4 great neighborhoods to stay in Florence

I’ll happily take any chance I can get to visit Florence. Sure, it sounds cliché, but wandering from one piazza to the next really is like strolling through the world’s most amazing open-air museum.

What I’ve learned over the years is that while it can feel impossible to escape the crowds in the core of the centro storico (historic center), walking just a few blocks from the jammed piazzas reveals authentic restaurants and bars, independent boutiques, uncrowded parks, and truly unique places to stay.

Florence is compact and walkable (way more so than my hometown of Rome), so staying outside the historic center doesn’t mean you’ll be stuck taking long bus or taxi rides to reach the main sights. Then again, you might just find yourself wanting to linger in these neighborhoods anyway.

If you take the train to or from Florence, you’ll likely travel through the Stazione di Firenze Santa Maria Novella, the city’s main train station. The neighborhood surrounding the station serves as a gateway to the city and can be a good place to stay, especially if you have to catch an early train. And as I've discovered, it's also the perfect base if you love to shop.

Right near the train station, you’ll find the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, which claims to be the oldest pharmacy in Europe (nowadays it’s more known for perfumes, soaps, and herbal tinctures). On the southern end of the neighborhood is Via de’ Tornabuoni, the city’s most upscale shopping street, lined with designer boutiques. There, just below the Salvatore Ferragamo flagship store is the Museo Salvatore Ferragamo, which shines a spotlight on the shoemaker to the stars, who rose from humble origins to create one of Italy’s biggest fashion brands.

The Grand Hotel Minerva opens right onto the lovely Piazza Santa Maria Novella, a pedestrian square planted with roses. If you’re a design fan like me, you’ll love the midcentury modern interiors in the lobby and breakfast room, which were renovated by legendary architect Carlo Scarpa. It’s also one of the few hotels in central Florence to have a rooftop pool and pool bar.

Just northwest of the Duomo, San Lorenzo has historically been known as Florence’s market district. That said, I would advise you to avoid the stalls selling cheap leather goods and kitschy souvenirs right outside the Mercato Centrale. Inside the market, however, you can find historic vendors like Da Nerbone, which is famous for lampredotto (stewed tripe often served as a sandwich). The upstairs area is packed with stalls by top chefs and vendors serving pizza, pasta, sandwiches, seafood, gelato, and more. Personally, I’m a fan of the truffle-topped crostini at Savini Tartufi.

A couple of blocks from the market is the Basilica di San Lorenzo designed by Filippo Brunelleschi (the man behind the Duomo) in the 16th century and the Cappelle Medicee, which Michelangelo later added. It’s a masterpiece of architecture and sculpture housing the tombs of several members of the powerful Medici family, including Lorenzo il Magnifico. Michelangelo’s sculptures are works of genius, though you could be forgiven for being distracted by the frescoes on the dome painted in 1828 by Pietro Benvenuti.

Just a few minutes' walk from the city center, Hotel Number Nine is an upscale boutique hotel that's a Travelers Choice award winner, with really stand-out service and surprisingly spacious rooms. Its restaurant hosts live music shows every Thursday and Friday, and the spa is one of the best in the city. A few blocks northeast is the opulent Four Seasons Hotel Firenze, which occupies a noble palazzo on the grounds of the city’s largest private garden. Dinner at the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant, Il Palagio, is a must.

East of the Duomo, the Santa Croce neighborhood tends to fly under the tourist radar, but trust me when I tell you this is the ultimate location for both food lovers and travelers looking for authentic Florentine shopping.

Here you’ll find the Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio, where Florentines shop for fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese, and fish (many locals consider this more authentic than the market in San Lorenzo). Around the corner is the Mercato delle Pulci (flea market) in Largo Annigoni, where vintage fiends can hunt for treasures like furniture, lighting, and other home décor items. At AquaFlor Firenze, you can take a workshop to make your own artisanal perfume. If you want to learn about the craft of leather making that Florence is famous for, take a tour at the Scuola del Cuoio, established after the Second World War to teach orphans a trade they could use to support themselves.

Food lovers make the trek out to this neighborhood to dine at the cluster of restaurants by the Cibrèo group. I finally went to Cibrèo Caffè on my most recent trip in a quest to see if the tagliolini cacio e burro (thin ribbons of pasta with cheese and butter)—named by the New York Times as one of the 25 essential pasta dishes to eat in Italy—really lived up to its reputation. The decadent noodles more than lived up to the hype. It’s not on the menu at Cibrèo Ristorante, Cibrèo Trattoria, or Ciblèo (the group’s Tuscan-Asian restaurant), but if you start with the café, sooner or later you’ll want to dine at the other spots too.

The Relais Santa Croce by Baglioni Hotels & Resorts is set in an 18th-century noble palazzo. With rates starting around $300, it’s one of the more reasonably priced luxury hotels in the city. It’s also home to Enoteca Pinchiorri, the only restaurant in Florence with three Michelin stars.

Cross the Arno River and you’ll be in my favorite neighborhood in Florence. Oltrarno (meaning across the Arno) is a bit of a catch-all term, but locals break it down into the sub-neighborhoods of San Jacopo, San Frediano, and Santo Spirito. Historically a neighborhood of artisans and craftsmen, Oltrarno is considered the Florentine’s Florence.

I love wandering around the streets and popping into shops like Quarant’otto and Marina Calamai. There is one major attraction here and that’s Palazzo Pitti (the Medici palace) and the Boboli Gardens attached to it. I highly recommend booking tickets online if you want to go in order to avoid the long lines at the ticket office.

Oltrarno tends to attract some of the most forward-thinking creative minds in the city. Though I’m accustomed to drinking espresso macchiato, I like going to Ditta Artigianale Oltrarno, which is one of the few coffee shops where you can order chai lattes and matcha lattes. When it comes to restaurants, I’m a fan of the neighborhood’s no-frills trattorias where you can tuck into simple, hearty Tuscan fare, like Alla Vecchia Bettola across the street from Piazza Tasso and Antico Ristoro di’ Cambi, but I prefer to skip dessert and head over to Gelateria La Sorbettiera for gelato instead.

Oltrarno Splendid is one of a handful of charming B&Bs by Betty Soldi and Matteo Perduca, one of the city’s most creative couples. They scour flea markets for the quirkiest vintage finds and fill their hotels with them. When you stay at one of their properties, you really feel like you’re staying in a place with personality.