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City break, Florence, Italy0000007662_Florence_Header

Boutique hotels

Florence Overview

Tuscany

A love affair between culture, commerce and good living, this fine city has long been fêted as the most aesthetically pleasing in all Italy.

Notching up more past glories than the average continent, Tuscany’s capital still leads from the front: between its fairy-tale squares, centuries-old churches and sprawling palaces run streets alive with energy, style and irresistible shopping. It’s luxury goods galore on Via Tornabuoni, artisan jewellers on the mediaeval Ponte Vecchio and delectable deli fare everywhere – the riches on offer are enough to get the most ardent anti-capitalists scrabbling for the plastic. The city centre is architecturally breathtaking, and compact enough to stroll in an afternoon; follow heart-stirring glimpses of the gingerbread-hued Duomo and its frosting-pale Campanile down narrow streets, and eat Italian soul food in a simple trattoria.

Fabulously Florence

Michelangelo’s pert-bottomed David has symbolised Florentine civic pride for 500 years, but the five-metre-high nude hasn’t always had an easy ride: he’s been struck by lightning, had his toes hammered off, and his left arm was smashed by an airborne bench. Moves are afoot to shift the attention-seeking statue away from the city centre – the real version, housed in the Accademia, is visited by a crush of 1.3 million adoring tourists every year.

Local knowledge

Taxis
You can’t hail a cab on the street; go to a designated fermata di taxi. The major ones are manned 24/7; most operate 7am–1am. Socota is one of the biggest cab firms (+39 055 4242; radiotaxifirenze.it).

Tipping culture
Five to ten per cent.

Siesta and fiesta
Florentines are early risers. The main museums open at 8.15am (presumably the extra quarter of an hour allows everyone to enjoy a civilised espresso en route) and close at 7pm or just before; some shut on Mondays, so plan your cultural forays accordingly.

Packing tips
Aside from a sketchbook, a sunhat and sensible shoes, pack light: this is a shopper’s paradise. You may even need a new bag to put all your acquisitions in (luckily there are plenty of leather-goods shops).

Recommended reads
Even the title of EM Forster’s A Room with a View conjures up piazza-perfect imagery; Giovanni Boccaccio spins 100 mediaeval yarns in The Decameron; and anyone who fancies themselves as a Renaissance muse should read Sarah Dunant’s The Birth of Venus.

Cuisine
Florentine favourites include thick grilled Chianina steaks, pasta e fagioli (pasta with beans), cold cuts and game, all washed down with generous glasses of typically Tuscan Chianti.

Regional specialities
If Florentines have a mantra, it’s ‘Give us this day our daily bread’: they are fanatical about their filone, a salt-free loaf so beloved that its stale remnants are used to pad out dishes from ribollita (a hearty bean, veg and black cabbage soup) to pappa al pomodoro (bread and tomato soup). If you like your bread salty, go for schiacciata, an oil-drizzled crusty focaccia; Pugi is name-checked with reverence among residents for its version – you’ll find one of these hallowed focaccerie at 10 Piazza San Marco (+39 055 280981).

Currency
Euros (€).

Dialling codes
Country code for Italy: 39. Florence: 055.

Do go/don't go
Florence is packed with tourists throughout the summer, when it’s also very humid; go in early spring or autumn if you can.

Don't go home without...

deciding which piece of Renaissance art you’d like to sneak back home in your suitcase. No cheating – you can only pick one!