Founded in 1545 to furnish medicine to the Medici, Florence's botanical gardens – managed today by the university – are a wonderfully peaceful retreat in a stretch of the city with little green space. Its greenhouse is fragrant with citrus blossoms, and medicinal plants, Tuscan spices, 220 tree types and wildflowers from the Apennines pepper its 2.3 hectares. Don't miss the magnificent yew tree, planted in 1720, and an ornamental cork oak from 1805. Several themed footpaths wend their way through the gardens.