Fine Florentine dining that won’t break the bank

Food lies at the heart of Italian culture and is one of the many enticing factors that attract the massive volume of tourists to its cities every year. The Tuscan kitchen is known as “cucina povera”, which literally translates as poor kitchen. The ethos of traditional Tuscan cooking is the use of fresh ingredients to create basic dishes that are wholesome and tasty, where preparation and process are fundamental to the outcome of each dish. It is essential to try some of the local cuisine during any trip to the Tuscan capital and this blog aims to offer a few suggestions for trying authentic and reasonably priced Florentine cuisine that will inspire you to try some cooking in your own Florence apartment.

Il Rifrullo
Situated in a charming and tranquil setting on the left side of the River Arno, Il Rufrullo boasts a picturesque garden that overlooks Florence’s medieval walls. The lunch menu offers an array of pasta dishes, traditional Tuscan soups, salads, hot and cold plates and a range of Tuscan specialties that are defined by the seasons. A popular favourite among locals is the Sunday brunch. It is still quite a novelty for a restaurant to open on Sunday in Florence and Il Rufrullo has catered for that market with its Sunday all you can eat buffet, which offers a vast range of foods both traditional and modern (5-15 € main course).
Il Rufrullo is located at via San Niccolò, 55, Florence.
http://www.ilrifrullo.com/


Ristorante del Fagioli
This is a traditional family run restaurant that offers only traditional Tuscan fare. It is considered by many to be one of the best places in Florence to try the famous bistecca fiorentina. In traditional Tuscan style the menu is heavily influenced by the foods that are in season at that particular time. Other specialties include, arista di maiale al forno—very thinly cut slices of pork loin, seasoned with fried garlic and sage and involtini di Gigi—thin slices of beef stuffed with cheese, ham and artichokes, rolled, and braised in butter and olive oil. Antonio, the restaurant manager will be happy to offer you his suggestions and the whole family of staff are very friendly and eager to converse with the diners. For the quality of food and service provided, Ristorante del Faglioli offers some of the most reasonable prices in Florence. (5-15€ main course)
Corso Dei Tintori, 47/R Florence.
Check this video.

Osteria de' Benci
Another favourite among locals and regular visitors alike, the Osteria de´Benci features on the list of many gastronomy tourist’s itinerary. The menu selection is diverse while preserving a strong Tuscan influence. This is a particularly good choice for tourists that don’t speak much English as the friendly staff are on hand to help and offer their own personal suggestions. Marco Meneghini, creates a welcoming and authentic atmosphere and the surroundings are in a typical Florentine style. The grilled meats are of a very high standard as are the pasta dishes, which come highly recommended in many popular guides and online reviews. If you have room for desert after your meal then it is definitively worth trying, though due to the size of the portions here it is often impossible to even manage a coffee after the main meal! Very reasonably priced for the amount of food and very friendly staff ( main courses from 5-15€).
Via de' Benci 13r, Florence
Review of the Osteria.

Uffizi Gallery in Florence - Beat the Queue

Housed in the Palazzo degli Uffizi in Florence, Italy; the Uffizi gallery is one of the most famous art galleries in the World. It contains one of the biggest collections of Renaissance art and some of the most iconic artworks from Botticelli, Caravaggio, Da Vinci and Rembrandt, among others.

When booking your flights, Florence apartment and hire car, also consider booking your tickets for attractions such as the Uffizi Gallery. It is reported that in high season visitors can spend up to five hours queuing for entry to the gallery. Tickets can be booked online directly from the official Uffizi gallery website and will allow you more time to enjoy the abundance of other tempting attractions in Florence city centre.

Completed in 1581, after 21 years of construction, the Uffizi Gallery was designed by Giorgio Vasari as office buildings for the Florentine Magistrates, Uffizi means office in Italian. The design of the building is considered highly influential by architecture historians as the long internal courtyard that that looks towards the Arno River through a Doric Screen is considered to be the first uniform streetscape in Europe. The accentuated perspective and unbroken cornicing create the linear quality that led to this observation.

The Uffizi Gallery possesses a monumental collection of artworks that are distributed among some 45 exhibition rooms, meaning that it is advised to set aside at least 3 hours of your day to appreciate all of the vast collection and leave time to visit any of the other nearby museums or galleries.

It is also recommended to take one of the audio tours that are available, as this will give you historical insight and make your viewing experience a lot more worthwhile.

Ticket prices begin at €9.95 and visitors simply visit the official Uffizi website where they enter the date, time and number of visitors that they wish to admit and the ticket order can be made quickly and easily online using a credit card. The price includes a small booking fee but it is definitely worth paying to avoid the queue in the often stifling, Florence summer heat.

European citizens between the ages of 18 and 25 and teachers are entitled to a reduced rate and those under 18 and over 65 are entitled to free entrance, although children under 12 years old must be accompanied by an adult.

The Uffizi Gallery is located at the Piazzale degli Uffizi in central Florence.

Ponte Vecchio- A Brief History of One of Florence’s Most Iconic Landmarks

The oldest of Florence’s six bridges, the Ponte Vecchio attracts thousands of visitors every year to marvel at this ancient landmark that dates back to Roman times. The original bridge was destroyed by a flood 1333 and was subsequently rebuilt twelve years later , however the architect that the project is attributed to is widely disputed. Some authorities claim that the bridge’s architect is Neri de Fioravante while others support the theory that the architect was in fact, Taddeo Gaddi.

The original design of the bridge included five arches while the Ponte Vecchio that exists today has three and is wider than the original. The bridge is famous for the shops that occupy its porticos or porches. These were initially owned by the Comune but in the 15th century were sold to private owners. The majority of the traders included butchers, greengrocers and fishmongers but in 1565 Ferdinando I ordered that the bridge should be cleared up and they were replaced with goldsmiths and jewellers to give the bridge a more elegant image.


The famous Vasari corridor or Corridoio Vasariano was built in 1565 under the order of Cosimo I de’ Medici who was the serving Duke of Florence at that time and is named after its designer Giorgio Vasari. This corridor links the Palazzo Vecchio and the Gli Uffizi with the Piti Palace. The motivation for the corridor was highly extravagant; it was built in 5 months to offer the Duke a means of moving freely between his residence and the Government Palace. Today the walls of the corridor are adorned with world renowned Renaissance artworks.

The Ponte Vecchio has endured numerous fires and floods, one of the worst cases on record was a flood that occurred in 1966, in which many valuable pieces of jewellery were washed away and the bridge suffered significant structural damage. During the Second World War, as the Germans retreated from the Allies, they destroyed all of the other bridges in Florence but left the Ponte Vecchio under explicit orders from Hitler, instead choosing to blockade its ends with large piles of rubble to hinder their enemy in its imminent advance.

In a city which boasts a massive wealth of attractions, the Ponte Vecchio is one of the few attractions in the city that is totally free; after all it is classed as a public byway. The most impressive views can be found from the neighbouring bridges, the Ponte Santa Trinita and the Ponte alle Grazie or by walking along the banks of the river Arno to snap that iconic shot of the bridge in its full glory.

Well-Heeled in Florence’s Ferragamo Museum

Florence has produced many of the greats in art, many of whom had humble beginnings in an apartment in Florence, or simply settled in Florence, to later become renowned worldwide. In modern history, Salvatore Ferragamo made his mark on the world of fashion, designing shoes in Hollywood in the 20’s for stars and the silver screen and later brought their manufacture to his preferred city of Florence. Ferragamo died in 1960, but his legacy lives on; his name being a modern-day global luxury brand. For shoe-lovers, a trip to the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum is highly advised when in Florence.
Quite unlike the usual Florence museum, this conceptual shoe gallery, which was opened by the Ferragamo family in 1995 as a tribute to Salvatore’s ideas, showcases the designer’s work and collections. Each piece of footwear is viewed as an artwork, alongside documentary on Ferragamo’s life, photos of him with celebrities and an interesting insight into last century’s relationship with shoes.

The fascinating story behind Ferragamo’s work, pioneering the cork wedge during the scarcity of the world war years, his popularity with Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Ingrid Bergman, the re-planting of his business in his native Italy, these are all detailed within the museum’s permanent collections.

What’s more, the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum also organises temporary collections dealing with new contemporary artists, collaborating with arts and culture societies and hosting exhibitions. The entrance fee into the museum (€5) goes towards funding annual scholarships for up-and-coming footwear designers. The museum is definitely worth a visit for its inter-cultural aspect, if not for the shoes.

The Salvatore Ferragamo Museum is located on Piazza Santa Trinita 5r, in Florence’s Santa Maria Novella district. It’s opening hours are from 10am-6pm and it is closed only on Tuesdays. For information about reserving a visit, the contact phone number is +39 055 3360 456/455.