Welcome to Florence, Italy! In this post we will be discussing, places to stay, eat, and experience life in this historical, artsy, gorgeous city! As well, we have a few local & general travel tips and recommendations, a local recipe and we’ll be talking the how, when, and why of one of our favourite Florence photos. For more information on the top things to do and experience, and a detailed 2-day itinerary, please check out our posts, “Top 8 Things to do in Florence, Italy – Explore and Experience” and “2-Day Itinerary for Florence, Italy – How to Make the Most of Your Time”. Let the planning begin!

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1. Places to Stay in Florence:

Hotel Lungarno

Depending on how long you’re staying and how many people you’re travelling with, Airbnb or VRBO, might be right for you. They are great for groups or families as there is usually more space, with room to relax as a group and a kitchen. I always check out the reviews, price and location. We also use these trusted travel sites, www.expedia.ca and www.hotels.com. Here are some suggestions to see if any pique your interest, but there are a lot of accommodations in this city to choose from, so have some fun with it, if you start early there is no stress, just excitement in the process! Check out these below, they are some of the places we’ve stayed or have come highly recommended.

San Niccolo Apartment Located in the San Niccolo district on the south side of the river. This is where we stayed and booked through Airbnb. It’s a 2 bedroom and 2-bathroom full apartment, great for 2 couples or a family. It was clean, renovated, and had a TV with English Netflix. It also has A/C, washing machine and a drying rack. It’s a 10 mins walk to Piazzale Michelangelo, 20 mins to Piazza del Duomo and 30 mins to the Santa Maria Novella Train Station, plus lots of restaurants nearby.

Hotel Lungarno – Located at Borgo San Iacopo 14. This 5-star hotel looks amazing and has great reviews, it is situated on the Arno River with views of the Ponte Vecchio, it is fairly pricey, so might be a splurge stay. They have a rooftop terrace, outdoor bistro with views of Ponte Vecchio, and a Michelin starred restaurant. They have a fitness room, and over 450 works of art displayed around the hotel. This is a special place.

Solo Experience Hotel – Located at Via del Canto Dei Nelli 2, close to the Central Market and the Piazza San Lorenzo, so a convenient location and a reasonable price. Breakfast and Parking available, pet friendly and has a 9.6 out of 10 rating.

Eco Urban B&B – Located at Via Fiume 5, only a few minutes from the Piazza del Duomo. They have off-site parking, laundry facilities, luggage storage and is pet friendly. This hotel also has a 9.6 out of 10 rating. Another great location and reasonably priced.

2. Places to Enjoy some great Food:

Babae Wine Window

Osteria Santo Spirito

Trattoria Buzzino

Ristorante-Pizzeria Ginori

View of the Dome from Il Bottegone

Wine Window in Florence

We typically don’t make reservations, unless there’s an activity included with the food, like a Show or a food tour or there is something really special about the food or location. We find that if you make reservations, it dictates the pace of your day. We like stopping when we’re hungry or when we see a place that piques our interest. That said, here are a few suggestions of what Florence has to offer, some we enjoyed, and some come highly recommend! We do read reviews as well, we think it’s important, especially the negative ones to see what people are complaining about, but we’ve learned over the years to “take them with a grain of salt” not every restaurant can be perfect every time and some people just like to complain. We like to make sure there are more good reviews then bad and read what the issues are, sometimes it might be something that doesn’t concern us. This city is known for its Bistecca alla Florentine (thick cut T-bone steak cooked rare) amazing sandwiches made on Focaccia, Pappa al Pomodoro (soup), wide-cut pappardelle pasta with boar sauce and of course gelato and wine.

Trattoria Buzzino –Located at Via dei Leoni 8R, open every day 11:30am to 11:30pm. We’ve been here more than once, because we really liked it, the food and the service were great. Once I had the Pappardelle pasta with wild boar sauce, which was delicious, as well as the Panna cotta with caramel sauce! It is really close to the Palazzo Vecchio. And It’s Vegetarian friendly.

All’Antico Vinaio – located at Via dei Neri 65, open every day from 10:00am to 10:00pm. This is an amazing and very popular sandwich shop, also close to the Palazzo Vecchio. The sandwiches were really good, but there’s a good chance you’ll have to wait in a line up and there isn’t really anywhere there to sit and eat. Go close to opening and then take sandwiches with you, you can look for a spot to eat in another area, maybe near the river.

Il Bottegone cafe – Located at Via dei Martelli 2, in the Piazza del Duomo, open every day from 8:30am to 11:00pm. This café has been in operation since 1793, it’s great for any meal, they have indoor and outdoor seating, and has an amazing view of the Duomo. We had breakfast here outside, great pastries and coffee. This was another “pinch me” moment, as it was our first time in Florence and the view of the Duomo was quite incredible!

Ristorante Pizzeria Ginori – Located at Via dei Ginori 11R, open every day from 9:00am to 12:00am. It’s located outside the exit from the Riccardi Medici Palace, so we had lunch here after our visit. We enjoyed it, good food and service, cute place. After our visit I read some reviews and there were some negative ones, saying that they thought it was a cash grab, I guess they thought it was more expensive than other places, we didn’t think so, I kept the place on my list because of my positive experience. Vegetarian friendly.

Osteria Santo Spirito – Located at Piazza Santo Spirito 16R, open every day from 12:00pm to 11:30pm. This is a really cute small place, but they have seating both inside and out in the piazza. We had the local Bistecca alla Fiorentina (rare steak). Two of us shared it, the steak and the fixings. It was good, but a little too rare for me, and you can’t ask for it more well done. They do have lots on their menu thought, so you don’t have to try the steak if it doesn’t interest you!

Trattoria Cammillo –Located at Borgo San Iacopo 57R, on the south side of the river, near the Ponte Santa Trinita in the Santo Spirito area. They are open 12:00pm to 2:30pm and 7:30pm to 10:30pm every day, but closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays. They serve Italian classics, including the Hearty Ribollita soup. This place has been open since 1945! Vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options.

Angel– Located at Via Calimala 2, up the road from Ponte Vecchio, on the north side of the river, with views of Palazzo Vecchio and the city. They have Mediterranean inspired food, and great drinks, this is ideal for a roof-top Aperitivo, with a great view (starting at 5:00pm) lunch (12:00pm to 3:00pm) or dinner, (5:00pm to 11:00).

B-Roof Restaurant– Located at Piazza dell’Unita Intalian 6 in the Baglioni Grand Hotel. They have a roof top terrace as well as floor to ceiling windows in the indoors section all with amazing views of the Duomo and the city. They serve Italian cuisine and are open for Breakfast (7:00am to 10:00am), Lunch (12:30pm to 2:00pm) & for dinner (7:30pm to 10:00) and has great reviews.

3. A Few helpful local tips, Recommendations and more:

Along the Arno River

Parking if you’re coming here on a day trip:

If you’re not staying in Florence and must drive into the city, we suggest parking and taking a tram in. This is what we did for our first trip to Florence as we spent a week in Siena exploring Tuscany and just did a day trip into Florence. We packed a lot into that day, but it left us wanting more. We rented a car, which is perfect for Tuscany, the driving is pretty easy, except for the ZTL sections in some cities, given this we didn’t want the headache of driving into Florence and worrying about finding parking and chancing a ticket. We drove to Scandicci and parked at the Villa Costanza Tram Station lot and took the T1 tram into the Firenze Santa Maria Novella Stop, it took about 20-25mins and comes about every 10mins. You can purchase your ticket from the machine near the tracks for 1.70 euros/person each way. Make sure to validate your ticket as soon as you get onto the tram, there should be validation machines near most doors, they are typically yellow and you place your ticket into it for a date and time stamp, make sure to put it in the right way, follow the arrows on the ticket. They are pretty strict about this, and the fines are quite high. We stamped ours in the wrong spot and a nice person helped us out and said they fine for not having it in the right spot, so we were thankful for the help. A few stops later the inspectors got on.

If you are coming from the Airport, you can take the T2 Tram right from the airport to the same Firenze Santa Maria Novella stop, both are very easy and the tram comes regularly, making it quite convenient.

Tourist office:

One very helpful thing to do when you first get to any city is to check out their Tourism Office. If you’re staying in a hotel, they often have a rack with lots of brochures and tourism books and maps, which is great and this might be all you need, but if you’re staying in a vacation home, they might not have as much information available, so locating your nearest tourism office is always a good idea. They can provide city maps, brochures on things to do, have information on tours and answer any questions you might have, making your stay more enjoyable. In Florence there is a Tourist office (Ufficio Informazion e Turistica) at Via Camillo Cavour 1R, they are open, every day from 9:00am to 7:00pm, but close at 6:00pm on Sundays. Check them out at Destination Florence. If you’re going to spend some time exploring Tuscany while you’re here, this is also a great place to get more information.

Using Points:

Whether it’s Airmiles, Aeroplan, hotel chains, or credit card points, collect them religiously and use them for travel!! We have stayed in some amazing places using points, some we normally wouldn’t have even looked at because of the price, we’ve used points for flights and rental cars too. They are so satisfying to use, but you have to get to know what is a good value and what isn’t. For example, if you’re using Airmiles for flights, the points cover the flight cost and you pay the taxes, so generally the taxes cost us in the range of $200, which is reasonable, but if we fly to Europe from Canada, the taxes were over $700, (we were told this was because their airport taxes were higher) we were shocked, it didn’t make sense to use the points for that, so you have to get to know how to best work you’re points, but once you do, you’ll be hooked!

Start your off Day Early:

Start your day off early, this will always be our suggestion! When we say early, we’re talking 6:30/7:00am, but we know that’s not for everyone, so just get started as early as you can and always keep in mind open/closing hours and open/closing days for the attractions that you really want to see. If there is something you really want a photo of without people in the shot, start there! For more information on the advantages of getting up early, check out our post “Three Significant Reasons to Get Up Early, while Travelling”.

Speaking the Language:

For some people speaking different languages comes easy and for some, it does not, I’m the latter. Although it’s not easy, we always make an effort to learn at least the pleasantries when we’re travelling. It’s one of our many favourite things to do! We also carry a language pocketbook with us, and we have google translate on our phones! We also like the free language app, Duolingo for some fun!

Phone service:

When travelling in Europe we use Hippocket Wifi, but they also service Canada and the United States. They are based in France, but you can simply order it online and they ship it directly to you 3-5 days before you leave for your trip. It comes with a small carrying case, charger, (including a car charger if needed) and an addressed, stamped return mailing envelope, so you simply drop it off in the mailbox at the airport before heading home. The great thing about this is that if you are traveling with other people, you can all use it and share in the cost. You can have up to 8-10 users at the same time. If you have multiple users, I recommend getting the unlimited options, as the 1GB/day option may not be enough. The unlimited works out to be approximately 7.00 to 9.00 euros per day, including all shipping. It’s a great option, check it out here!

**Any pricing, opening/closing hours and days listed here are as of Sept. 2025 and are subject to change, so be sure to check before you go. I like these website: for all your current information, Destination Florence.

4. Our Fav Photo from our time in Florence, Italy:

Well, Florence, what a city for photos, hard to pick a favourite, but we choose this one for the wow factor, as we turned the corner and looked up, up, up to see this sight, it left us awe-struck. How incredible is this building, it’s over 500 years old has the largest brick dome ever constructed and took 140 years to complete. We loved how you would catch a glimpse of it from all over the city, whether you were up at Piazzale Michelangelo looking down on the skyline, or exploring the back streets, it would just come into view. We love this photo because there is a lot to look at, from the obvious Duomo to the two buildings on either side, the lamp post, the details in the roof line, and the rich colours. When we took this photo, we framed the Duomo with those buildings, it’s like the Duomo is hiding in the background, but is also the start of the show! We also love how the dome brings your eye right up to the tip top of the photo. The only editing we did on this one was to darken the photo just a little bit to bring out that deep colour. Florence is magical!

5. Florence Recipe:

How to Make the Hearty and Delicious Ribollita (Tuscan Soup):

This hearty vegetable soup is great all year-round, but especially comforting in the colder months. It combines staples like white beans, swiss chard, carrots, celery, onion, rosemary and stale bread, torn into pieces and blended with the other ingredients, it’s delicious and healthy. Try it at Trattoria Cammillo, a family run business since 1945, they make the best in town. Located at Borgo San Iacopo 57R, see above for more info. Check out our take on this Tuscan soup, perfect for the fall, coming Oct. 20^th. How to Make the Hearty and Delicious Ribollita, (Tuscan Soup).

6. References:

Focus on the Journey

All of this information, research and suggestions came from our own experiences we had while exploring this magical city. As well, we spent countless hours reading travel books like, DK Eyewitness, Top 10 Florence and Tuscany, DK Eyewitness Italy, & Rick Steves Florence and Tuscany, and multiple Travel blogs and a Florence tourism website, Destination Florence. These all gave us great insights into what we wanted to explore and discover. We hope you found this information helpful!

7. The Wrap up

Porta San Miniato

We hope these tips and recommendations help you plan an amazing adventure filled with new experiences! Don’t forget to try new things, talk to the locals, indulge in traditional foods, people watch, enjoy nature, speak a little of the local language, but most of all, focus on the journey!

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Thank you,

From, Wild Meadow Studio

Where we, Focus on the Journey,

By: Beth de Verteuil

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Tips and Recommendations, Your Travel Guide to Florence, Italy

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