Are there cafes or benches on the Piazza del Signoria?

You can check out the piazza on Google Street View if you want to wander around it. There are many cafes with outdoor seating around all parts of the piazza.

People use the front steps of Loggia dei Lanzi as seating but without sitting at a cafe there isn't other seating I can see - even the fountains look like they have been fenced off to prevent access.

When I was there last is was crowded and it was mostly people moving to or from the Uffizi and the construction equipment clustered around the Uffizi was not helping traffic flow at all.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.7694092,11.2554528,3a,75y,158.28h,84.73t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1spxIoXOnzzl5wP_wbOw-7xg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu

Florence is amazing, enjoy,
=Tod

When the Loggia is open, you can sit down inside the Loggia in those step like things by the walls, it’s a great place to take a break.

https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-visitors-sitting-besides-antique-sculptures-in-loggia-dei-lanzi-florence-86234601.html

The door to the apartment where we stayed in this piazza was near the Il David restaurant you can see in the Google map link added above. There’s restaurants lining that area and across from the piazza but no restaurant near the fountain, if that’s where you want to sit.

To give you an accurate picture, the benches along the loggia will have people sitting in them, but other people will be standing/lingering in front of them. If you’re hoping for a serene spot to sketch, for instance, that wouldn’t be it.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. The guidebooks are no help there! I think one mentioned that there is a very upscale cafe-restaurant on the Piazza, but the name escapes me now.

I do recall the Uffizi on both sides of the courtyard leading down towards the Arno had people probably just sitting on the steps. That doesn't seem very comfortable but in the evening there was something magical, as I recall, with far fewer people at around 10 p.m., at least, quite different from the daytime.

This was in early-mid April as I recall. The Campo in Siena had many restaurant-cafes where one could relax, enjoy the beautiful piazza, and have something to drink. Avignon, too, in front of the Palais des Papes, had a huge square that could easily contain many tourists crisscrossing it or just hanging out, sitting in outdoor cafes.

Or the comparison with the front of the Pantheon in Rome, which is studded with cafe-restaurants with outdoor seating, designed to maximize one's viewing pleasure and allow one to linger--seated rather than standing!--an afternoon away. Or the astonishingly scenic Piazza Navona.

I'm getting the impression, now, that the Piazza delle Signoria is not that sort of place to while away the afternoon, despite its being in immediate proximity to the Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi, Loggia dei Signoria, etc. It would seem counter-intuitive.

I'll go back and do a search on Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUzbUP1qD04&ab_channel=MohammedAli%28%2FMohammedAliTravel%29

At 1:26 there does seem to be a very large outdoor seating are for people to drink and socialize. It doesn't seem that inviting. The rest of the square seems to have people criss-crossing, standing around taking selfies.

There are several cafes with tables outside in the Piazza. The most famous is Rivoire, which makes great hot chocolate. What is definitely not inviting about those places is the exorbitant prices. You basically pay for the view, certainly not for the quality of the food, which is not that great in any of the restaurants and cafes in the piazza itself. It’s basically Florence’s equivalent of Piazza San Marco in Venice or Plaza Mayor in Madrid. If you want better food venture to the small streets nearby. Osteria Vini e Vecchi Sapori is good, and so is Ristorante acqua al 2 (dinner only I think). There are others of course, but if you sit at a table on Piazza Signoria is to enjoy the view not the food (and especially not the prices).

Thank you Roberto for confirmation of my suppositions therein. The same could be said for all the restaurants along the Champs-Elysses in Paris or most other famous places in Europe.

I just did a long, address-by-address Google Maps search of the Piazza and its environs. There do seem to be many cafe-restaurants clustered in various parts of the square. It's not clear which ones actually have a (good) view of the Palazzo Vecchio and where one can "take it all in." Some of them seem actually close(r) to the Bargello. On a flat map, of course, it is impossible to tell how and if these businesses are taking advantage of their geographical proximity.

Most of them have mediocre, or considerably worse, reviews and, of course, are catering to tourists. The Cafee del Borgo half 4.7 stars on Google Maps but I'm not sure if it has outdoor seating.

There doesn't seem to be a 'stand-out," i.e., one that is universally well-kinown such as Harry's Bar or the the Caffe Florian, as far as I know or can tell.

The Routard "Guide de Florence," which I hadn't looked at closely until just a few minutes ago, has a more nuanced approach to visiting the city:

" Piazza di Santa Croce: vaste place très caractéristique de la ville, bordée de palais aux élégants encorbellements, et au fond de laquelle s’élève le plus intéressant des édifices religieux de Florence, la basilica di Santa Croce. L’un des palais de cet ensemble remarquable, le palazzo dell’Antella, pré- sente des traces de jolies fresques. À l’époque médiévale, c’est dans cet espace, alors hors les murs, que les Florentins se rassemblaient pour écouter les prédicateurs franciscains, pour participer aux fêtes populaires et pour assister aux différentes joutes princière

Santa Croce tient son nom de la magnifique basilique qui domine la piazza Santa Croce. C’est un quartier historique typique, sans histoire, avec ses petites rues entrelacées, ses petits commerces de proximité et surtout sa basilique que l’on compare souvent au Panthéon. Elle renferme, en effet, des trésors, notamment les tombeaux des personnages qui ont illustré l’histoire artistique et politique italienne: Michel-Ange, Ghiberti, Machiavel, Rossini, Galilée..."

Maybe it's not important to stay in an apartment overlooking the Piazza della Signoria, for its view of the Palazzo Vechio and the rest of the piazza. What if staying in an apartment overlooking (with a view of) another piazza, less famous but, in reality, more interesting...? And less touristic?

I don't speak French but if the text is promoting Santa Croce I agree totally. I have stayed in apartments many times in that neighborhood and it was my favorite piazza...the amazing Vivoli Geletaria is close by to getting a gelato and sitting on one of the many benches in the piazza was always a wonderful way to spend time people watching, and enjoying the view of the church. Also, there is a lovely restaurant right on the piazza. The leather school is behind the church and you can get a ticket there to enter the church as well...it is beautiful.

Yes, June, it was praising very highly the Piazza of Santa Croce, which I haven't been able to find good images of.

However, for the Piazza della Signoria, this Youtube video offers a decent look at it, in good detail, so one can really see what is there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUzbUP1qD04&ab_channel=MohammedAli%28%2FMohammedAliTravel%29

I would like to sit up high, overlooking the Piazza della Signoria without having to rent an apartment. Apparently, there are no terrace or rooftop restaurants from which one can enjoy a panoramic, birds-eye view, without being in the middle of (or level with) it,

I'd love to know if there is a rooftop terrasse cafe-restaurant that overlooks the Piazza della Signoria. So far I haven't been able to identify one.

Not now, because it's night in Florence, but look at this webcam when it's the middle of the day in Italy tomorrow: https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/toscana/firenze/piazza-signoria.html

Also, Ponte Vecchio: https://www.skylinewebcams.com/en/webcam/italia/toscana/firenze/lungarno.html

Doesn't seem to be one for the Santa Croce piazza, but the last time I was in Florence for the whole month of September, the little electric bus I rode every day had to almost literally plow through the dense crowds there.

Thanks, Nancy, for those two links. I've been watching a Skyline video of Florence but it's from days ago, definitely not live, though it's in movement.

Those are lively!

I am torn between Venice, Rome, and Florence, even though they're all such tourist traps. I think it's the sheer visual beauty (+history) that leaves me breathless.

After viewing some videos, I think staying on the other side of the Arne is the best bet for me, even if I'll be crossing to the Centro HIstorico to see the former Convent of San Marco, the Bargello, Baptistery, Palazzao Ricardi. I don't enjoy the shopping district which seems to coincidence with the very same historic center of Florence.