Tuscany’s capital is a Renaissance wonderland of artwork and terracotta tiles. Florence is without doubt one of the hottest metropolis breaks in Europe, and it’s received the superstar standing to show it. You’ve received the Florence Cathedral, cobbled streets filled with impartial boutiques, and the Arno River operating via the town heart. Florence is stuffed with artwork and tradition – however the place do you keep to see all the principle sights? How do you select the place to keep in Florence?
Best Places to Stay in Florence
Florence is a lovely metropolis to go to. There’s artwork and wonder all over the place. When it comes to the principle sights, you may have the Etruscan Archaeological Museum, the bustle of Piazza del Duomo, and the grandeur of Palazzo Vecchio. You’ve received loads to look ahead to.
Where to keep in Florence is completely different for everybody and each go to. Central Florence has practically ten completely different areas, every with a mixture of trendy boutique accommodations and sights. You can go native and keep away from the vacationers or pay the value and be inside strolling distance of every little thing. After numerous visits to the town, we’ve whittled it down to six neighborhoods for you to select from – we wish you to have one of the best.
1. Centro Storico
Centro Storico is the guts of Florence and its historical past. Picture church buildings that date again centuries, slim streets, and views of the gorgeous important attraction in the town: Florence Cathedral. Centro Storico is absolutely the hub of the town, and everybody is aware of it. All one of the best accommodations get booked out over the summer time, and crowds of vacationers descend on the neighborhood year-round. Most of Florence’s important points of interest are condensed into this tiny pocket of historical past, and the temptation is an excessive amount of for many guests to resist. It’s even UNESCO-recognized.
With this nice location, you might be inside straightforward strolling distance of points of interest just like the Uffizi Gallery, Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio, and the National Museum of Bargello. The neighborhood is a vigorous mixture of main websites. You can’t beat staying right here if you’d like to discover on foot.
In abstract, Centro Storico is the place to keep in Florence in case you’re a first-time customer, dedicated to sightseeing on foot, or solely have a few days in the town. It is totally handy, with the added bonus of being completely beautiful (primarily thanks to the Duomo’s terracotta domes).
Luxury: Rocco Forte Hotel Savoy
Rocco Forte Hotel Savoy is a sublime 5-star resort proper subsequent to the Uffizi Gallery. You can e book rooms with distinctive views, together with one in every of Piazza del Duomo or the well-known bell tower. Rooms don’t come low cost, however you’ll get world-class remedy in change.
Rocco Forte Hotel Savoy is definitely the most effective luxurious accommodations in the historic heart of Florence.
Mid Range: Hotel Della Signoria
Hotel Della Signoria is a three-star property with a five-star location, simply steps from Piazza della Signoria and Ponte Vecchio. It gives a spread of rooms, together with a superior room with a non-public terrace.
This resort is sweet worth for cash and a pleasure to expertise. The terrace room is unquestionably an important shout, providing a little bit of solace in the busy metropolis heart.
Budget: Dante’s Rooms
Dante’s Rooms is your best possible alternative for price range lodging in the middle of Florence. You get all of the fundamentals: free wi fi, snug beds, and TVs in every visitor room.
Does it have a rooftop pool? No, however the cut price keep is definitely worth the trade-off. If you’re prepared to go for a extra B&B fashion expertise, Dante’s Rooms is a superb price range resort alternative in central Florence.
Pros Of Staying in Centro Storico
Walking distance from main points of interest just like the Duomo, Uffizi Gallery, Piazza della Signoria, and Palazzo Vecchio.
Plenty of buzz and an thrilling ambiance.
Lots of resort decisions.
Cons Of Staying in Centro Storico
Heavy crowds.
Hotels can include a hefty price ticket.
You solely see the “main area”, with out the encircling countryside or suburban areas.
2. Santa Maria Novella
Santa Maria Novella is no-nonsense. The neighborhood is centered across the Santa Maria Novella prepare station. It is stuffed with in-and-out guests and, as such, has loads of budget-friendly lodging. It can get sketchy across the prepare station at evening, with drug use and the odd opportunistic lurkers prepared to bag snatch. But as a complete, the Santa Maria Novella district is the place to keep in Florence if you’d like an affordable and simple place to keep. You are only a brief stroll into the historic metropolis heart and to all the principle sights, simply with out the expense of paying via the roof for extra central lodging.
Apart from the principle prepare station (very useful for day journeys), the neighborhood has the beautiful marble Basilica of Santa Maria Novella. You may take a look at the antiques alongside Via dei Fossi, a preferred purchasing road, and among the metropolis’s extra budget-friendly nightclubs, like Space Club. There are museums, too, together with the Marino Marini Firenze Museum and Palazzo Strozzi.
We’d recommend staying in the lower-eastern area of Santa Maria Novella, away from the prepare station and alongside the Arno River. It has extra of a central attraction and is a brief strolling distance from Centro Storico anyway, which is a pleasant contact. Santa Maria Novella is definitely the most effective neighborhoods if you’d like a extra budget-friendly various to Centro Storico with out sacrificing a lot for handy sightseeing.
Luxury: Portrait Firenze
Portrait Firenze is a beautiful 5-star resort simply 30 meters away from Ponte Vecchio. Portrait Firenze is the place to keep if you’d like luxurious with water views, they usually have superb resort rooms with marble bogs and home windows overlooking the Arno River.
This luxurious property is definitely the most effective accommodations, centrally situated, providing tasteful decor and upscale rooms.
Mid Range: Novella House
Novella House is stuffed with character, with a boutique resort inside that includes patterned wallpapers and frescoed ceilings. It is fantastically situated in the Santa Maria Novella district, inside a straightforward stroll of Ponte Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria.
Novella House is ready in a Seventeenth-century constructing, which is simply the cherry on high. It is a historic spot and the most effective accommodations if you’d like loads of persona.
Budget: Foresteria Sociale Florence Center by New Generation Hostel
Foresteria Sociale Florence Center by New Generation Hostel is ideal for anybody who likes a cut price. The least expensive rooms are dormitory choices, with female-only and mixed-sex rooms accessible. There are additionally dearer personal rooms with mid-range costs in case you choose privateness however nonetheless desire a hostel atmosphere.
You may entry a shared kitchen, bogs, and laundry amenities.
Pros Of Staying in Santa Maria Novella
It is barely cheaper than Centro Storico.
It continues to be in the town heart, which means you’re inside strolling distance of main points of interest.
It has a enjoyable ambiance.
Cons Of Staying in Santa Maria Novella
The space across the prepare station and Piazza Santa Maria Novella may be sketchy at evening.
You’re nonetheless in the town heart, so one of the best accommodations may be costly.
Santa Maria Novella nonetheless will get crowded with vacationers and native folks utilizing the prepare station.
3. San Niccolò
San Niccolò is a lovely place to keep in Florence. The historic neighborhood is a community of cobbles and twisting streets backed by artisan workshops earlier than exploding into open expanses of inexperienced areas and villa gardens. It completely balances historical past, tradition, and nature. And for these wanting to dodge the crowds, it sits a secure distance away from Florence’s manic metropolis heart, overlooking the cityscape from throughout the Arno River.
San Niccolò is on the town’s south financial institution, which is the alternative facet of the Arno River to Centro Storico and Santa Maria Novella. Because of this, you’ll need to plan some additional journey time to attain the town heart and sightsee issues like the most important attraction of Florence Cathedral. However, it solely takes round 20 minutes to stroll from San Niccolò to Florence’s central vacationer district – how straightforward is that? You’ll cross over the enduring Ponte Vecchio bridge or Ponte alle Grazia, each of that are pedestrian-friendly.
There can also be a lot to see and do in the neighborhood itself. The Piazzale Michelangelo is a panoramic viewpoint overlooking Florence, with a bronze David reproduction standing guard. The Terzo Giardino and Villa Bardini are additionally nice locations for peaceable walks in serene nature.
San Niccolò is the place to keep in Florence if you’d like to expertise a quiet tradition in the town. It’s filled with gardens and serenity, with an opportunity to expertise Florence with fewer crowds.
Luxury: Hotel Lungarno
Hotel Lungarno is one other stunning riverfront property. It is situated only a brief distance from Ponte Vecchio and gives suites overlooking the water. The resort is adorned with worthwhile artwork, together with authentic items by Picasso.
Onsite eating places and nice eating choices can be found, and practically each visitor room or suite gives gorgeous marble bogs.
Mid Range: Serristori Palace Residence
Serristori Palace Residence is situated in the far west of San Niccolò. The Nineteenth-century constructing has a combination of luxury-furnished flats, providing you with the proper self-catering base.
Every condominium has a kitchen and laundry amenities. You additionally get entry to a small however fairly shared backyard. It’s a soothing base for visiting San Niccolò on a mid-range price range.
Budget: QK Costa58 Home Tower
QK Costa58 Home Tower is as budget-friendly as this neighborhood will get. Luckily, the attractive setting of this property makes these additional pennies worthwhile. Forget reserving a cookie-cutter resort with a swimming pool or rooftop terrace. Instead, you’ll be staying in an actual medieval tower. You enter the stone tower via traditional picket doorways – an actual expertise.
The double room is your most budget-friendly choice and has nice views over the town under.
Pros Of Staying in San Niccolò
There are extra peaceable areas of nature and inexperienced house.
There are artisan workshops, villas, and off-the-beaten-track tradition.
You expertise fewer crowds.
Cons Of Staying in San Niccolò
There are fewer accommodations to select from.
You are farther from the town heart.
There are fewer main vacationer points of interest.
4. Santa Croce
Santa Croce is extensively hailed as essentially the most “charming” place to keep in Florence. It has tons of lingering heritage, being the ultimate resting place of big names like Galileo and Michelangelo. You have bars and cafes, plus contemporary produce bought on the healthful road market of Sant Ambrogio. It’s a romantic and ever so barely eclectic neighborhood. You’ll discover monumental tombs of the late and greats on one road and al fresco eating and markets on the subsequent. We love its sense of road tradition and outside dwelling. And if you’d like someplace with historical past however laidback tradition, city Santa Croce is the place to keep in Florence.
Santa Croce sits east of the town heart, lower than a 15-minute stroll from all of the central sightseeing and points of interest just like the Uffizi Gallery. The south border overlooks the Arno River, whereas the east borders the Florence ring highway, offering swift entry for these driving or catching a taxi to the airport. It’s central sufficient to nonetheless be handy however far out sufficient to escape the stifle of different weekend metropolis breakers.
In Santa Croce itself, you’ve received the Florence National Central Library, Casa Buonarroti, the beautiful Basilica di Santa Croce di Firenze, and monumental tombs. It’s nice for artwork, literature, and academia. And once you aren’t embracing inventive historical past in Santa Croce, you may be purchasing for contemporary fruit and greens. The basic consensus is apt; Santa Croce undoubtedly has a “charm”.
Luxury: YiD Cantoria
When staying in Santa Croce, YiD Cantoria is by far your greatest luxurious choice. The gorgeous condominium has a non-public entrance and inside designs to die for. Fresco-style paintings items adorn its partitions, and loads of picket notes. It’s a mixture between stylish and conventional, and it sleeps up to six folks – group journey, anybody?
You additionally get a non-public balcony with beautiful road views. It’s a wonderful alternative for anybody wanting privateness and independence in Santa Croce.
Mid Range: Borgo Signature Rooms
Borgo Signature Rooms is a guesthouse in Santa Croce with splendidly embellished rooms. It is the place to keep if you’d like aesthetically pleasing guestrooms on a mid-range price range. The combination of picket furnishings and paintings is simply stunning.
As if all that wasn’t sufficient, you might be simply minutes from the Basilica di Santa Croce Firenze. Borgo Signature Rooms are useless centrally situated.
Budget: Bargello Guest House
Bargello Guest House gives guestrooms in a B&B fashion with quite a few shared areas, together with a cushty lounge space. Each room has a non-public ensuite with complimentary toiletries and a TV for downtime after sightseeing.
Bargello Guest House is without doubt one of the few budget-friendly lodging choices in Santa Croce, so snap it up whereas it’s accessible.
Pros Of Staying in Santa Croce
It is central and inside strolling distance of all the principle points of interest, together with the Uffizi Gallery.
It has a lovely market scene for laidback, genuine dwelling.
There’s tons of fascinating historical past, particularly artwork historical past and monumental tombs belonging to Galileo and Michelangelo.
Cons Of Staying in Santa Croce
It can get busy nonetheless.
You nonetheless have to stroll a bit longer than in case you stayed extra centrally (quarter-hour on common fairly than 5 minutes or so).
Accommodation may be costly and promote out in peak months.
5. Santo Spirito
The Santo Spirito neighborhood is stylish, with an electrical sense of nightlife. This is the place you possibly can keep in Florence if you’d like events after darkish, and it has an elegant assortment of vibrant bars that keep open lengthy into the early hours. Santo Spirito is a improbable place to embrace the native vibe and socialize in your journey to Florence. Oh, and it additionally has nice eating places, if these vigorous bars weren’t sufficient for you. Unsurprisingly, it’s thought of the most effective neighborhoods in Florence.
Santo Spirito is situated south of the river, like San Niccolò. However, it’s barely extra central, situated simply off the steps of the Ponte Vecchio bridge. Because of this, you might be already on the outskirts of the town heart and only a brief stroll to Florence’s important points of interest just like the cathedral and Piazza della Repubblica. It’s only a bit extra handy.
When you aren’t partying or strolling briskly over Ponte Vecchio for inner-city sightseeing, there’s a lot to do in Santo Spirito. The largest attraction in the neighborhood is Pitti Palace. Pitti Palace is an artwork gallery complicated inside a Renaissance royal palace and opens onto the Boboli Gardens.
Santo Spirito is undoubtedly the place to keep in case you love to celebration and expertise nightlife in new cities. However, it’s equally a wonderful place to let your hair down in nature and admire paintings – the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens are two of Florence’s most spectacular outer-city points of interest.
Luxury: Brunelleschi Imperial House
Brunelleschi Imperial House is a lovely two-bedroom condominium in central Santo Spirito. The design is extravagant, with heat lighting and spectacular options like a stone hearth. You even get entry to a sizzling tub. With all this on provide, the posh of self-catered lodging to slink again to for privateness, peace, and quiet after a protracted day is good.
The condominium sleeps up to six folks. You have a spacious lounge and very good kitchen amenities, so it’s a lovely spot if you’d like spacious lodging in Florence.
Mid Range: Hotel Palazzo Guadagni
Hotel Palazzo Guadagni oozes custom and sophistication. Its most eye-catching high quality is its stone rooftop terrace, adorned with stone columns. The complete property is embellished with antiques and frescoes. If you need someplace memorable to keep in Santo Spirito, that is the place to select.
Some rooms overlook the Pitti Palace, and a few bookings embrace a every day breakfast (on the terrace, after all). If you actually desire a memorable expertise, you possibly can e book one of many rooms that includes an open fireplace. This is a pleasant choice in winter.
Budget: Home in Florence
Home in Florence is a conventional little condominium with terracotta-tiled flooring and a wrought iron mattress body. Staying right here is equal to stepping right into a novel or TV present. The property’s barely primary, rough-around-the-edges attract offers it that genuine vibe. Think of Emily in Paris if Emily moved to Florence as a substitute.
This one-bedroom condominium has every little thing a pair or solo traveler wants. You get a kitchen, front room, and a rest room with a fantastically tiled bathe. Quaint and mild on the pockets, Home in Florence is a improbable budget-friendly choice in Santo Spirito.
Pros Of Staying in Santo Spirito
It has a classy bar scene for after-hours socializing.
It is only a brief stroll over Ponte Vecchio to attain the town heart.
You’ve received stunning points of interest like Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens.
Cons Of Staying in Santo Spirito
You nonetheless have a 15-minute stroll or so by way of the Ponte Vecchio to attain the northern metropolis heart’s points of interest, just like the Florence Cathedral and Piazza del Duomo.
It may be rowdy and busy in components.
There are fewer accommodations, so e book in advance for peak months.
6. San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo is a lovely neighborhood to the northwest of the town heart. It’s proper on the cusp of being in the central historic district, making it one of the handy locations you possibly can keep in Florence. So, aside from its location, what precisely makes San Lorenzo so particular? In a phrase: meals.
The complete neighborhood revolves round hospitality and culinary experiences. It is the place you’ll discover the Mercato Centrale, promoting road meals from 9am till midnight seven days every week and a combination of low-light wine bars and upscale eating places. If you’re taking a meals tour in Florence, San Lorenzo is the place guides will take you. So, in case you’re a foodie, you might as effectively skip that and simply e book to base your self there as a substitute.
It isn’t all meals in this culinary-focused neighborhood (though what can be flawed with that?), and also you’ve received points of interest just like the Basilica di San Lorenzo and the Museo di Casa Martelli. You are additionally lower than a 10-minute stroll from main sights just like the Piazza del Duomo, so you possibly can simply spend your days sightseeing. This neighborhood is the place you possibly can keep for leisurely sightseeing and culinary experiences in the galore.
Luxury: Hotel Cerretani Firenze
It doesn’t get extra beautiful than Hotel Cerretani Firenze on this facet of city. This 4-star resort is simply 300 meters from Florence Cathedral, and a few of its rooms have views of the terracotta dome. Each room oozes class, with complimentary particulars like slippers and robes. You can select from a combination of superior rooms and suites. Almost each reserving features a complimentary every day breakfast service, with 24-hour room service accessible.
Hotel Cerretani Firenze is ready in a Seventeenth-century constructing. It gives a lounge bar and onsite eating places, so mainly, every little thing you want is inside its 4 partitions.
Mid Range: B&B Lorenzo di Medici
B&B Lorenzo di Medici gives a spread of room choices, all together with complimentary every day breakfast and considerate perks like a shuttle service to the airport. The inside design is contemporary and fashionable – a classy base in your time in Florence. It’s simply that excellent step between affordable costs and luxuries you crave. And whereas these are guestrooms, not flats, you continue to get useful facilities like a microwave, fridge, espresso machine, and toaster.
It’s straightforward to see why the opinions are variety to B&B Lorenzo di Medici. It’s a cool mid-range spot in this foodie neighborhood in Florence.
Budget Hotel: Hostel Archi Rossi
Hostel Archi Rossi is without doubt one of the few typical hostel lodging in Florence, and it doesn’t fail expectations. It gives a enjoyable atmosphere with white wrought iron beds in dormitories for up to 9 folks. There’s hand-painted paintings all over the place and a very sociable structure. It’s an important place to keep if you’d like to stick to a price range and make loads of buddies.
You additionally get a shared kitchen, which is nice for saving cash when consuming out. Hostel Archi Rossi is affordable and cheerful.
Pros Of Staying in San Lorenzo
There are lots of of meals experiences.
You are simply minutes from main points of interest.
There’s a lovely church and historic points of interest.
Cons Of Staying in San Lorenzo
It can get busy, particularly in peak seasons.
It has fewer points of interest than different neighborhoods in Florence.
Accommodation may be costly.
Best Areas to Stay in Florence: FAQ’s
By now, you might be effectively ready to make your ultimate resolution on the place to keep in Florence. You actually are spoiled for alternative, and the town has among the greatest accommodations, too – simply pondering of Hotel Palazzo Guadagni’s rooftop terrace makes us need to head again to Florence!
Before you make any ultimate choices, although, listed here are some frequent FAQs. This part will assist solidify your alternative, particularly in case you’re visiting Florence for the primary time.
What a part of Florence is one of the best to keep in?
Centro Storico is one of the best a part of Florence in case you’re visiting for the primary time or simply for a weekend. This is since you are proper in the center of every little thing and only a nice stroll from points of interest like Piazza della Signoria, Florence Cathedral, and Piazza della Repubblica. It’s the guts of the town, which is superb for a time restrict.
Where ought to I keep in Florence for the primary time?
Again, Centro Storico is the most suitable choice for first-time guests to Florence. Its easy accessibility to central sights is unbeatable. It’s handy and thrilling for first-time guests to be so in the thick of it. Book in advance to keep away from steeper costs and peak occasions, although.
Where to keep away from staying in Florence?
We wouldn’t advocate staying on the outskirts of Florence, particularly because it’s such a metropolis break-style vacation spot. If you’re visiting for a weekend, save your time on ridiculously lengthy public transport journeys simply to attain the town heart.
What is essentially the most stunning space in Florence?
San Niccolò is gorgeous. It’s filled with pretty gardens, wine bars that sprawl out in al fresco seating, and views of Florence’s cityscape from throughout the Arno River.
Where not to keep in Florence
In basic, wherever in central Florence is nice. The worst you’ll have to put up with is vacationer crowds and the opportunistic petty crime that may typically entice – like pickpocketing or bag snatching. As a complete, central Florence is secure and simple to navigate, with most locations accessible inside a brief strolling distance.
However, we’d rule out neighborhoods in Florence’s outskirts. Not solely are these areas extra inclined to crime, however you’re additionally battling prolonged journey occasions on public transport simply to attain the town heart to sightsee. It’s the very last thing you need. Here are just a few in specific to keep away from:
1. Peretola: The area across the airport is simply too removed from the town heart and has virtually fixed noise air pollution.
2. Le Piagge: A budget-friendly area that sadly struggles with low-level crime in northwestern Florence.
3. Galluzo: A reasonably disagreeable area in the south of Florence, most well-known for its massive jail facility.
Instead, if you’d like a extra suburban and off-the-beaten-track place to keep, head to San Niccolò. It is ready on the alternative financial institution of the Arno River, away from the town heart, with extra inexperienced house and a laidback ambiance.
Why we love Florence
There’s no denying that Florence is without doubt one of the prettiest cities in Europe. We adore its beautiful structure and the cultural issues to do. Choosing the place to keep in Florence is simply the cherry on high —good lodging is heaven-sent and helps you immerse your self much more deeply into the town and its tradition.
In Florence, the neighborhoods have such particular person senses of character. You’ve received San Niccolò’s laidback greenery and Santa Croce’s market buzz. Or Santa Maria Novella’s no-nonsense price range lodging scene. Wherever you select to keep, we hope you may have a improbable time.