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A Week in Florence, June 2024

This summer we spent a week in Florence before flying to England to join the Best of England tour. As usual, this report will be long, with lots of details, especially about food!

Friday, 7 June. We arrived in Florence by train in the early afternoon, then walked to our hotel near the river. The 15 minute walk took us about 20 minutes or longer, as getting oriented and making our way through the crowds took longer than we had expected. But we soon arrived at the Hotel Torre Guelfa, Borgi Santi Apostoli 8. We had booked room 315, with a private terrace. I’ve posted a review of the hotel here: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy-reviews/hotel-torre-guelfa-in-florence-a-quirky-but-fun-splurge

As soon as we dropped off our luggage, we went out looking for lunch. A short walk north of the hotel, we found Mammamia, Piazza del Mercato Nuovo, 18/R. Stan had a pizza quatro stagione, and I had pappa al pomidoro, a local specialty. Both were delicious, and the servings were generous, big enough to share (which we remembered for any future visit.) The service was good, as well.

Back to the hotel we went, battling the crowds on the way. We soon learned a few tricks about ducking down back streets and narrow alleyways to avoid the crowds. We unpacked, then rested a bit before heading out for a walk. We had signed up for a food tour the following day, and since it met in an area completely unknown to us, I wanted to walk the route ahead of time. And a good thing we did: it was farther than it looked on the map, a good 30 minutes from our hotel down unfamiliar streets. But we enjoyed exploring this new neighborhood, and were eager to return the next day.

Back toward the center again, for our dinner reservation at Trattoria Sostanza, Via Porcellana 25/R. I’m going to spend a lot of time talking about this place, because it was an amazing combination of quirkiness and excellent food. I had been seeing rave reviews of this place on the Forum, and was curious, especially about the “butter chicken.” Our hotel had made the reservations for us, and I had been surprised when they reserved our places for 7:30, instead of the later times I had suggested. But when we arrived at the restaurant at about 7:15, a line was already forming outside the building. Evidently the restaurant has 2 seatings at most, the first at 7:30.

The staff kept peeking out, as if to see how many people had arrived, and opened the door about 7:25. The host checked our names off the list, and told us where to sit. The seating is family style, diners grouped around tables meant for 6 to 8 people. There were (I think) 4 or 5 tables. The waiters were quick, friendly, and helpful. Stan ordered the petti di pollo al burro, or butter chicken. I don’t much care for chicken breast, and ordered the free range quarter chicken instead. The waiter didn’t think that was a good idea, since he thought I wouldn’t like boiled chicken. When I asked for a recommendation, he suggested the tortino di carciofi, or artichoke pie. Okay, that was my second choice anyway.

I asked for a carafe of white wine, but they only had red house wine; we’d have to order a bottle to get white. So we took the red. Stan’s chicken came in a sizzling pan, two beautiful chicken breasts swimming in butter. My artichoke pie was much less dramatic, but was a beautiful presentation. The artichokes were nestled into what looked like a golden cloud. The “crust” was not at all what I had expected, and I spent quite a while analyzing the delicate flavors and creamy texture. It was obviously egg based, but not at all “eggy.” It reminded me of a gougere, a crust made of the same dough used in cream puffs, but creamier. Similar to quiche filling, but more ethereal. Whatever it was, it was amazing. Stan’s chicken was also very good, and the serving was very generous.

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I ordered coffee after dinner, but no, they don’t serve coffee. They did, however, suggest vin santo, that lovely sweet Tuscan wine, with a plate full of biscotti, even though I told the server not to bring any for me.

This was a lovely dinner, and on the way out we made reservations for the following Wednesday evening, just squeaking into the almost full list. After our long day, we were exhausted, and ready for an early bedtime. After enjoying a glass of wine on our terrace, of course!

Saturday, 8 June. Our first breakfast at the Torre Guelfa, and our reaction when we walked into the breakfast room was “Wow.” We heard this repeated by others many times in our week long stay. The room was luxurious, the spread was amazing. (See my hotel review, noted above.)

Although the offerings were numerous, we only snacked, since we were signed up for a food tour at 10:30. We met at Piazza St Ambrogio, a good 30 minute walk from the hotel. The tour was run by Devour, formerly Walks of Italy. Our guide Laura was an American ex-pat who had been living in Italy for about 20 years or so. One other person joined the tour, a stunningly beautiful young American woman who was touring Italy to celebrate just having graduated from college.

The tour was good. Our guide passed on a lot of information about living, shopping, and cooking in Italy as we wandered about. Our first stop was at a café for coffee and a roll; then we went to Mercato Sant’Ambrogio, a distinctly non-touristy market. We sampled some produce, then stopped at one of the vendors for wine with a meat and cheese plate. A forno for freshly baked biscotti was next, then a rather lengthy stop at a wine shop, where we had two (maybe three) wines and some snacks, including some local cheeses. Our final stop was at a street food vendor, to try lampredotto. I had promised myself that on this visit to Florence I was going to try lampredotto (a sandwich whose filling is made from the fourth stomach of a cow. The offerings from the other stomachs have different names. Isn’t life amazing?) Anyway, of the three of us, the other two demurred, which was a shame really, because the sandwich I was given was delicious – and huge. There was no way, at the end of that eating adventure, that I could have finished it. Stan did agree to try one nibble, and pronounced it “not too bad,” but he wouldn’t take more than that. He and our third group member instead were served fried dough balls with a bit of meat in them; I think these were called coccoli, but I’m not sure.

Oh, and of course the tour ended with gelato for the sugar eaters; I had an espresso instead. We did enjoy the tour very much, and would recommend it.

After the tour, we headed back to the hotel, ready for some rest. I went out to the vigil Mass at our neighborhood church, Ss Apostoli, just steps from the hotel. What a gem! The church is tiny, made of stone. The wooden ceiling is decorated with painted designs, and there is a stunning della Robbia side altar that includes the tabernacle. When Stan joined me after Mass, we slipped back inside so he could see it. “Wow,” was his reaction. He said it may have been the best della Robbia piece he had ever seen.

We did go on for an evening walk, and ended up at Mammamia again, for what was supposed to be a light dinner. I had good linguine alle vongole, and Stan ordered peposo, a very very good spicy beef and potato dish. It’s often described as pepper beef, or a Tuscan red wine beef stew. I would call it one of the best pot roasts I’ve ever had, but the serving was huge. I think Stan only finished about half of it, even with my help. I looked up a recipe for peposo, and it’s beef and peppercorns, braised for hours in an entire bottle of red wine. Chianti would be perfect. So it’s not unlike boeuf bourguignon, but simpler, no mushrooms or little onions, and more pepper.

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Sunday, 9 June. We slept in this morning, but still had time to enjoy breakfast. Then out for a walk, to the Oltrarno region. This was at my request; my knees and hips had been hurting, and I knew what I needed was a long, brisk walk. We knew the Ponte Vecchio would be a madhouse, so we slipped down some side streets, and headed east to the Ponte allle Grazie. No crowds! There were people walking, jogging, bicycling, but there was room enough for all.

Further east we went, climbing the narrow winding hills, and marveling at the old city walls. On our way back down, we explored the Rose Garden, and enjoyed watching an artist painting a beautiful scene of old Florence across the river. We poked around San Nicoló church, then stopped for a drink at Fuori Porta, Via del Monte alle Croci 10/12. It had been threatening to rain for a while, and we got sprinkled on as we enjoyed our wine, but we didn’t care.

Back across the river we went, to Santa Croce Basilica, where we spent several hours marveling at the tombs, frescoes, chapels, and cloister. Wonderful. We had been here before, on our first trip to Florence in 2009, but this time we were better prepared to appreciate it.

By now it was late afternoon, and we were hungry. We stopped for a late lunch at Osteria Sanfiorentino, Borgo dei Greci 1/R. This entire neighborhood was very touristy, and a couple of the employees here were a bit more aggressive than we like, but it was there, and we were hungry. And as it happened, the food was very good. Stan had ossobuco fiorentino, I had pici carbonare, and we shared spinach, wine, and water. In addition to good food (and a nice wine selection,) this place had a “buchetta del vino,” or wine window. The entire time we were there, tourists streamed through to get wine through the window, asking the staff to take their photo. It was fun to watch.

The meal was substantial enough that we knew we wouldn’t want dinner, so we made our way back to the hotel, stopping at the tiny store across the street for a bottle of wine. After a period for rest (Stan) and catching up with emails (me), we climbed up the the top of the tower from which the hotel takes its name. We were expecting the climb to be difficult, but it wasn’t bad at all. I think it’s 72 steps up to the bar terrace, then another couple of winding flights (maybe 4?) to the top. The view was, of course, spectacular. A server from the bar climbed up and offered us drinks, but we told her we’d enjoy them on the bar level.

There we had a great chat with a well-traveled couple from Alabama, who were just winding up their Florence trip. We would see them the next morning at breakfast, but they left soon after.

Back to the room for some quiet time reading, relaxing on our own terrace.

Monday, 10 June. After breakfast, we walked to Piazza della Santissima Annunziata where we admired the exterior of L’Ospedale degli Innocenti. The della Robbia medallions depicting the orphans are so sweet. I had wanted to explore the Basilica, but since Mass was being celebrated, we were restricted to the “pre-nave” area, with its spectacular frescoes.

We wanted a light lunch, so stopped at one of the tiny sandwich shops that are becoming so common in Florence. This one was Da Anna, tucked into a back street not far from the train station. We bought sandwiches (mortadella for me, turkey for Stan) and bottles of water, and headed to the Piazza Adua just across from the train station, where we were to meet our wine tour.

We were quite early, so we found a place to sit in the shade where we could munch our sandwiches and watch high school age students acting just as silly as US teens. We had time to find a bar tabac to have a quick cup of coffee, as well.

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Our wine tour was the Chianti Experience Tour, offered by Devour tours. It was a half day tour, and with our multitour discount, cost about $124 each. Our guide Anna was charming and energetic. We had to walk a fairly long distance to our bus, then spent an hour on the drive to Greve, a beautiful little Tuscan town with a lovely main square. We got to see a butcher shop with its cheese cellar, then made a quick visit to a wine museum. In that same town, we had a very nice wine tasting, with two Chiantis, (one a Chianti Classico), and a generous platter of local cured meats and delicious cheeses. This was the best activity of the day, and not just because the wine flowed freely! Our host, from a local winery, spent time explaining what we were eating and drinking, and was glad to answer any and all questions. A number of people in our group of about 8 bought wine here; I think some bought enough to have it shipped home.

Our next stop was the Ottomani Winery, about a 30 or 45 minute bus ride away. This place was fascinating. It’s fairly new, started by 4 friends about 15 years ago. They use older varieties of grapes and some unusual techniques in making their wine. For example, one of the wines, a rosé, was aged in terra cotta vessels. The winery employee who worked with us gave us lots of information, as we toured the vineyard and the winery itself.

We then tried tiny samples of 3 different wines, with tiny bits of bread and cheese. The pecorino with saffron and green peppercorns was astonishingly good. We bought a bottle of their Chianti Classico (€16) as we were leaving.

The bus then returned to Florence, and dropped us off at the same out of the way place from which we had embarked. Stan and I got turned around and took longer than we should have to get back to any place we recognized, but we made it. We spent what little was left of the evening enjoying our new wine, and sharing the remains of Stan’s turkey sandwich.

Tuesday, 11 June. Up early this morning; we enjoyed tea on our terrance, then had a lovely breakfast, and headed into town. Stan bought a belt from a street vendor (he always buys belts and caps) on our way to the Mercato Centrale. I was on a hunt for saffron, and had little trouble finding what I wanted. The saffron in Italy and Spain is so much less expensive than what we can get at home, and very fragrant.

Our next stop was Orsan Michele, to actually study the statues on the building’s exterior at leisure, taking all the time we wanted. Very nice experience. We found lunch at the nearby Trattoria del Pennello, Via Dante Alighieri 4r, tucked into a tiny patio well back from the street. The food was delicious and the service was excellent. Stan had pappardelle al cinghiale, a local specialty, and I had fried calamari. We shared a huge portion of delicious spinach, and a carafe of wine.

We returned to the hotel, wanting to rest before our 8:00 pm reservation at the Accademia. Having evening reservations did not make the experience any less crowded, but the line moved more quickly for people with reservations.

This was another great experience, because we could take our time and stay as long as we wanted, which, for us, was until about 9:30. We had been there before, twice, but this is a museum to be savored and repeated. We took time to visit the upper levels, which were not nearly as crowded. We also spent more time than usual enjoying the art on the ground floor that was not Michaelangelo, since there was no rush.

We took our time going back to the hotel, stopping for coffee at Don Nino, just across from the Duomo. The street there was almost empty, and the view was wonderful. We could sit there, sip our coffee, and study the Duomo construction carefully, without battling the crowds. A lovely end to the day.

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Wednesday, 12 June. Up early today; we had 8:45 reservations at the Uffizi. We were able to get right in, and once again, took our time: no hurry today. We stayed longer than I thought we would, until about 1:30 or so. By then we were definitely ready for a break, so found a pizza lunch at the nearby Osteria del Grano, Piazza del Grano 4.

Back at the hotel, we immediately made Uffizi reservations for the next morning, hoping to finish our tour of that wonderful museum.

That evening we went back to the Trattoria Sostanza for dinner. What fun! The staff remembered us, to the point of handing me a menu in Italian, instead of English, bringing sparking water rather than still, and remembering what we had had for dinner the week before. Wow.

The crowd was noisier this time, but we still had a wonderful evening. The food was again amazing. Stan had the veal chop, and I ordered – much to my own surprise – the beef fillet. I almost never eat beef when we’re out, since we live in the heart of beef country, and I seldom eat beef regardless of where we are. But I ordered the fillet, and it was incredibly good. Stan’s veal chop was good, but we both agreed the fillet was tops. We also shared a huge portion of green beans, and of course a carafe (or two?) of local red wine.

After dinner we headed back to the Piazza del Duomo for late coffee at Don Nino. Here again, the person remembered us, and suggested a fancier coffee drink for Stan’s sweet tooth. Back to the hotel, to enjoy wine on our terrace.

Thursday, 13 June. After breakfast, we spent several hours seeing the part of the Uffizi we had missed the previous day, then topped off the museum binge by visiting the Galileo Museum. We had been here back in 2009, but I think it’s undergone some major renovations since then. The museum was bigger than we remembered, with more exhibits and great explanations of what we were seeing.

By the time we finished at the museums, we were definitely ready for a late lunch, so grabbed a sandwich at a “Self-Service” cafeteria (that’s what it was called) very near the hotel, just north of the Ponte Vecchio. Back to the hotel to check our schedule for tomorrow’s departure; the desk clerk made some helpful suggestions about our route (take the tram to the airport, not a taxi, he suggested) and printed out our boarding passes for the flight to London.

We spent the afternoon wandering through the Oltrarno district, just savoring our last full day in Florence. We found dinner at La Bussola, Via Porta Rossa 58/R, very near Mercato Nuovo. Although I now see the reviews of this place are decidedly mixed, we had a wonderful meal. We had chosen this place because the menu listed grilled sea bream, but as we had the previous evening, we changed our minds on the fly. Well, I did. Stan always chooses tuna if it’s available, and it was, coated in sesame seeds, and very tasty. I ordered an excellent soup, Gran Zuppa di Mare “La Bussola.” Tomato based, it had mussels, clams, calamari, prawns, and giant shrimp. We shared a huge side dish of spinach, and Stan finished with a brownie, that I believe had caramel sauce and ice cream added.

Back to the hotel to do a rough pack, then up to the tower. I had read a review from someone extolling the joyful experience of being on the tower sipping rosé and watching the sunset. Well. That sounded to me like a perfect end to a wonderful vacation. So that’s what we did.

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Friday, 14 June. We were up early, enjoyed the wonderful breakfast buffet, packed, then settled our hotel bill. I was delighted when the clerk tore up our bar bill: “You’ve been here a week,” he said. The least we can do is buy your drinks.” Nice touch; minimal expense for them, but we’ll never forget the gesture.

A short walk to the tram stop, a 20 minute ride on tram T2 to the airport, and our visit to Florence was over. I will say that getting through security was a breeze, and while waiting for our flight we had excellent foccacia al’olio at a pizza bar in the departures area.

What a wonderful time we had! I am so glad we had decided to spend a full week in Florence, taking our time, not worrying about hitting all the “must sees.” I also appreciated that pretty much every place we visited let me speak Italian, and responded in kind. That added to the experience for me, and took some stress off Stan, who would prefer to let me do the communicating. I did get even with him during our subsequent visit to England, where I gladly stepped aside and let him do all the asking, requesting, and ordering.

I’ll be delighted to answer any questions you have. Thanks for sticking with me through this lengthy report.

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The offerings from the other stomachs have different names

OMG, Jane….I laughed out loud on that one!! I’m glad Stan had cinghiale. One trip my vegan brother and I were served cinghiale because it’s not “meat”, haha. Our thought was…well the boar thought it was!

What an awesome time you had. I love your food descriptions! Was the spinach raw or steamed or ? Sounds like excellent additions to your meals. I, of course, love Stan’s sweet tooth and so sweet the coffee server remembered him and made a suggestion!

Now I am ready to go back to Florence! BTW, I loved Santa Croce as well. So much to see in there!

Thanks so much for taking the time to write and post!

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And Pam, thank you for not nagging me to finish this time!

The spinach was usually sautéed in olive oil, with a bit of garlic. Wonderful. I think at least once there was some tarragon, as well.

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Oh, that is swoon-worthy!!

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Thank you Jane for your wonderful trip report. I leave for Italy in two weeks and will spend four days in Florence mid-trip. Since I haven't been to Florence, your trip report is very helpful. I love that you include all your meal and food info; very helpful. I almost never plan ahead for that, except for food tours.

I don't see a website for Trattoria Sostanza. Since I’m staying at a monastery, I don’t expect them to make reservations for me. Do you think I should call or stop by a couple days prior to make reservations? You can tell I don’t eat at many places that require reservations.
Thanks again,
Kathy

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This report was just the best! Thank you for bringing my Florence memories back and giving me a lot of ideas for next time. Food tours, hotel, meals, roof top relaxing - so fun to read what you did. Saving this!

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Thanks Jayne. Since I don’t do Facebook, I’ll call for a reservation when I get to Italy.

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Really enjoyed your report, Jane. I took some notes about restaurants for my trip in March. Mammamia in particular looks great.

You guys eat a lot of spinach! :-)

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Mary, we find ourselves craving vegetables on these trips. And evidently, spinach was in season. A couple of times we ordered green beans, but were offered spinach instead.

Luckily, my husband loves spinach. When we were first married, spinach was one of the only vegetables that he would eat willingly.

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Jane, wow, you could be a food critic with these descriptions! I’m so excited to eat at some of these places. We leave for Italy in 64 days with 4 nights in Florence! I love food and wine!

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Jane, how was getting to the airport by tram? I’m curious why that was recommended over a taxi? We also are flying out of Florence, Delta has changed our flight from 10:00am, now to 6:50am!! Ugh.

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Tammy, we had considered taking the tram, because we like public transportation, but weren't sure how efficient it would be, so decided to take a taxi. The day before we were to leave Florence, I asked the desk clerk at the hotel to order one for us for the next day. He frowned a bit and said, "You should just take a tram. It's faster." Not to mention, and he didn't, much cheaper.

So that afternoon in our free time, we did a practice walk to the tram stop, and studied how to buy tickets (machines at the tram stop take cash or cards; I think the ticket was less than €2.) And decided "Why not?"

The tram was not crowded, and took 20 minutes to get to the airport. At the airport, it stops right in front of the departures area. Piece of cake. However, it starts running at 5:00 a.m., so with your schedule change this might not be an option for you. You'd get to the airport by about 5:30-ish. That might be enough time, if you already have your boarding pass and have checked in online.

We were able to walk from the front door of the airport straight to security; it only took a few minutes. YMMV, of course.

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Jane, thank you for taking the time to share your first rate trip report of Florence. Great city.

Only problem it’s breakfast time in CA and I’m thinking pasta for breakfast. LOL!!!

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Such a lovely report…thank you!
I’m on my way back to Florence again soon…….I always end a trip to Italy with a few days there.
Maybe I’ll start packing any day now….

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What a great trip report, thanks! I’ve been to Florence 3 times (so far!) and hope to go again in the next year or two. Very nice and engaging write-up of your meals and experiences. It was a super-fun read that tugged at my heartstrings because I love Florence so much. I’m bookmarking this for future travels. Grazie mille!

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It has been years since we were in Florence and as much as I enjoyed it then, I did not have a particular yearn to go back. Until I read your report.

I really enjoyed reading all your descriptions.

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Thanks, everyone for your kind comments. I always dread writing trip reports, but then am always so glad when I'm done. It's a great way to remember the trip.

I'm planning to do a report about our stay in Venice this summer, but I almost certainly won't get to it until next week. Then there are those two Rick Steves tours...