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Shopping in Florence

As in all the other major cities, the visitor to Florence is spoiled for choice as far as shopping goes. Here we suggest an itinerary divided into zones, while being well aware that this certainly does not exhaustively cover all the city has to offer.

For purchases of absolute top quality the route unwinds along Via Tornabuoni, once the luxury district of the city par excellence, where we can find the major international fashion labels and the creations of master jewellers, although sadly this street has recently witnessed the closure of a number of shops of long-established tradition. Chic purchases can also be made in the nearby Via della Vigna Nuova.

But it is still possible to find traditional and historic Florentine shops: from the well-furnished antique dealers, concentrated predominantly in Via dei Fossi and Via Maggio and the adjacent streets, to the goldsmiths and jewellers with their characteristic boutiques on the Ponte Vecchio.

One of the most characteristic districts of Florence begins in the Oltrarno, immediately beyond Ponte Vecchio in the area of Santo Spirito, where we can find typical small boutiques and craft workshops (selling creations in wood, hand-made jewellery, lamps and metal vases, as well as wooden hat-stands, the classic Florentine straw hats and many other original creations).

In the piazza, overlooked by the splendid church of Santo Spirito, a local and ethnic handicraft market is held every second Sunday of the month. In the nearby district of San Frediano, also in the Oltrarno area, are some of the most important workshops of the Florentine craft tradition: furnishing fabrics, objects in silver moulded and decorated by hand, hand-made shoes and objects in glass inspired by the past.

Florence is also famous for another craft tradition, that of the production of leather goods: handbags, shoes and articles of clothing. The leather goods shops are concentrated predominantly in the Santa Croce district.

With a little good luck, you can also make successful impulse buys at the “flea market” in Piazza dei Ciompi, while the Porcellino market in Via Calimala, once famous above all for its straw goods, now also sells a variety of leather goods and hand-embroidered articles. Those who like wandering among the stalls must not miss the Tuesday morning market at the Cascine or the centrally-located market of San Lorenzo, where you can buy souvenirs, articles of clothing, handbags and much else, while the two floors of the covered market, housed in a fine art nouveau building made of glass and cast-iron, offers a vast range of foodstuffs.

Another characteristic Florence market, again housed in a building dating to the second half of the nineteenth century and covered with a cast-iron pavilion, is that of Sant’Ambrogio (general foodstuffs and meat in the covered section, and fruit, vegetables clothing and household goods under the external veranda). Finally, not to be missed is the artisans’ market with its colourful stalls at the Giardino di Piazza dei Ciompi.

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