A Guide To Florence, Italy
Florence is one of those cities where you wander with your eyes wide open, feeling like there’s something beautiful waiting around every corner that you might miss if you blink. I visited the city for a second time this summer, and with just walking and some tips from dear friends, I discovered places that have now become favorites, along with many things to see, eat, and experience.
The Marino Marini Museum is one of my favorite places to visit after you’ve checked off the must-sees like the Galleria dell'Accademia and the Uffizi Gallery. It’s located in San Pancrazio, an old church restored and transformed into a museum in the 80s. The mix of old and new architecture, inside and out is just stunning. The entire collection centers around the work of Marino Marini, focusing on his exploration of human nature and identity, and on how different cultural archetypes shape ours.
If you love sculpture as much as I do, this museum offers everything you're looking for: a lesser-known artist, bronze sculptures and plasters, but also fabrics, drawings, and portraits, and the right space for displaying art, giving you room to wander and see each piece from every angle.
The storefronts in Florence are special. There are beautiful store windows in most Italian cities, but those in Florence have looked exactly the same for many years: the names of the owners are often the names of the shops themselves, written in elegant cursive on the signs. Inside the windows, products are meticulously displayed with tiny price tags next to each item.
While walking, you’ll surely stumble upon Gilli, a big café in Piazza della Repubblica that’s hard to miss. It’s Florence’s oldest café, established in 1733, and has kept most of its original interiors, with wood paneling on the walls, marble countertops, and its branding imprinted on napkins, sugar sachets, and coffee cups. Order an espresso and a maritozzo as an afternoon snack, or an Aperol if it’s time for that. If you sit inside, you’ll be able to soak in the beautiful interiors for longer. Another great coffee spot is Vivoli. There isn’t much space inside to sit down, but their affogato is incredibly good—so good that it’s worth having while standing in the street.
Lunch and dinner will generally require a reservation in advance. Camillo is a lovely family run trattoria, with a wide range of dishes—perfect for a group or when you want to taste different things. The pastas are all absolutely delicious. Cibreò is another great spot, with a a menu of Florentine dishes. Order the veal marrow bone as the main course and the torta al cioccolato for dessert.
There are beautiful stores to shop at and visit in Florence, even if it’s just for peeking inside at the interiors. On Via della Condotta, close to the intersection with Via dei Magazzini, there’s a small jewelry and accessories store called D. Moranduzzo. They offer the most beautiful hair clips and pearl necklaces, all impeccably displayed. On Via Por Santa Maria, just before reaching Ponte Vecchio, there’s Luciano, an accessories store selling handmade leather gloves, hats, and ties since 1966. They have very colorful options, and the interior is simply stunning.
And the favorite, saved for last: Quercioli & Lucherini, an old merceria with high ceilings, boxes of t-shirts and lingerie all neatly arranged on the walls and in cabinets, and a huge wooden counter that has been there for decades. The clerk told me that the store had to be renovated after the flooding in 1966 but was carefully restored to recreate it exactly as it was before. They have the softest underwear tops from Oscalito, a classic Italian lingerie brand, in wool and silk blends that hug the body like nothing else. Definitely worth stocking up on for when the weather gets colder.