Oltrarno
Literally the ‘other side of the Arno’, this atmospheric neighbourhood is the traditional home of the city’s artisans and its streets are peppered with botteghe (workshops), designer boutiques and hybrid forms of both. Food and drink is also a strength – prepared using artisanal ingredients, of course – and there’s an ever-growing number of fashionable restaurants and bars to lure you across the river.
The Sights in a Day
MExplore the area around Basilica di Santo Spirito, visiting the Brunelleschi-designed church and local botteghe to watch artisans at work. Break mid-morning for a smoothie or turbo-boosting aloe vera shot at Raw.
RLunch on traditional Tuscan cuisine at La Casalinga, a bespoke panino at S.Forno or a salad at organic Carduccio. Later admire Masaccio’s frescoes in Cappella Brancacci. With an advance reservation, a delightful afternoon can be spent exploring the romantic, 19th-century walled garden of Giardino Torrigiani. Otherwise, delve into the art galleries and boutiques peppering the increasingly trendy 'hood of San Frediano, Via di Santo Spirito and Borgo San Jacopo.
NEnjoy evening drinks and gourmet snacks at Il Santino, moving to Il Santo Bevitore for a candlelit dinner. Or start with cocktails at Mad Souls & Spirits, followed by sensational modern Tuscan cuisine at Essenziale. End with live music at La Cité, spaghetti jazz at Santarosa Bistrot or late-night drinks at 'secret' speakeasy Rasputin.
l Local Life
x Best of Florence
Eating
Drinking
Shopping
Getting There
2 Walk From Piazza della Stazione walk southeast to the Duomo. From Via Roma, cross the Ponte Vecchio and you’re in Oltrarno.
Local LifeCity of Artisans
In our factory-made world, the old-fashioned botteghe of the Oltrarno are a particular delight. Florence’s famed guilds may now be defunct, but many local artisans – welders and goldsmiths, framers and bookbinders, shoemakers and seamstresses – still hand down their craft from generation to generation on this side of the Arno.
1A Bookbinding Legend
The quaint old shopfront of Giulio Giannini e Figlio (
GOOGLE MAP
; 
%055 21 26 21; www.giuliogiannini.it; Piazza dei Pitti 37r; 
h10am-7pm Mon-Sat, 11am-6.30pm Sun) has watched Palazzo Pitti turn pink with the evening sun since 1856. One of Florence's oldest artisan families, the Giannini – bookbinders by trade – make and sell marbled paper, beautifully bound books, stationery and so on. Don't miss the workshop upstairs.
2Fashionable Leather
The Tattanelli family business started in 1945 with quality leather bags, wallets and attache cases, but branched out into leather clothing in 1971 when this boutique, Casini Firenze (
GOOGLE MAP
; %055 21 93 24; www.casinifirenze.it; Piazza dei Pitti 30-31r; h10am-7pm Mon-Sat, 11am-6pm Sun), first opened. Shop here for stylish men’s and women’s bags, shoes, belts and ready-to-wear clothing.
3Contemporary Book-Sculpting
Every book tells a different story in this absolutely fascinating artist's workshop, home to Milan-born Lorenzo Perrone (
GOOGLE MAP
; %340 274402; www.libribianchi.info; Borgo Tegolaio 59r; hhours vary) who creates snow-white libri bianchi (White Books) – aka sublime book sculptures – out of plaster, glue, acrylic and various upcycled objects. His working hours are, somewhat predictably, erratic; call ahead.
4Meet a Jeweller
Once a mechanic’s shop, Officine Nora (
GOOGLE MAP
; www.officinenora.it; Via dei Preti 2-4; h11am-1pm & 3.30-7.30pm Mon-Fri) is a seriously cool work space for contemporary jewellery-makers, bringing Florence’s rich history of expert goldsmithing right up to date. Watch resident artists at work in the luminous loft – much of the dazzling wearable art is for sale. To ensure a warm welcome, email or call in advance.
5A Calligrapher & Company
&Co (And Company;
GOOGLE MAP
; %055 21 99 73; www.andcompanyshop.com; Via Maggio 51r; h10.30am-1pm & 3-7pm Mon-Sat) – a Pandora's box of beautiful objects – is the love child of Florence-born, British-raised callligrapher and graphic designer Betty Soldi and her vintage-loving husband, Matteo Perduca. Their extraordinary boutique showcases Betty's customised cards, decorative paper products, upcycled homewares and custom fragrances alongside work by other designers.
6Shoes from Francesco
Hand-stitched leather is the cornerstone of Francesco (
GOOGLE MAP
; Via di Santo Spirito 62r; h10am-1pm & 3.30-7.30pm Mon-Sat, 10am-1pm Sun, closed 2 weeks Aug), a tiny family business with an enchantingly old-fashioned workshop off Piazza di Santo Spirito. Come here for silk-soft, ready-to-wear and made-to-measure men’s and women’s shoes.
7Traditional Florentine Fabrics
Master weavers at Antico Setificio Fiorentino (
GOOGLE MAP
; %055 21 38 61; www.anticosetificiofiorentino.com; Via L Bartolini 4; hby appointment only 10am-6pm Mon-Fri) produce traditional Florentine fabrics, brocades and damasks on 12 looms: six hand-looms from the 18th century and six semi-mechanical looms from the 19th century. Head here to buy fabric or to browse accessories made from hand-woven silk.
5Eating
6Drinking
Sights
1Cappella BrancacciCHAPEL
Fire in the 18th century practically destroyed 13th-century Basilica di Santa Maria del Carmine ( GOOGLE MAP ; Piazza del Carmine), but it spared the magnificent frescoes in this chapel – a treasure of paintings by Masolino da Panicale, Masaccio and Filippino Lippi commissioned by rich merchant Felice Brancacci upon his return from Egypt in 1423. The chapel entrance is to the right of the main church entrance. Only 30 people can visit at a time, limited to 30 minutes in high season; tickets include admission to the Fondazione Salvatore Romano.
(%055 238 21 95; http://museicivicifiorentini.comune.fi.it; Piazza del Carmine 14; adult/reduced €6/4.50; h10am-5pm Wed-Sat & Mon, 1-5pm Sun)
1Fondazione Salvatore RomanoMUSEUM
For a change of pace from the Renaissance, head to this Gothic-style former refectory safeguarding an imposing wall fresco by Andrea Orcagna depicting the Last Supper and the Crucifixion (c 1370), one of the largest 14th-century paintings to survive. The museum itself displays a collection of rare 11th-century Romanesque sculpture, paintings and antique furniture donated to the city by art collector and antiquarian Salvatore Romano (1875–1955). Tickets can only be bought at nearby Cappella Brancacci; the same ticket covers admission to both sights.
(Cenacolo di Santo Spirito; %055 28 70 43; http://museicivicifiorentini.comune.fi.it; Piazza Santo Spirito 29; adult/reduced €7/5; h10am-4pm Sat-Mon)
1Basilica di Santo SpiritoCHURCH
The facade of this Brunelleschi church, smart on Florence's most shabby-chic piazza, makes a striking backdrop to open-air concerts in summer. Inside, the basilica's length is lined with 38 semicircular chapels (covered with a plain wall in the 1960s), and a colonnade of grey pietra forte Corinthian columns injects monumental grandeur. Artworks to look for include Domenico di Zanobi's Madonna of the Relief (1485) in the Cappella Velutti, in which the Madonna wards off a little red devil with a club.
(Piazza Santo Spirito; h9.30am-12.30pm & 4-5.30pm Thu-Tue)
Local LifeA Secret Garden
Vast secret Giardino Torrigiani (
GOOGLE MAP
; %055 22 45 27; www.giardinotorrigiani.it; Via de’ Serragli 144; 1½hr guided tours by donation; hadvance reservation via email) is Europe’s largest privately owned green space within a historic centre and can be visited with the charismatic Marquis Vanni Torrigiani Malaspina and his wife, Susanna.
Designed during the Romantic movement in the early 19th century, the garden frames the original 16th-century villa and later 19th-century house. Admire rare tree species, a beautifully restored greenhouse and city walls built under Cosimo I in 1544 (one of six sets of walls to be built around Florence at different times).
UnderstandPonte Vecchio
Dating to 1345, Ponte Vecchio was the only Florentine bridge to survive destruction at the hands of retreating German forces in 1944. Above the jewellers' shops on the eastern side, the Corridoio Vasariano (Vasari Corridor) is a 16th-century passageway between the Uffizi and Palazzo Pitti that runs around, rather than through, the medieval Torre dei Mannelli at the bridge's southern end. The first documentation of a stone bridge here, at the narrowest crossing point along the entire length of the Arno, dates from 972.
Floods in 1177 and 1333 destroyed the bridge, and in 1966 it came close to being destroyed again. Many of the jewellers with shops on the bridge were convinced the floodwaters would sweep away their livelihoods; fortunately, the bridge held.
They're still here. Indeed, the bridge has twinkled with the glittering wares of jewellers, their trade often passed down from generation to generation, ever since the 16th century, when Ferdinando I de' Medici ordered them here to replace the often malodorous presence of the town butchers, who used to toss unwanted leftovers into the river.
Eating
5EssenzialeTUSCAN€€
There's no finer showcase for modern Tuscan cuisine than this loft-style restaurant in a 19th-century warehouse. Preparing dishes at the kitchen bar, in rolled-up shirt sleeves and navy butcher's apron, is dazzling young chef Simone Cipriani. Order one of his tasting menus to sample the full range of his inventive, thoroughly modern cuisine inspired by classic Tuscan dishes.
(%055 247 69 56; http://essenziale.me/; Piazza di Cestello 3r; 3-/5-/7-course tasting menu €35/55/75, brunch €28; h7-10pm Tue-Sat, 11am-4pm Sun; 
W)
5Il Santo BevitoreTUSCAN€€
Reserve or arrive right on 7.30pm to snag the last table at this ever-popular address, an ode to stylish dining where gastronomes eat by candlelight in a vaulted, whitewashed, bottle-lined interior. The menu is a creative reinvention of seasonal classics: risotto with monkfish, red turnip and fennel; ribollita (bean, vegetable and bread soup) with kale; or chicken liver terrine with brioche and a Vin Santo reduction.
(%055 21 12 64; www.ilsantobevitore.com; Via di Santo Spirito 64-66r; meals €40; h12.30-2.30pm & 7.30-11.30pm, closed Sun lunch & Aug)
5Burro e AcciugheTUSCAN€€
Carefully sourced, quality ingredients drive this fishy newcomer that woos punters with a short but stylish choice of raw (tartare and carpaccio) and cooked fish dishes. The gnocchi topped with octopus ragù (stew) is out of this world, as is the baccalà (salted cod) with creamed leeks, turnip and deep-fried polenta wedges. Excellent wine list too.
(Butter & Anchovies; %055 045 72 86; www.burroeacciughe.com; Via dell'Orto 35; meals €35; hnoon-2pm & 7pm-midnight Fri-Sun, 7pm-midnight Tue-Thu)
5RawHEALTH FOOD€
Should you desire a turmeric, ginger or aloe vera shot or a gently warmed, raw vegan burger served on a stylish slate-and-wood platter, Raw hits the spot. Everything served here is freshly made and raw – to sensational effect. Herbs are grown in the biodynamic greenhouse of charismatic and hugely knowledgeable chef Caroline, a Swedish architect before moving to Florence.
(%055 21 93 79; Via Sant'Agostino 9; meals €7.50; h11am-4pm & 7-10pm Thu & Fri, 11am-4pm Sat, Sun, Tue & Wed; W)
5GurdulùRISTORANTE€€
Gourmet Gurdulù seduces fashionable Florentines with razor-sharp interior design, magnificent craft cocktails and seasonal market cuisine from young local chef Gabriele Andreoni. A hybrid drink-dine, this address is as much about noshing gourmet aperitivi (pre-dinner drinks) snacks over expertly mixed cocktails – thanks to talented mixologist Sabrina Galloni – as it is about dining exceedingly well.
(%055 28 22 23; www.gurdulu.com; Via delle Caldaie 12r; meals €40, tasting menu €55; h7.30-11pm Tue-Sat, 12.30-2.30pm & 7.30-11pm Sun; W)
5CarduccioORGANIC€
With just a handful of tables inside and a couple more alfresco, this salotto bio (organic living room) oozes intimacy. Miniature cabbage 'flowers' decorate each table, fruit and veg crates stack up by the bar, and the menu is 100% organic. Knock back a ginger and turmeric shot (€3) or linger over delicious salads, soups, vegan burgers or pumpkin and leek patties.
(%055 238 20 70; www.carduccio.com; Sdrucciolo de Pitti 10r; meals €15; h8am-8pm Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm Sun; W)
5iO Osteria PersonaleTUSCAN€€€
Persuade everyone at your table to order the tasting menu to avoid the torture of picking just one dish – everything on the menu at this fabulously contemporary and creative osteria (casual tavern) is to die for. Pontedera-born chef Nicolò Baretti uses only seasonal products, natural ingredients and traditional flavours – to sensational effect.
(%055 933 13 41; www.io-osteriapersonale.it; Borgo San Frediano 167r; 4-/5-/6-course tasting menus €40/48/55; h7.30-10pm Mon-Sat)
5S.FornoBAKERY€
Shop at this hipster bakery, around for at least a century, for fresh breads and pastries baked to sweet perfection in its ancient forno (oven) by local baker Angelo. Gourmet dried products stack up on vintage shelves and they also cook up soups, quiches and bespoke panini (€4 to €6) too, to eat in or out.
(%055 239 85 80; Via Santa Monaco 3r; h7.30am-7.30pm Mon-Fri, from 8am Sat & Sun)
5TameròITALIAN€€
A happening pasta bar on Florence's hippest square: admire chefs at work in the open kitchen while you wait for a table. A buoyant, party-loving crowd flocks here to fill up on imaginative fresh pasta, giant salads and copious cheese and salami platters. Decor is trendy industrial, aperitivo 'happy hour' (€9) is 6.30pm to 9pm, and weekend DJs spin sets from 10pm.
(%055 28 25 96; www.tamero.it; Piazza Santo Spirito 11r; meals €25; hnoon-3pm & 6.30pm-2am Tue-Sun; W)
5Gelateria La CarraiaGELATO€
One glance at the constant line out the door of this bright green-and-citrus shop with exciting flavours (ricotta and pear, the best mint in town) and you'll know you're at a Florentine favourite.
(%055 28 06 95; Piazza Nazario Sauro 25r; cones & tubs €1.50-6; h10.30am-midnight summer, 11am-10pm winter)
5GustapaninoSANDWICHES€
It's dead simple to spot what many Florentines rate as the city's best enopaninoteca (hip wine and sandwich stop), with no seating but bags of square space and church steps outside – just look for the long line in front.
(www.facebook.com/pages/Gustapanino; Piazza Santo Spirito; focacce from €3.50; h11am-8pm Mon-Sat, noon-5pm Sun)
Local LifePiazza della Passera
This bijou square with no passing traffic is a gourmet gem. Pick from cheap wholesome tripe in various guises at Il Magazzino (
GOOGLE MAP
; %055 21 59 69; www.tripperiailmagazzino.com; Piazza della Passera 2/3; meals €30; hnoon-3pm & 7.30-11pm); vegetarian at 5 e Cinque (
GOOGLE MAP
; %055 274 15 83; Piazza della Passera 1; meals €25; hnoon-3pm & 7.30-10pm Tue-Sun; W
v); or upmarket Tuscan classics at veteran address Trattoria 4 Leoni (
GOOGLE MAP
; %055 21 85 62; www.4leoni.com; Piazza della Passera 2/3; meals €45; hnoon-midnight), known for its brilliantly blue bistecca alla fiorentina (chargrilled T-bone steak) cooked up since 1550.
Top TipSummer Concerts
Watch for open-air concerts, film screenings and other edgy, summertime cultural happenings on Piazza Santo Spirito.
Drinking
6Santarosa BistrotBAR
The living is easy at this hipster garden bistro-bar, snug against a chunk of ancient city wall in the flowery Santarosa gardens. Comfy cushioned sofas built from recycled wooden crates sit beneath trees alfresco; food is superb (meals €30); and mixologists behind the bar complement an excellent wine list curated by Enoteca Pitti Gola e Cantina with serious craft cocktails.
(%055 230 90 57; www.facebook.com/santarosa.bistrot; Lungarno di Santarosa; h8am-midnight; W)
6Mad Souls & SpiritsCOCKTAIL BAR
At this bar of the moment, cult alchemists Neri Fantechi and Julian Biondi woo a discerning fashionable crowd with their expertly crafted cocktails, served in a tiny aqua-green and red-brick space that couldn't be more spartan. A potted cactus decorates each scrubbed wood table and the humorous cocktail menu is the height of irreverence. Check the 'Daily Madness' blackboard for wild 'n' wacky specials.
(%055 627 16 21; www.facebook.com/madsoulsandspirits; Borgo San Frediano 38r; h6pm-2am Thu-Sun, to midnight Mon & Wed; W)
6RasputinCOCKTAIL BAR
The 'secret' speakeasy everyone knows about, it has no sign outside: disguised as a chapel of sorts, look for the tiny entrance with two-seat wooden pew, crucifix on the wall, vintage pics and tea lights flickering in the doorway. Inside, it's back to the 1930s with period furnishings, an exclusive vibe and bar staff mixing Prohibition-era cocktails. Reservations (phone or Facebook page) recommended.
(%055 28 03 99; www.facebook.com/rasputinfirenze; Borgo Tegolaio 21r; h8pm-2am)
6Il SantinoWINE BAR
Kid sister to top-notch restaurant Il Santo Bevitore two doors down the street, this intimate wine bar with exposed stone walls and marble bar is a stylish spot for pairing cured meats, cheeses and Tuscan staples with a carefully curated selection of wine – many by local producers – and artisan beers.
(%055 230 28 20; Via di Santo Spirito 60r; h12.30-11pm)
6Ditta ArtigianaleCAFE, BAR
The second branch of Florence's premier coffee roaster and gin bar treats its faithful hipster clientele to full-blown dining in a 1950s-styled interior alongside its signature speciality coffees, gin cocktails and laid-back vibe. Think bright geometric-patterned wallpaper, comfy gold and pea-green armchairs, a mezzanine restaurant up top, buzzing ground-floor bar with great cocktails down below, and a tiny street terrace out the back.
(%055 045 71 63; www.dittaartigianale.it; Via dello Sprone 5r; h8am-midnight Mon-Fri, 9am-midnight Sat & Sun; W)
6La CitéBAR
A hip cafe-bookshop with an eclectic choice of vintage seating, La Cité makes a wonderful, intimate venue for book readings, after-work drinks and fantastic live music – jazz, swing, world music. Check its Facebook page for the week's events.
(%055 21 03 87; www.lacitelibreria.info; Borgo San Frediano 20r; h2pm-2am Mon-Sat, 3pm-2am Sun; W)
6VolumeBAR
Armchairs, recycled and upcycled vintage furniture, books to read, jukebox, crepes and a tasty choice of nibbles with coffee or a light lunch give this hybrid cafe-bar-gallery real appeal – all in an old hat-making workshop with tools and wooden moulds strewn around. Watch for various music, art and DJ events and other happenings.
(%055 238 14 60; www.volumefirenze.com; Piazza Santo Spirito 3r; h8.30am-1.30am)
6Dolce VitaBAR
Going strong since the 1980s, this veteran bar with a distinct club vibe is an Oltrarno hot spot for after-work drinks, cocktails and DJ sets. Its chic, design-driven interior gets a new look every month thanks to constantly changing photography and contemporary art exhibitions. In summer, its decked terrace is the place to be seen (shades obligatory). Live bands, too.
(%055 28 45 95; www.dolcevitaflorence.com; Piazza del Carmine 6r; h7pm-1.30am Sun-Wed, to 2am Thu-Sat, closed 2 weeks Aug)
Local LifeCocktail Culture
There is no finer neighbourhood for hobnobbing with fashionable Florentines over craft cocktails than trendy San Frediano in the Oltrarno; top spots include Mad Souls & Spirits, 'secret' speakeasy Rasputin and Balkan-influenced Gurdulù. For creative sake-based fusion cocktails in the company of Japanese tapas, head to smart Japanese cocktail bar Kawaii.
Top TipMarkets
Watch for an arts and crafts market on Piazza Santo Spirito on the second Sunday of each month, and an organic farmers market on the third Sunday. Most days, a handful of stalls selling fruit and veg pepper the lovely square.
Shopping
7ObsequiumWINE
Tuscan wines, wine accessories and gourmet foods, including truffles, in one of the city's finest wine shops – on the ground floor of one of Florence's best-preserved medieval towers to boot. Not sure which wine to buy? Linger over a glass or indulge in a three-wine tasting with (€20 to €40) or without (€15 to €30) an accompanying taglieri (board) of mixed cheese and salami.
(%055 21 68 49; www.obsequium.it; Borgo San Jacopo 17/39; h10am-10pm Mon, to 9pm Tue & Wed, to midnight Thu-Sat, noon-midnight Sun)
7BjørkFASHION & ACCESSORIES
Cutting-edge fashion plus 'Zines, books, magazines' is what this trendy concept store, incongruously wedged between tatty old artisan workshops on an Oltrarno backstreet, sells. It is the creation of well-travelled Florentine and fashionista Filippo Anzaione, whose taste in Italian and other contemporary European designers is impeccable.
(%333 9795839; www.bjorkflorence.com; Via della Sprone 25r; h2.30-7.30pm Mon, 10.30am-1.30pm & 2.30-7.30pm Tue-Sat)
Local LifeWine Tasting
If you're in Tuscany for the wine, an evening of tastings over dinner with expert and incredibly entertaining sommeliers Edoardo, Manuele and Zeno at Enoteca Pitti Gola e Cantina (
GOOGLE MAP
; %055 21 27 04; www.pittigolaecantina.com; Piazza dei Pitti 16; h1pm-midnight Wed-Mon) is an essential. Floor-to-ceiling shelves of expertly curated, small-production Tuscan and Italian wines fill the tiny bar and casual dining (excellent cured meats, homemade pasta) is around a handful of marble-topped tables.
Exceptional wine tastings range from simple wine flights (three wines €20) to lunch tastings (four wines with lunch €35) and a full-blown evening of tastings over dinner (15 to 20 wines €160, weekends only). Reservations are essential. The team has its own fully fledged restaurant with predictably exceptional wine list, Osteria dell'Enoteca (
GOOGLE MAP
; %055 21 27 04; www.osteriadellenoteca.com; Via Romana 70r; meals €30; hnoon-2.30pm & 7-11pm Wed-Mon), nearby.