- Florence
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- eating
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Italy
Strange that many of the selected tips this week seemed to require an overnight stay. I wouldn't recommend Barga for a day trp from Florence. You'll need to change trains at Lucca and the drive along the valley of the Serchio river is not particulary quick. However, if you do give it a go leave time to stop at the Ponte del Diavalo, also known as the Ponte della Maddalena. You'll find it at Borgo a Mozzano. Better to stay in Barga for a few days and explore the upper reaches of the Garfagnana region, which is so different to the traditional Tuscany that everybody knows. Even better still, coincide your stay in Barga with the Pesce e Patate festival when local Italians tuck into fish and chips served down at the local football ground.
PS Lucca is an excellent recommendation for a day trip. There's an international music festival every summer - Leonard Cohen is playing this year. The best way to explore the city and its walls are by bike, which can be hired by the hour.
Google map: bit.ly/153ob5S
Mercato centrale, as it's name suggests, is placed bang in the centre of Florence. And it's a food market. It's kinda like Borough Market is to London.
Inside you'll find the odd tourist that's found their way there but you'll mostly see chefs buying wholesale and locals buying their ingredients for that night's dinner.
The smell of truffles as you walk in will wash over you and, if you're anything like me, pull you in like the tractor beam in Star Wars. It's got some amazing wines (nearly all varieties of Super Tuscans), cheeses, olive oils, bread, huge bags of fresh porcini mushrooms (depending on the time of year) but, for me anyway, the main reason to go is for the cafes at the rear of the market. There's always a queue and it's packed with locals. A good sign. It's very cheap (about €3.50 for a main and €2 for a medium caraffe of wine. The porchetta sandwiches at Nerbone at €3.5 are an absolute must. They're incredible.
Piazza del Mercato, Florence, Italy
Google map: bit.ly/12SI4Jr
Hilltop town favoured by the Etruscans and wealthy Renaissance families who valued the cooler climate. Well preserved Roman Theatre and other ruins in the archaeological park with lots of Etruscan artefacts in the Civic Museum. A Combo ticket also gives admission to Ethnographic Missionary and Bandini Museums (small but worth it for the painted panels).
Eating wise there are two good restaurants (l'Polpa particularly good) at the bus terminus on Piazza Mino or take a picnic on the panoramic terrace with wonderful views of Florence.
Take bus no. 7 either from outside the main railway station or from Piazza San Marco - about three an hour. Lots of hairpin bends up to the town. Double decker Florence sightseeing bus also goes there.
Ristorante l'Polpa:
Piazza Mino, 21/22, 50014 Fiesole, Italy
+39(0)55 59485
Google map: bit.ly/XDwbVI
Great location to sit and drink and watch the world go by, on Piazza Santa Croce. The Santa Croce church is just yards away.
For such a prime location, the prices were surprisingly good. We only had drinks but at €3.50 per large glass of house white we were not complaining.
Service was good.
www.finisterraefirenze.com/
Piazza Santa Croce, 12 - 50122 Firenze
+39 055 2638675
(On Piazza Santa Croce with Santa Croce church only yards away)
Google map: bit.ly/MBannZ
Wonderful ice cream from this establishment. Three heaped scoops in a tub cost €3.80.
The girl behind the counter offered us samples of the wide array of flavours before we settled on our choices.
Some seating indoors but we sat on the Ponte Santa Trinita as we looked at the more famous Ponte Vecchio in the background.
www.gelateriasantatrinita.it
Piazza Frescobaldi 11-12/r Ponte Santa Trinita, 50125 Florence
Google map: bit.ly/KZxZlZ
For a bar in the heart of Florence, it feels like a bar in a small town in Italy. Bar serves small tapa like portions (from 75c) as well as larger paninis.
What really struck me about this place was that people served themselves (both wine and food) and paid for it at the end. From the crowds of locals milling about the place on the road outside (as there is very little room inside) it seems like a popular spot.
Via de' Neri 65, 50122 Florence
+39(0)55 2382723
Google map: bit.ly/LPLoZ2
For a bar in the heart of Florence, it feels like a bar in a small town in Italy. Bar serves small tapa like portions (from 75c) as well as larger paninis.
What really struck me about this place was that people served them selves (both wine and food) and paid for it at the end. From the crowds of locals milling about the place on the road outside (as there is very little room inside) it seems like a popular spot.
Via dei Neri, 65-red, 50122 Firenze, Italy
+39 055 238 2723
Google map: bit.ly/LCocAS
Great trattoria and pizzeria in the heart of Florence just yards from the Santa Croce church. In our three days in the city, we had the best pizzas here.
Pizzas were between €6 and €8. For two pizzas and a bottle of white wine, we paid €29.
Surprisingly good value in a central location in Florence.
www.baldovino.com/
Via di San Giuseppe, 22 50122 Florence, Italy
+39(0)55 241773
Google map: bit.ly/OhfN6F
Perche No! (translated as 'Why Not?') is a wonderful ice cream vendor in the heart of Florence, going since 1939. Not particularly cheap but the ice cream tastes great.
www.percheno.firenze.it/
Via dei Tavolini, 19-red 50122 Florence, Italy
+39(0)55 239 8969
Google map: bit.ly/KldqLW
Trattoria Anita is a great restaurant in Florence. They have the greatest food and really good prices. The waiters are really nice and funny and make you feel right at home. I go there anytime I'm in Florence and have never felt sorry.
2 Via del Parlascio, Firenze, +39 055 218 698
A wonderful little out of the way restaurant with delicious food, and great service and atmosphere, indoors and out.
Piazza della Passera, Via dei Vellutini
www.4leoni.com
Great restaurant with a great view of the old wall of the city - unique atmosphere!
The restaurant is close to Ponte Vecchio and Piazzale Michelangelo.
www.ilrifrullo.com
via San Niccolò, 55/r
00390552342621www.ilrifrullo.com
Fantastic little restaurant running since 1860 (the whole time with the same family). We had a delicious meal there (pastas around seven euros, salads four, desserts four) and thoroughly enjoyed both the delicious food and the great service and ambience. Highly reccommended.
43-45 Via Sant'Antonio
www.paginegialle.it/palledoro
I'm a terrible cook and enrolled in a cooking course in Tuscany much to my husband's delight and I can honestly say I can now cook 'Italian' to a passable standard. I jumped on a mini bus in the centre of Florence at 9.30am and was driven just outside of the city centre into the beautiful green hills of Tuscany. We pulled up at a pretty Tuscan villa where we were introduced to our Italian chef. We got our aprons on and went outside to pick fresh herbs and veg from the gardens, the smells were amazing and the chef made me really think about the importance of using fresh produce for your cooking.
I learned to cook so many dishes and sauces, this course takes you well beyond the spaghetti bolognese. I can now cook a full three-course meal and many other side dishes to a passable quality. The wine flowed and the fact that it was produced from the vineyards in the grounds made it all taste so much better. I had a brilliant time and highly recommend it (so can my husband!). It's a brilliant add-on to a trip to Florence and I'll definitely go back for more lessons later in the year.
www.golearnto.com/course/overview/1020/First+Taste+of+Tuscany+Cooking+Holiday
Pick up from Florence city centre at 9.30am, just 10 euros return which is well worth the money. Book it online, it's easy - everything works out brilliantly and you only have to pay a deposit.
Great place on Via Del Proconsulo, near the Bargello. As you walk from the Duomo towards the river you will do worse than to stop in Yellow Bar - the Nona making the pasta between the kitchen and the stairs alone is worth the price of admission (there isn't a price of admission). Very busy, locals and tourists.
Great food at low, low prices. We had dinner for 30 with wine (and not from a fixed menu!) that came to less than 20 euro per person. Wonderful spot.
Via Del Proconsolo, 39/R
50122 Firenze (FI), Italy
Get Directions
055 211766
tinyurl.com/l5nlp4
Brilliant and off the beaten track but packed with Florentines. The night we were there Cesare Prandelli (Fiorentina football manager) was there with his staff. They have a large central ebony table that can seat 30 but with a mezzanine level and a large room upstairs they even accommodated my group of 28 without a reservation on a Sunday night!
Great eclectic Italian menu with some southern as well as Florentine classics. Brilliant service. 30 euro per person
Via Pisana - west of Ponte Vecchio on the south side of the Arno...
tinyurl.com/qp4quk
Just spent a month in Florence and ate in this wondrous restaurant seven times! Great food, terrific atmosphere, superb service, discounts and many free drinks. They gave us two bottles of wine on our last night. Watch the laid back guys in the kitchen and appreciate the effortless charm and expertise of the staff. Fantastic!
Via Santo Spirito near the Ponte Vecchio
This wine bar/restaurant has wonderful and imaginative food, well priced for the quality.
via di santo spirito 64-66r
055-211264
www.santobevitore.com
Homely yet sophisticated Tuscan food in a family setting.
Mountain fare can be a bit turgid but this is wonderful: carpaccio of newly-picked mushrooms with lemon, pasta with hare sauce, guinea-fowl in marsala, fresh home made apple pie...
Down-to-earth presentation; food to die for.
We sampled about ten restaurants in around the national park and this is head and shoulders the best.
Moggiona di Poppi
Tel: 0575 556080
A great little cafe near the station with delicious coffee and snacks. Friendly service.
Via Faenza 68/R
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