Dining solo in Florence

Not a problem at most restaurants. Make a reservation at lunch hour for dinner. For lunch, try places like Trattoria Mario with no reservations and shared tables, which is a good way to meet other travelers and friendly locals. Plan to eat lunch right around noon and dinner around 7:00-7:30.

I've never had a problem dining solo in Florence or anywhere else. I normally find a restaurant that looks good, check out the menu posted outside and then go in and see if they have a table. If the place is especially busy and there's going to be a wait, I just move on and find another restaurant.

Enjoy your tour!

G Halen:

I've traveled solo more than a dozen times, including three times to Florence, and I've never had a problem simply walking into a restaurant for lunch without a reservation. Although that's been generally true for dinner as well, I've learned — for peace of mind, if nothing else — to make a reservation for dinner to eliminate any uncertainty. At night, I don't feel like shopping around for another restaurant if my first choice is somehow solidly booked. As someone else has mentioned, it's better to book around 7:00-7:30 pm. If you arrive later, even if you have a reservation, you can find yourself not receiving the spot-on service you might want, as waiters will be increasingly busy serving incoming couples and groups, especially demanding ones.

I travel solo just about every year. In Florence they recently redid the Mercato Centrale (by the San Lorenzo shops) and it's great. Downstairs, as before, are all the food vendors. But upstairs now are dozens of places to eat. They have it set up so you can grab something from different places and take a seat where ever you want. It's perfect for those times you want to try different things.

Consider hooking up with others. Many of my trips I'd connect with fellow posters from here and Fodor's forum. Many great times doing that. Most of these Get Togethers (GTGs) were single travelers.Most were in Florence and Rome.

If you want to meet and socialize with other travelers, see if there are any dinners available through eatwith.com during your dates. We've done that in Rome and Barcelona and loved it. The hosts are local and they provide dinner in their homes.