🇮🇹 Italy · Europe
Florence
The Renaissance per square metre record-holder — best eaten standing up.
culturefoodcity☀ best: Apr – Jun & Sep – Oct
SHOESTRING
€61/day
dorms, street plates, transit
COMFY
€104/day
private room, sit-down meals, a treat
FLASH
€208/day
nice hotel, good dinners, no maths
🧮 Trip maths
€729 total
What Florence costs, day to day
🛵 Getting around
FreeNow
Uber
Bolt — not in Italy
Bus / tram ticket€1.5
Airport tram€1.5
Regional train to Pisa€7.8–€9.5
🛏 Stays
Per night
Hostel dorm bed€22–€35
Airbnb 1-BR€78–€130
Centro 3-star€95–€156
Palazzo hotel€174–€347
Monthly
Studio€955–€1,476
1-BR, Oltrarno€1,215–€1,823
🛒 Groceries & daily life
Esselunga / Coop — quality at fair prices
Lidl / Eurospin — the discounters
Mercato comunale — produce + lunch counters
Water 1.5 L€0.3–€0.6
Milk 1 L€1.2–€1.6
Eggs ×10€2.4–€3
Bread loaf€1.3–€1.9
Rice 1 kg€1.6–€2.3
Chicken breast 1 kg€6.9–€8.7
Bananas 1 kg€1.5–€1.8
Local beer 0.5 L (shop)€1–€1.5
🍜 Eating out
Lampredotto paninotripe sandwich — trust the queue€3.5–€5.2
Gelato (artisan)€2.2–€3.5
Trattoria lunch€13–€22
Bistecca alla fiorentinaper kg — shared — order by weight€43–€61
Enoteca wine, glass€4.3–€6.9
🎡 Things to do — with kids
Boboli Gardens€5.2–€8.7
Leonardo interactive museum€6.9–€8.7
Gelato crawl€2.6–€6.9
🌙 Things to do — grown-ups
Uffizi (book online!)€10–€23
Brunelleschi dome climb pass€16–€26
Piazzale Michelangelo sunsetfree
Chianti half-day€39–€61
🌤 Climate
Day °CRain
Best: Apr – Jun & Sep – Oct · Wet: —
The Arno valley traps August heat — 33 °C+ among stone. Spring and fall are the masterpieces.
✈️ Getting there
VuelingRyanair (Pisa)ITA AirwaysLondon (via Pisa)€22–€52
Paris€26–€61
Pisa airport + €14 train often beats flying into Florence direct.
🏧 ATMs & money
Fees: Bank 'bancomat' machines add no local surcharge; independent boxes (Euronet and friends) at stations and sights do.
Limits: Commonly €250–500 per pull.
Best machines: Intesa SanpaoloUniCreditBPER
Withdraw at real bank branches, always in euros. Skip airport/tourist exchange counters entirely — rates are ceremonial robbery.
🩺 Health & safety
Vaccines: Routine only.
Health: Tap water is excellent — Milan's is alpine. Pharmacies (farmacia) handle minor everything. August heat in Florence is real: museums at noon, piazzas at dusk.
Tap water: ✅ Excellent everywhere — Rome's 'nasoni' street fountains are free, safe and delicious. Refill constantly.
Safety: Violent crime toward visitors: statistically tiny. Pickpocketing near Milano Centrale, the Duomo and Florence's buses is professional-grade — money in front pockets, backpacks worn forward on transit, and you're invisible to them. That's the whole briefing.
Emergency: 112
🌱 Vegan, veggie & gluten-free
Plant-based: Pasta al pomodoro, pizza marinara, contorni (side vegetables), and the whole aperitivo spread — vegetarian Italy is effortless; vegan needs 'senza formaggio'.
Gluten-free: The pasta country is also a coeliac leader: 'senza glutine' pizza and pasta are certified (look for AIC signs) in most cities.
'Senza glutine' · 'vegano' is understood everywhere north of clichés.
🛂 Visa & entry
This is a Schengen-area country. Most US, UK, EU, Canadian, Australian, NZ, Brazilian, Japanese and Korean passports enter visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole Schengen zone. From 2025 the EU's ETIAS pre-authorisation applies to visa-free non-EU visitors — check before you fly.
Rules change — always verify with an official source for your nationality before you book.
💬 Traveller tips & reports
Eat standing, drink at the window — Lampredotto carts and the old wine windows (buchette del vino) are Florence’s original street food — $10 covers lunch with a glass of Chianti.
@oltrarno.appetite · Oct ’25 · ▲ 121