map
Navigate with Google Maps, listen with Mappu: the stories keep playing while you follow the route.
Opens Google Maps with walking directions through every stop.
Stop 1
Cimabue’s Crucifix, near the sacristy, recalls the Arno flood of November 1966 and the Mud Angels who came to help.
about 7 min of audio
Next stop: Chiostro dello Scalzo · about 1.7 km, about 23 min on foot
Stop 2
Built in the late fifteenth century for a lay confraternity, its walls are painted almost entirely in grisaille, in tones of grey.
about 7 min of audio
Next stop: Cenacolo di Sant’Apollonia · about 0.4 km, about 5 min on foot
Stop 3
The monastery behind this refectory was founded in 1339 for Benedictine nuns living under enclosure.
about 8 min of audio
How does this self-guided walking tour work?
The audio guides on this page stay free: open any stop to listen in your browser.
Walk Mode uses your location to narrate places as you walk. It opens in the Mappu app at the first stop, Basilica of Santa Croce. Your first walk is free for three stops with a free Mappu account.
Walk Mode: 2 hours for 50 credits (€4.99 Starter pack)
Before you go
- Check opening hours, tickets and access on each site’s official page before you go.
- Distances and times are estimates: the walking route between stops, from OpenStreetMap, at 4.5 km/h. Your route on the street may differ.
More walking tours in Florence
Plan more days in Florence
These day-by-day Mappu itineraries include Florence. The day links open the days that visit stops on this walk.
Route checked by Mappu on October 20, 2026. Stop descriptions come from each place’s published Mappu audio guide. Mappu is a Fenutech product.