The best things to do in Florence, Italy
The concept of a "new Florence" might seem like an oxymoron; like the new Botticelli or Michelangelo, two masters of the Renaissance that the city of the Rinascimento has leaned on for the last five centuries. Florence is so rich with artistic and architectural wonders; who can blame the conservative Florentines for resting on their laurels or sore-footed visitors for having the sensation that the great Tuscan capital is just one big stifling museum?
But Florence has changed over the last five years. Firstly, it’s bigger: in 2021 UNESCO added the churches of San Miniato al Monte, San Salvatore al Monte, Giuseppe Poggi’s renovated ramps and Piazzale Michelangelo in the Florentine hills to its World Heritage Sites, extending the centro storico to 530 hectares. It’s also quieter, cleaner and brighter since motor vehicles were banned in the city centre and the rebirth of some of Florence's most important artworks and museums via a series of recent ambitious restorations.
Meanwhile, a refreshing breeze has swept across Florence’s airless traditions. A new hotel landscape brings playful visions of the contemporary city; an energetic dining scene embraces New York-style glamour and the multi-cultural – from Neapolitan pizza sensations to Tuscan-Chinese dim sum and vegan fare (notably Amza Zahouani’s Oltrarno ventures) – alongside its traditional trattoria dishes. And a generation of artisans is breathing sustainability and diversity into Florence’s ancient arts and crafts.
Since architect Paolo Desideri’s €175-million conversion of the Teatro Comunale into a multifunctional music space and opera house, urban regeneration projects go from strength to strength. The city’s former granary and army barracks are now a co-working hub and Manifattura Tabacchi, a disused tobacco factory near Piazza Puccini undergoing a progressive €250 million transformation, is destined to be Florence’s new dynamic creative and fashion hub.
Italy's most enchanting city is going through a sparkly revival, with iconoclastic art, edgy architecture and quirky twists on regional food popping up everywhere. There's so much more to explore but where to begin? These are all the very best things to do in Florence.
Bardini Villa
With so much art it’s easy to forget Florence’s proximity to nature both in its glorious hilly surround and its superstar Renaissance gardens – manicured works of art, too grand to be classed as mere “green spaces.” Most magical are the gardens of the Bardini Villa above the city where one can walk through boughs of wisteria, and further on – the terraced Rose and Iris Gardens in the new UNESCO extension – before watching the sun set into the great bowl of Florence from romantic working monastery San Miniato al Monte.
Address: Costa San Giorgio, 2, 50125
Website: villabardini.it
Gioia Bini
Florence is known for the Big Three: Gucci, Emilio Pucci and Salvatore Ferragamo, a fashion game that can now be spotted in any major global city. But a new generation of Florentine labels has restored the hunting thrill to shopping in the city. Following the haute couture seams of Loretta Caponi, young Fiorentina Gioia Bini – now a regular in the pages of Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar – designs limited edition hand-sewn bell-shaped and architectural dresses with up-cycled fabrics from the region’s best textile mills.
Address: Lungarno Serristori 9, 500125
Website: gioiabini.com
Mercato Centrale
Food halls are a brilliant way to experience the best of what a city has to offer on the culinary scene, and Mercato Centrale does exactly that for Florence. It’s situated on the second floor of an impressive late-19th-century steel-and-glass market building (a fully operational market complete with traditional butchers, fishmongers and fresh produce can be found on the first floor). Inside, visitors sit at one of the many communal tables in the centre of the space, surrounded by stalls selling everything from pizza, fresh pasta, barbecued meats and, of course, ice cream. Sarah Allard
Address: Piazza del Mercato Centrale, Via dell'Ariento, 50123 Firenze FI, Italy
Website: mercatocentrale.com
Bargello Museum
The new €1.8 million re-haul of the Bargello Museum, which was kicked off by a major Donatello exhibition in 2022, is one of a number of recent renovation projects polishing up the city’s greatest hits. Most wondrous are the works at the Brancacci chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine church, where scaffolding forms viewing platforms from which to see Masolino and Masaccio’s restored frescoes masterpieces – often cited as the genesis of the Renaissance.
Address: Via del Proconsolo, 4, 50122 Firenze FI, Italy
Website: chiesadelcarmine.net
Vivoli
In case you’ve somehow managed to miss the many (many) photos and videos of this now Insta-famous cafe doing the rounds on social media, let us fill you in. Vivoli is Florence’s oldest gelateria, serving tourists and locals alike everything from gelato and cookies to traditional Florentine desserts. But for most, there’s only one thing that has them queuing across the road… affogato. The team expertly spreads soft, creamy gelato into pre-chilled coffee cups before a shot of espresso goes into the hollowed-out middle. Head outside to spoon (and, once the ice cream has melted into the coffee, slurp) it in the sun-filled street, and start planning your return. Sarah Allard
Address: Via Isola delle Stinche, 7r, 50122 Firenze FI, Italy
Website: vivoli.it
Palazzo Strozzino
A dialogue between Renaissance and the contemporary art age housed in the palace of the Medici's nemesis, the Palazzo Strozzi Foundation upped its game when it hired Arturo Galansino formerly of London's Royal Academy in 2015. Since then it has become a major Florentine institution showing the works of Ai Weiwei, Marina Abramović and Jeff Koon as well as co-hosting the likes of the Donatello exhibition. Meanwhile, the iconic Odeon cinema in Palazzo Strozzino across the road is to become a new multifunctional cultural centre.
Address: Piazza degli Strozzi, 50123 Firenze FI, Italy
Website: palazzostrozzi.org
Marino Marini Museum
Henry Moore visited Florence in his youth, went on to sculpt the same marble as Michelangelo, showed in Florence in 1972 and donated works to the city – all the while cross-fertilising with Tuscan primitivist sculptor Marino Marini. One of the most important Italian artists of the 20th century. Marini’s monolithic equestrian sculptures are shown in this under-the-radar ex-tobacco factory once a chapel designed by Leon Battista Alberti.
Address: Piazza di San Pancrazio, 50123 Firenze FI, Italy
Website: museomarinomarini.it
Superduper Hats
With a new space at the urban regeneration project Manifattura Tabacchi, Superduper Hats is the brainchild of Matteo Gioli, Ilaria and Veronica Cornacchini’s who fashion unisex millinery showpieces on antique wooden moulds.
Address: Via delle Cascine, 35, 50144 Firenze FI, Italy
Website: superduperhats.com
Iacobella Gaetani
Inspired by the Colombian Mochila, Iacobella Gaetani founded her eponymous handbag label in 2019. A fusion of Florence’s leather- and jewellery-working cultures, Iacobella’s hand-stitched plaited bags often use recycled leather strips and have a gem fastening as their trademark.
Website: iacobella.com
Sileno Cheloni
New perfume laboratory Sileno Cheloni is a nod to the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutico Santa Maria Novella, the historic pharmacy founded by Dominican friars in 1221 with its flagship in the celestial chapel of San Niccolo’. Nearby, in a space that rather conjures the dark arts, master perfumer Cheloni has created an “olfactory library” of 2,000 essences for his one-off alchemical creations, which also come in the form of medieval-style scented silver pomanders.
Address: Via di San Niccolò, 72R, 50125 Firenze FI, Italy
Website: silenocheloni.com