Ponte vecchio

When I was there 10 years ago the answer was Yes.

And you still could half a year ago. Together with some hundreds of others.

Unless things have changed recently, yes. In fact, I think the only way to get across the bridge is on foot. At least, I don't remember there being room for vehicles, at least during the day.

Thanks so much, I was hoping so... But the reason I asked was bc on my RS pull out Florence map, it says "walk ends" on the bridge and not really sure what that meant. We are here now and wanting to go across.

Oltrarno is the best part of Florence.
Do you know that Ponte Vecchio was the only bridge in Florence which was not destroyed in WWII, in 1944, all the other bridges had to be rebuilt.

Yes we learned that today! And thanks for the tip we will for sure check out that part of Florence. I have having a little pitti party for myself-pun intended- bc tomorrow is a holiday we knew nothing about, and the museums are closed. So we can spend tomorrow across the bridge!

Have an easy uphill walk to the San Miniato church. The nearby Piazzale Michelangelo has the best view over the city. Google Maps gives a clear picture of this area.

Yes the Ponte Vecchio is pedestrian only. Rick has a walk through the Oltrarno neighborhood in his book and what you are seeing on the map re. "Walk ends here" is where he ends his walk through the Oltrarno. If you are in the neighborhood, there is a lovely linen shop on Sdruccioli de Pitti called Le Telerie Toscane that I believe is now on the Oltrarno walk in Rick's bk.. We stopped here 18 mos. Ago on our last visit to Florence and I picked up some beautiful Firenze & Toscana dish towels. Will definitely stop in on next visit here.

Ahh! Janet! Thanks for the clarification! I will also download the walk!

I just edited my reply to include a lovely linen shop in neighborhood. I loved the selection here and they make great souvenirs. Much more muted than the colorful dish towels at all the mkts which I also love to bring back. Hope you are having a wonderful time!

Not only you can do so, but that is the only way you can cross it. No vehicles of any type are allowed on the bridge, the entire bridge is a pedestrian area and it has been so for a very long time. As a matter of fact I don't even remember when motor vehicles were allowed on it, if ever, and I was born in Florence decades before the ZTL was even thought of.

Well, the only time it was not possible to cross the bridge on foot was in the evening of June 30th, 2013, when Matteo Renzi, now Italy's PM and then Florence's mayor, rented the whole bridge to Ferrari for a private party without any warning. It turned out to be a very lively political case and it does not look like it will happen again.

Janet, I don't see where there is a walk of that area? I've look in the Florence book and on his audio app. Was it somewhere else?

The other bridges across the Arno are also possible to cross on foot.

Re. the Oltrarno neighborhood walk--on our last trip to Florence in Oct 2014 this walk was in our Tuscany/Florence guidebk which was either the 2014 ed or 2015 ed if it was out already. I do not see it listed as an audio tour.

The walk is in the 2014 Florence & Tuscany book.

Thanks so much!

Not sure if you are still in Firenze but if you are I have been following "girl in Florence" on Instagram for about a yr now--She is a Texan living and wkg in Florence and posts great pics on her acct which helps to feed my Firenze & Italy fix. From her Instagram I started following Betti Soldi and her shop "& Company." I will definitely go here on next trip to Florence. From her Instagram pics I see she does beautiful calligraphy & I fell in love with the espresso cups with the Duomo done in caligraphy. They wld be great souvenirs of Firenze. I guess she also has 2 B&B hotels in Oltrarno. Her shop is located at Via Maggio 60r in Oltrarno. This street is the main drag straight ahead after crossing the Ponte Santa Trinita, the bridge with the 4 season statues & next bridge down from the Ponte vecchio. Hope you are having a fantastic trip!

We bought our wedding rings 10 years ago on the Ponte Vecchio from a very nice jewelry store, Fratelli Piccini. They are beautiful and mine, with 40 small faceted saphires in worked gold is something I have never seen anything like elsewhere. There is a lot of tourist junk sold in many of the shops, but this place was fabulous (and mostly above our budget, but they brought out a tray of rings that were perfect for us)

For Piazzale Michelangelo, I recommend taking cab or bus to the plaza and then walking up to San Miniato (or get off the bus there and then walk down to the Piazzale after visiting the church. The church is wonderful. And you can attend vespers if you like and buy things from a little monk's store there.

The stroll back down the hill to the river and the central city is lovely. If you cross at the bridge up one from the Ponte Vecchio, you can wander into the Sante Croce plaza or you can turn left at the bottom of the hill and walk up to the Ponte Vecchio.

Thank you so much for all your replies I love this forum! We are leaving Firenze today for Roma. I'll post another question on a new thread I am sure!