Food:

-100% Osteria Pastella (make a reservation or go for lunch) *They cook in a parmigiana cheese wheel in front of you! If you don’t want truffle pasta you can ask for it w/o 

-Ditta Artiginale (sit outside on the Arno go to the location on ponte alla carraia bridge) 

-Todo Modo Cafe (go before 2pm) they have amazingggg apple pasteries and great cafe macchiato’s *its a hidden cafe behind the bookstore 

-Caffe de serragli (get here before 11am for fresh cornetti aka Italian breakfast croissants) *my fav is the one with vanilla crème in it!! If you want that one ask for a “cornetto alla crema” 

-I' Girone De' Ghiotti (WAYYYY better IMO than All’Antico Vinaio and their bread doesn’t hurt the roof of your mouth like Antico’s can) 

-Mercato Centrale for stocking up on bringing foods and food presents home + TONS of lunch areas (go to the top for a lot of options but my favorite is a shop right in front of the main doors when you walk in on the left! It looks like homemade food! 

-Old river pub for AMAZING Schiacciata panini (which is Florence’s version of Focaccia bread) 

-Lions fountain pub amazing fish and chips 😍 

-Snack at Piazzale Michelangelo at the food truck stand closest to La Loggia (the mansion looking building that’s a restaurant but it’s WAYYY overpriced so go to the food truck in front for the best focaccia to snack on) 

-Aperol spritz at the bottom of piazzale’s stairs there’s just something about having an aperol spritz the steps watching the sunset (they are like €7 with is over priced but worth it haha) 

-Barroccino has the BEST gelato in all of Florence (it’s healthy, has a huge amount of funky flavors, and has amazing staff!!) you’ll have to ride the tram 10min or you can rent electric bikes and maps will take you to the local mall it’s in! 8min electric bike ride or 10min tram ride *the tram is so easy just put it in maps, hop on the tram it tells you, tap your credit or debit card (I think it’s €1.15) and you’re Gucci! 

- Best napoletano pizza is at Pizzium!!😍😍😍 Ask for “Bes”!!! He’s my friend and tell him Bailey says heyyy!! He will be soooo shocked and excited if you go!!!  He is shorter, pale, short beard and brown hair!!!

*Foods that are local that you should try at least once (I don’t love some of them but you def should try!!) 

• Bistecca (it’s florentine steak cooked SUPER rare basically mooing LOL) really famous here and can always be shared btw 2 people 

• Papardelle al Cinghiale (it’s local wild boar in red wine ragù) 

• Porchetta (it’s a pork roast on a sandwich!) most places make it pretty good! You shouldn’t pay any more than €7-€8 for it tho and most of the time that will come with a wine

*Chianti vino (local Tuscan wine) 

Best Ragu in all of florence is at La Giostra! (Water is pricy here it’s a nice meal like ~$40 with food and drinks but 100% worth it) 

Best panino shop (In Vino Veritas) (My fav paninos are named: vermentino & moscato) 

Best breakfast in Florence (Melaleuca -either the cinnamon roll, sticky bun, sourdough bread with eggs, or homemade sourdough bagel w/homemade cream cheese) 

Best cafes in Florence: 

-Todo modo (it’s a hidden cafe inside a bookstore but you want to go to the location on the duomo side of the la Carrairia bridge) best coffee here is a caffe macchiato 

-Melaleuca (on the river but there is a lot of construction in front of it right now so it doesn’t have a great view) best coffee here is an iced vanilla latte with their homemade vanilla and their caffe macchiato 

-Ditta artiginale (the la Carraria bridge on the river is the best) the only thing I’d recommend for food is their BLT it’s amazing and huge enough for 2 ppl but I would recommend their cappuccino’s! 

Best rooftop bars for views: The View on Art 

Best bread in all of Florence: Hidden garden near the duomo called “Serre Torregiani” and I would go here for a snack or for an aperitivo (cocktail hour) it’s so cute! Don’t get a sandwich instead get just plain bread! SO GOOD

Best pizza in Florence is a good walk from the center about 20-40min depending where you are OR a 10-12 min taxi ride but it’s worth it! It’s called Don Fefe (check to make sure they are open cuz 1 day of the week they close) 

Best gelato in the whole city is at Barroccino! Pier is my friend (he owns it!) if you go between 10am-4:30pm he’s probs there and you just tell him you know “his friend Bailey” off of TikTok! Lol he sees thousands of ppl a day so make sure you tell him it’s his friend Bailey HAHAHHAA he’ll probably ft me after 🤣 or if Sara, MariaGrazia, or Luca are there tell them the same!! He’s coming to our villa! 

Great stores to visit for body care products: 

Erbolisteria (skin care and body care)

Bolle Blu (skin care, body care, hair care)

Tigota (only for the toothpaste and better feminine care products) 

Farmacia Canto Alle Rondini Sas (for makeup and deodorant) 

Best market to visit for things to pack to take home:

Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio (specifically Il Cernecchio) and tell them you know Bailey from Tiktok and that I say hey!! Tell them I send them hugs! 

Best market for fresh local food (for lunch and to see a real Italian market with over 50 local farmers!) All the farmers are the vendors! 

Things to do in Florence:

•Get duomo tickets and go up to the clock tower for a cool view of the city! 

• Piazzale Michelangelo for sunset and music!! Get there at least 30-45min before sunset!! 

• If you like biking and willing to be adventurous I’d 100% recommend downloading the “Ride Movi” app, get up early (be out in town before 9am) and find bikes near you, buy the pass (I think it’s €13.99 read the info for it) and bike up to piazzale Michelangelo to see Florence during the day time and bike into the hills!! You’ll get out of the crowds and into the countryside once you’re up near piazzale because you’ll be out of the city walls You literally can’t get lost if you just have google maps

• Go rafting on the Arno river super fun! It’s like 1-1.5 hours and it’s a cool vantage point getting to go under the ponte vecchio! 

• If you’re there on a Saturday YOU HAVE TO go to some of the Saturday markets! You can find them in most of the piazza’s but one of my favorite mercato’s is in Piazza Santo Spirito here’s a link to all of the other market locations 

https://en.comune.fi.it/city/culture_and_tourism/markets.html

• Hike up to Fiesole (a town close by) 

•Take a hot air balloon up in Tuscany at sunrise or sunset

• Take a Vespa OR rent a car and drive/ride through the countryside!! Before you go tho go to AAA and pay $20 for your international drivers permit (you just fill out 1 form, take a pic there, and you get it!) but this will help you if you get pulled over so you don’t get a €500 fine! And I’ve seen it happen! 

• Walk along the Arno river and if you’re there before summer ends then go towards the pop-up bars and chill and listen to music on the river and have an aperitivo (appetizers and drinks) 

•The View on Art rooftop bar next to the duomo 

•The famous leather market

<<<From Florence you can do day trips to:

-Sienna (take the bus not train it’s quicker when you get to the city) 

-Castiglione sul Trasimeno & passeggiano sul Trasimeno *flat but in Tuscany, and can bike around the lake and through olive grooves! Take the ferry 1/2 way and go to the island!! 

-Milan 

-Lake Como take the train into Varenna and ferry over to Bellagio (possible to do in a day but will be like a 12-14 hour day) 

-Grosseto to the beach Cala Violina 

Rome:

-Take big bus or city tours to all of the “main stops” on your 1st day 

-Colosseum floor tickets 

-Get Vatican St. Peter’s Basilica tickets in advance and be first in line when it opens! We got there 1hr before they opened and the line took us ~30min to get through and this was before summer season 

-Try fried artichoke in the Jewish Ghetto area! 

-Trastevere for cute Roman streets and good food! 

-Hot air ballooning outside of town! 

Lake como:

-100% stay in the town of Bellagio or Menaggio, Varenna! 

-Pre-buy your ferry passes! (When you buy them they are not for one specific location so you just buy a one way ticket and then it’s valid for any short one-way ride! 

-If you want to go down to the bottom left finger of the lake to the town of lake como (which is okay it not spectacular but it’s pretty then definitely get the fast ferry or the bottom left town of Lecco (100% you should go) then get the fast ferry 

-Take the train into Varenna from Milan, hop on the ferry and plan your schedule based on the ferry spots! 

-Shop, eat, and explore the small streets! 

-Take a 1/2 day trip and go paragliding!!!