Florence

The currency is the euro, and the price of almost everything depends on whether you're standing or sitting. An espresso costs €1.20–1.50 standing at the counter; sitting down, you also pay for the table, and on a central piazza the bill jumps three or four times, with the price list posted and perfectly legal. Cappuccino and cornetto, €3–4.50; a lampredotto panino, €4.50–6; a slice of pizza, €3–5; gelato, €2.50–4.50; a glass of wine at the counter, €4–7; a Negroni at a bar in the center, €9–14. A lunch menu at a neighborhood trattoria runs €12–18; an à la carte dinner with starter, main and wine, €30–45 per person, unless a bistecca joins the order, since it's charged by the etto. Museums: the Uffizi about €25 (or about €16 if you enter after 4pm), the Accademia about €16 plus a booking fee, and the Duomo complex's Brunelleschi Pass about €30; the cathedral nave is free. A tram or bus ticket is €2. A hostel bed costs €35–45; a double in a three-star hotel, €110–180, plus a tourist tax of €3.50 to €8 per person per night depending on category (about €5.50–6 in short-term rentals), charged for up to seven consecutive nights and waived for children under 12. The bill carries a coperto of €2 to €3.50 per person, which is a cover charge and not a tip, and in touristy places a servizio of 10% to 12% may appear too, so read the bill before adding anything. Tipping isn't expected: rounding up or leaving €1 to €2 per person is the usual gesture. Cards and tap-to-pay work almost everywhere, but street carts and market stalls sometimes take only cash, so carry a few small bills.

Amerigo Vespucci Airport: 5 km northwest, the T2 tram runs downtown

Amerigo Vespucci Airport (FLR), in Peretola, is about 5 km northwest, and getting to the center is easy. Tram T2 “Vespucci” leaves from the terminal door and reaches Santa Maria Novella station in about 20 minutes, with departures every 4 to 6 minutes and a standard €2 ticket, then continues to Piazza San Marco. A taxi to the center has a flat fare of around €25, with surcharges at night, for luggage and on Sundays: only get into a white taxi with a number on the door, from the official ranks. The other useful airport is Pisa (PSA), about 80 km away, from which you take the PisaMover to Pisa Centrale and a regional train to Florence, about 1 hour 15 minutes in all. By rail, Santa Maria Novella is a terminus five minutes' walk from the Duomo, with Frecciarossa and Italo trains to Bologna in about 35 minutes, Rome in 1 hour 30 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes and Milan in about 1 hour 50 minutes. Some regional trains stop only at Rifredi or Campo di Marte, so check the station printed on your ticket before boarding.

Tram, bus and a €2 ticket good for 90 minutes

The urban network is run by Autolinee Toscane, which replaced ATAF in November 2021. The single ticket has cost €2 since August 2026 and is valid for 90 minutes with transfers. There's a ten-ride pass for €15.50, an SMS ticket for €2, and tap-to-pay validation with a bank card on board and on the tram platforms. The machines are at every tram stop; buying on board costs more. Two tram lines run (T1 from Villa Costanza (Scandicci) to Careggi, and T2 from the airport to San Marco) and new branches to Bagno a Ripoli, Le Piagge and Sesto Fiorentino are under construction, with staggered openings starting late 2026. Inside the viali, electric minibuses on the C lines circulate. The center is a camera-monitored ZTL: don't drive in, even a rental, even for five minutes. Leave the car in Villa Costanza, next to the T1 terminus, or at the Parterre. In practice, everything is done on foot, over uneven cobblestones and half-meter sidewalks: bring thick-soled shoes. Bicycles work on the flat north bank and in the Cascine park; there are app-based shared bikes and scooters.

Florence is safe to walk at any hour, and violent crime against visitors is rare. The real risk is pickpocketing, concentrated around Santa Maria Novella station and the surrounding streets, the San Lorenzo market, the C-line minibuses and the crush on the Ponte Vecchio and Piazza del Duomo on busy days: wear your backpack on your front and keep your phone out of your back pocket. The common scams always run the same way: men who tie “gift” bracelets on your wrist near the Baptistery and the Piazzale and then demand payment, fake petition clipboards worked in pairs, and cars posing as taxis outside the airport, when a licensed taxi is white, with a number on the door and a meter. At night, the area around the station, the Cascine park after the market closes and parts of Piazza Santa Maria Novella are more unpleasant than dangerous, mostly because of drunks leaving the bars. In summer the heat is a real hazard, so carry water and refill at the free public fountains found throughout the neighborhoods. General emergency number: 112.

Coffee is drunk standing, at the counter

In many bars you order and pay at the register first, take the receipt to the counter and drink there, because sitting down changes the price. Cappuccino is a drink for before 11am; after lunch, order a caffè, as Florentines do.

Don't sit on the sidewalk to eat

A municipal ordinance in effect since 2018 bans eating while sitting on sidewalks, doorsteps and steps on some central streets (Via de' Neri, Piazzale degli Uffizi, Via della Ninna and Piazza del Grano) during meal hours, with fines of hundreds of euros. Eat standing next to the shop or take it to a garden.

Shoulders and knees covered in churches

Cover your shoulders and knees to enter the cathedral, Santa Croce, San Lorenzo and San Miniato. The Duomo has a bag check and turns away tank tops, short shorts and hats at the door, so in July carry a scarf in your daypack to cover your shoulders at the entrance.

The bistecca isn't ordered well done

Bistecca alla fiorentina is sold by weight, at least 3 cm thick and rare by definition. Asking for medium usually earns you an explanation; asking for well done, a polite refusal. If you don't eat rare red meat, order peposo or arista.

Greet on the way in and on the way out

“Buongiorno” until mid-afternoon, “buonasera” after, said while crossing the threshold of any shop, bar, bakery or office, even with no intention of buying. Walking in silent reads as rude, not discreet.

Coperto: a cover charge for bread and table service

The coperto of €2 to €3.50 per person covers bread and table service and appears on almost every menu. No one brings the bill before you ask: say “il conto, per favore.” Splitting the bill across many cards is possible, but frowned upon at small places.

Driving into the ZTL

Driving into the center. The viali surround a camera-monitored ZTL, active on weekdays and with evening bands in spring and summer. The fine reaches the renter's address months later, one per camera crossed. If your hotel is inside the zone, send your plate ahead for the temporary registration, and confirm the allowed hours anyway.

Buying Uffizi tickets at the door

Buying a ticket at the door of the Uffizi or the Accademia in high season. Without a booked slot, the line runs past two hours and sometimes closes before you reach the ticket window. Book on the official site days ahead, arrive 15 minutes before your slot, and prefer entry after 4pm at the Uffizi, cheaper since January 2026.

The David in the square is from 1910

Mistaking a copy for the original. The David in Piazza della Signoria is a 1910 copy, the one on Piazzale Michelangelo is bronze, and the Baptistery's Gates of Paradise are replicas. The original David is in the Accademia, and Ghiberti's panels are in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo: skip those two museums and you photograph three copies and no originals.

The nave is free; the dome is a separate pass

Thinking the Duomo is a single ticket. The cathedral nave is free and has its own line. The dome, the campanile, the baptistery, the crypt and the museum come in combined passes, and the climb up the dome only comes with a booked slot, 463 steps, no elevator and nowhere to leave a large backpack.

Staying inside the tourist rectangle

Staying inside the Duomo–Uffizi–Ponte Vecchio rectangle. Walking five minutes east or into the Oltrarno cuts the price of lunch in half and leaves the sidewalks far less crowded. To cross the river, use the Ponte Santa Trinita, which gives you a side view of the whole Ponte Vecchio; the Ponte Vecchio remains open on foot but has been under restoration since May 25, 2026, with pontoons in the river.

Buongiorno / Buonasera

Good morning / Good evening: said on entering any establishment; the switch happens around mid-afternoon

Un caffè al banco, per favore

A coffee at the counter, please: at the counter it costs around €1.30, at a table it can cost four times more

Un panino col lampredotto, bagnato

A lampredotto sandwich, with the top dipped in the broth: “bagnato?” is the question the trippaio asks

Il conto, per favore

The check, please: it never arrives before you ask for it

Permesso

Excuse me: for getting past someone on a narrow street, a staircase or a full bus

O bischero

Something like “oh, silly fool,” a light insult between friends; the Tuscan gorgia turns the “c” into a breath, so “la Coca-Cola” comes out as “la Hoha-Hola”

Centro storico (Duomo–Signoria)

The area between the Duomo, Piazza della Repubblica and Piazza della Signoria provides reference points for exploring the historic centre on foot, depending on your route and access needs. The historic centre was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1982; the property’s current boundaries, expanded since then, cover 532 hectares and extend beyond this sector and the former Roman core. When choosing accommodation, compare its address with the places you want to visit and your arrival and departure points. Check check-in and check-out times and where to store luggage. A central address may shorten some journeys, but does not guarantee easy access to every attraction or replace checking transport.

San Lorenzo and Mercato Centrale

The Medici neighborhood, with the family church, Brunelleschi's Old Sacristy and Michelangelo's Medici Chapels. The 1874 covered market, designed by Giuseppe Mengoni, has butchers and fishmongers on the ground floor and a food court upstairs since 2014; around it, the leather stalls.

Santa Maria Novella

The area around the 1935 station, by Giovanni Michelucci, one of the few rationalist buildings in the center. Hotels, the regional bus terminal and the basilica with the facade Alberti finished in 1470 and Masaccio's Trinity (about 1427), the first rigorous use of linear perspective in painting.

Santa Croce and Sant'Ambrogio

To the east: the square where the Calcio Storico is played in June, the leather school behind the basilica and, a few blocks further, the Sant'Ambrogio market, which supplies the neighborhood and not the tourist. It's where the north bank's nightlife concentrates.

Oltrarno: Santo Spirito and San Frediano

The south bank inside the walls, with restoration, cabinetmaking, gilding and goldsmith workshops still active on the streets behind Via Maggio. The church of Santo Spirito is Brunelleschi's last project and its facade never received a finish; the square fills with residents and students at night.

San Niccolò

A narrow strip between the river and the hillside, under Poggi's ramps, with the 1324 Porta San Niccolò preserved at full height because it fell outside the demolition of the walls. Few blocks, small bars, and the start of the climb to San Miniato.

Campo di Marte and Le Cure

Residential east, outside the viali: Pier Luigi Nervi's Artemio Franchi Stadium, opened in 1931 and completed in 1932, with its helicoidal reinforced-concrete staircases, and neighborhood markets. Rent and restaurant bills well below downtown.

Novoli, Rifredi and Careggi

Northwest: the Novoli university campus, the Careggi hospital complex, the Rifredi station (a stop for many regional trains) and the northern terminus of tram line T1. It's where much of the city the visitor never sees lives and works.

The basin closed in by hills

The city sits in a basin at about 50 m of elevation, closed in by hills on almost every side: Fiesole and Monte Ceceri to the north, between 250 and 400 m, and the ridge of Arcetri, San Miniato and Bellosguardo to the south. This amphitheater traps the heat in summer and the humidity in winter, and it's the physical reason August is hard here.

The Arno and the flood markers

The Arno runs east to west toward Pisa; it's a torrential river, nearly dry in July and capable of catastrophic autumn floods: 1333, 1557, 1844 and 1966 are marked on walls with level plaques.

The two banks and the ring

Piazza della Repubblica occupies the central area of the Roman city: the cardo followed the line of today’s Via Roma and Via Calimala, while the decumanus followed Via Strozzi and Via del Corso. This layout helps explain the streets of the centre without reducing the entire city to the Roman rectangle. In the nineteenth century, Giuseppe Poggi’s plan replaced some walls with avenues and preserved monumental gates; stretches of the walls remained in the Oltrarno. South of the Arno, a route can lead from neighbourhood streets onto the hillsides. The World Heritage property currently recorded by UNESCO covers 532 hectares and includes areas beyond the flat core. When planning a walk, check the actual route, slopes and entrances between your chosen addresses; allow time for crossings and breaks.

Standard Italian was born here

Standard Italian is, in large part, 14th-century written Florentine. Dante was born here in 1265, was banished in 1302, and wrote the Comedy in exile, naming real enemies of the city; Boccaccio and Petrarch completed the trio that fixed the vernacular as a literary language. The Accademia della Crusca, founded in 1583 and based at the Villa di Castello, is still the authority that issues rulings on the Italian language. In the same circuit are Machiavelli, who wrote The Prince in 1513 after losing his post in the chancery, Vasari, whose Lives of the Artists (1550 and 1568) invented art history and the word “renaissance,” and Galileo, funded by the Medici and today the subject of the Museo Galileo, next to the Uffizi.

Craftsmanship is still industry

Craftsmanship remains an industry here. The Oltrarno workshops do furniture restoration, gold leaf, bookbinding and goldsmithing, many at addresses unchanged for generations; the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, created in 1588 as the ducal mosaic workshop, became one of the world's leading restoration labs after the 1966 flood. Leather sustains an entire chain: the Scuola del Cuoio has run in the old dormitory of the Santa Croce friars since 1950, Gucci was founded in the city in 1921 and Ferragamo has its headquarters and museum in Palazzo Spini Feroni. Twice a year, in January and June, the Pitti Immagine Uomo fair fills the Fortezza da Basso and packs the city outside tourist season.

Melodrama was invented here

In music, opera was invented here around 1600, in the circle of the Camerata de' Bardi, with Jacopo Peri's Euridice; the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, founded in 1933, is one of Europe's oldest opera festivals and now performs at the Teatro del Maggio, in the Cascine park. In soccer, ACF Fiorentina has played in purple at the Stadio Artemio Franchi since 1931. In film, Mario Monicelli's Amici miei (1975) captured Florence's dry, mocking humor better than any guidebook. The city even lent its name to an ailment: Stendhal syndrome, a racing heart and dizziness in the face of too much art, recalls the writer who felt faint at Santa Croce in 1817, and it was described clinically in 1979 by the Florentine psychiatrist Graziella Magherini.

The Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri (1308–1321)

Written in the exile decreed in 1302 and populated with real Florentines, named and surnamed, distributed among the circles. Beyond explaining the city's factions from the inside, it's the text that turned the local dialect into the Italian language.

Brunelleschi's Dome, by Ross King (2000)

Reconstructs the engineering of the 1420–1436 project: the 45.5 m span with no wooden centering, the herringbone brickwork, the cranes designed for the site and the rivalry with Ghiberti. After reading it, the city's skyline becomes legible.

A Room with a View (James Ivory, 1985)

An adaptation of E. M. Forster shot in Piazza della Signoria and the hills of Fiesole. It shows the Anglo-Saxon tourism of the late 19th century that invented much of the foreign relationship with Florence: including the habit of looking at the city with a guidebook in hand.