The Official Description
f you’d like to get the most out of your dollar and your trip, this is the guide for you. I put a fresh spin on budget travel, showing you how to see the best for less and how to see it in a more authentic way–the way the locals do.
Instead of spending $300 a night for a chain hotel, why not stay in a light-filled apartment in Rome’s historical Trastevere neighborhood from just $125 or in one of Italy’s monasteries for as little as $35?
Or how about enjoying a plate of hearty appetizers at Venice’s Cantino do Mori, so you can splurge on Paolo Senni’s tagliata di fesa di vitella at Cane & Gato in Sienna?
Let me show you the “other” Italy—the one only insiders know about. Take a one-day paper marbling class in Venice or learn to cook the perfect rag? in Bologna. These are only a few of the great ways to get closer to the culture of Italy. Read on for more!
Honest Feedback
A must have
I recently traveled to Italy with three guidebooks; this one, the Rick Steves and Fodors. I ended up throwing the other two away. This one gives the best advice by far and doesn’t just send you to the places where all the other tourists are (like Steves). I really enjoyed the restaurant recommendations and found a great apartment in Rome through this book (loved the non-traditional lodgings listed in this book; so different than the other books). Great sightseeing and advice on transportation too. And Italy’s expensive right now, but this book helped make it affordable. I can’t tell you how terrific this book was!
Already saved me $400
I am going to Italy this Spring and I thought that this book would give me valuable information for my trip. It already saved me $400 when I used a url site for finding a cost effective flight to another place!
I help people plan on trips and this book is invaluable
Pauline Frommer’s book is a “must have” for both new and experieinced Italy travelers!! I have been to Italy numerous times and was surprised on what I have missed– which only wants me to go back for more. I really enjoyed her sections of “don’t leave without seeing”- gives great framework for new agendas.
I help people plan on trips and this book is invaluable for most everyone. I even showed the book to a friend and native born Italian and he was fascinated by it. Good buy.
Great book!
Almost every suggestion the book made was on point. The hotels in Rome, Taormina and Palermo were fantastic!
Great book
Was very helpful on our recent trip to Italy. We especially loved the suggested itineraries!
Fantastic Book; Good format and writing is not as dry as other travel books
My wife and I just got back from a week in Italy relying this book. The book’s formatting made it easy to use. We selected all of our hotels using this book, trip adviser, and the New York Times. In retrospect, we would have been fine if we’d relied only on this book.
The writing is also entertaining. My wife found especially helpful that this book contains writers’ opinions about various sites and attractions, which is really what you need in a good travel book– What the writers think you should see and not see.
Obviously, their opinions are their own, but we found the opinions in this book to be very accurate and allowed us to save a lot of time.
Finally, there were several specific instances in which this book saved us much more money than its retail price. We highly recommend this book!
One of the best…
One of the best, user-friendly and informative travel books I read (and I was only interested in the Milan section!)
Favorite bits
Full Disclosure: I had co-authors on various editions of this book, including Keith Bain, Pippa de Bruyn, and Sylvie Hogg (the first edition also had William Fink and Barbie Nadeau).
I wrote the following chapters: Florence, Tuscany, Umbria, Bologna & Emilia Romagna, Milan & The Lakes, Turin & the Alps.
Since one of the unique features of this guide was to include a section for each city titled “The Other [City]” and fill it with experiences beyond the usual sights, monuments, and museums, I figured I’d include a few of those sections below. Enjoy!
The Other Bologna
The Bolognese people just love to eat—and eat well. Life in Bologna revolves around the kitchen, so to get under the skin of this city, forget the museums and monuments.
Take a morning to explore the gastronomic side of Bologna. Start early, around 8am, to mingle with the market workers, professional trattoria chefs, and home-kitchen master chefs out doing their morning shopping.
Bologna’s main-street market lines Via Drapperie and Via delle Pescherie Vecchie with fishmongers and fourth-generation grocers. A. F. Tamburini [ST] (Via Caprarie, 1, at Via Drapperie; tel. 051-234726; www.tamburini.com) has stacks of salami, pendulums of prosciutto, and cheap cafeteria-like tavola calda (pasta and simple meat dishes, €3.50–€6) in the back. Drogheria Gilberto (Via Drapperie, 5; tel. 051-223925), maintains shelves stacked to the ceiling with chocolates, candies, liqueurs, marmalades, and preserves and always offers free samples (I scored brownies on my last visit). Also nip down Via Caprarie to Paolo Atti & Figli [STST] (Via Caprarie, 7; tel. 051-220425; www.paoloatti.com), purveyors of Bologna’s finest baked goods since 1880 under high frescoed ceilings.
My favorite stands along here, though, are the numerous fruit-and-veg stalls groaning under the weight of purple-fringed artichokes, crinkly bunches of arugula, sleek indigo eggplant, pink pomegranates, orange zucchini flowers, pungent mushrooms, tiny susine plums, pointy San Marzano tomatoes, mounds of grapes, trays of chestnuts, garlands of fiery red pepperoncini, and ropes of garlic.
In a city this devoted to food, there are also two covered markets—though the Mercato Clavature, in the midst of that street market, has definitely seen better days (word is that the owners are trying to run out the few remaining traditional stall owners with high rent and dilapidated conditions in order to turn the place into a more upscale cafe-and-shops joint).
Far more of a going concern is bustling Mercato delle Erbe [ST], with a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it entrance on Via Ugo Bassi 2 blocks west of its intersection with Via G. Marconi. This covered market houses 36 specialty food shops and 72 fruit and vegetable stands; make sure you get here before they close up shop for the lunch break around 1pm.
Exit the market from the back onto Via Belvedere, where you can still see the market’s original 1910 facade in all its orange-and-yellow neoclassical grandeur. Across the street is Le Sflogline (Via Belvedere 7B), a traditional sfoglini shop run by a trio of smiling ladies who spend their days making fresh pasta and pastries, as well as lasagna in tiny take-away foil containers. (Sfoglini are Bolognese pasta makers who roll out fresh pasta in great sheets, then cut it into strips using rolling pins set with rows of plastic discs.) There’s another such shop, La Braseria Sfoglia, at Via A. Tostoni 9A.
End your gastronomic journey with a pilgrimage to Majani [STST] (Via Carbonesi, 5; tel. 051-6562209; www.majani.com), chocolatiers extraordinaire since 1796. About €4.50 will buy you a sampler baggie filled with their greatest hits—one each of the chocolate “tortellini” (in milk, dark, and white, each filled with a chocolate cream), a selection of the famous cremini Fiat (chocolate napoleons), and a few scroza (thin sheets of dark chocolate, roughly accordioned up into a bar).
Ragù Straight from the Source
Don’t just describe those fantastic meals to your friends back home; learn to make them at a Bologna cooking school. Gli Amici di Babette (Via San Felice, 116, scala G; tel. 051-6493627 or 339-7011003; www.lacucinadibabette.com) offers more than a dozen three-hour courses on breads, pastas, pastries, and desserts for all skill levels for €60 to €80 per lesson so long as at least five people signs up; fewer than that and it’s €130 per person.
La Vecchia Scuola Bolognese (Via Malvasia, 49; tel. 051-6491576; www.lavecchiascuola.com) does four-hour courses on making fresh pastas at €70 a pop (or five-day courses from €200). Cookitaly (tel. 051-6448612; www.cookitaly.com) costs more, at €300 for one person or €200 per person for up to four for a half-day class with market tour, or €400 for one person, €250 per person for up to four for a full-day lesson and learn to cook a three-course meal—primo, secondo, and dessert.
Nightlife
A good way to keep up with performances in Bologna—whether a poetry reading in the back of a bar or a pop concert at the Stadio Comunale—is to scan the posters plastered on walls around the university. Just troll Via Zamboni, and ignore all the notices looking for roommates or selling “slightly used” couches and TVs.
The Teatro Comunale (Largo Respighi, 1; tel. 051-6174299; www.tcbo.it) hosts Bologna’s lively opera, orchestra, and ballet seasons, as well as intriguing shows, such as homages to Frank Zappa or Charlie Chaplin. The box office (tel. 051-529995; www.comunalebologna.it or www.charta.it) is open Tuesday to Friday 3 to 7pm, Saturday 10am to 12:30pm and 3 to 7pm.
If you’re in Bologna April to October, you can spend your evenings at the classical and jazz concerts and other events that are part of the Bologna Festival (Via delle Lame, 58; tel. 051-6493397; www.bolognafestival.it; many tickets start around €10–€20 but can start as high as €80 for headliners). The performances are held in church cloisters and other scenic settings throughout the city center. Performances can range from Mozart to the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, from the Dee Dee Bridgewater & Trio to the Tokyo Quartet.
Bars & Pubs
Because of its young and restless student population, Bologna stays up later than most Italian cities. The main night-owl haunts are Via del Pratello and, near the university, Via Zamboni and Via delle Belle Arte. You can usually find a place for a drink, a shot of espresso, or a light meal as late as 2am.
There’s Guinness and Harp on tap and an attendant Anglophone following at the Irish Times Pub (Via Paradiso, 1; tel. 051-261648), though a well-dressed, but not always so well-behaved, young Italian crowd predominates in the noisy, smoky, publike rooms; happy hour lasts until 9pm (10:30pm Tues). More popular these days is the Cluricaune Irish Pub (Via Zamboni, 18b; tel. 051-263419), a raucous joint near the university with quite good live music some nights (no cover), and where the party spills out under the street’s arcade. Happy hour lasts until 8:30pm (10:30pm on Wed).
The Osteria de Poeti (Via Poeti, 1; tel. 051-236166; www.osteriadepoeti.com; closed Mon), is Bologna’s oldest osteria and has been in operation since the 16th century—the brick-vaulted ceilings, stone walls, and ancient wine barrels provide just the sort of ambience you would expect in such a historic establishment. Stop in to enjoy the live jazz and folk music. (This place is also open for light lunches Tues–Fri).
You’ll want to retire at 10:30pm to the cellars of a 16th-century palazzo near the university at Cantina Bentivoglio (Via Mascarella, 4b; tel. 051-265416; www.cantinabentivoglio.it). That’s when you’ll hear some of the best jazz in Bologna. It’s also a popular spot for filmgoers, who stop in for some food (most dishes €7–€16) and tunes after catching one of the first-run movies at the Odeon 2 across the street.
Bologna’s Thriving Gay Scene
Bologna is the seat of Italy’s Arcigay movement, and that plus the large student population make it rather more open to same-sex couples than most Italian cities.
Cassero/Salara (Via Don Minzoni, 18; tel. 051-6494416, “phone friend” help line 051-555661; www.cassero.it), is a combination of the main gay/lesbian organization’s offices, help center, and meeting point that happens to turn into the hottest gay/lesbian disco Saturday nights. The downstairs disco also hosts a variety of shows, cabaret, movies, and concerts throughout the week, especially Friday and Saturday. During the day (Mon–Fri 10am–1pm, 2–7pm, and 8–11pm), they offer gay-friendly services, including a library and a help line. Though Italians need to be members of Arcigay to use the facilities, the bar is more than happy to welcome foreign tourists free of charge.
The Other Florence
Nothing says the “other Florence” like the Oltrarno section of town, literally the “other” side of the Arno River from the main section of the city. This district has fewer tourists, and more local students and residents.
While the Oltrarno has many traditional sights such as churches, museums, and hotels, it also has dozens of small artisans’ shops, neighborhood stores, and neglected attractions that seem a world away from the mobbed piazze Duomo and Signoria.
The best way to experience the Oltrarno is to allow serendipity to be your guide as you walk the narrow streets south of the river between Ponte Vecchio and Ponte Alla Carraia.
Wander into small shops to see craftsmen using techniques hundreds of years old. Metalworkers, engravers, bookbinders, woodcarvers, cobblers, and jewelers operate their businesses almost clandestinely, without any sign above the shop entrances, without regular working hours, marked prices, or promotions of any sort. Don’t try to drop by in August, however––that’s when the artisans all go on vacation.
While some of the shop owners speak English, many don’t, so you’ll need a little help to learn about the various crafts. The city of Florence runs free workshop tours in the Oltrarno, during which local guides take visitors to three randomly selected shops each Monday and Thursday afternoon (3pm to 6pm). I highly recommend these. For booking information, contact Centro Prenotazioni at tel. 055-3036108; itinerari.turistici@siwebsrl.com.
Another good option is to book a tour through Walking Tours of Florence [ST] (Piazzo Santo Stefano, 2; tel. 055-2645033; www.italy.artviva.com). This well-run company coordinates custom tours on which bilingual guides take visitors to meet, and learn from, a half dozen artisans in their workshops.
***PD: page ref. below is to the Florence shopping section
For information on some of the more accessible artisans’ shops south of the Arno, see p. ###.
Hang with the Locals
To see Florentines at their most passionate attend a local soccer match. The ACF Fiorentina team has arisen from both a spectacular 2002 bankruptcy and burial in the lowest division, returning to fight for the championship of the prestigious Italian Serie A league. The renovated Artemio Franchi stadium, southeast of the city center, is packed with up to 47,000 fans for weekend matches from September to May.
These aren’t like, say, baseball fans in the States; expect singing, chanting, screaming masses of locals who live and die with each shot on goal. Tickets begin at €20, and you need to select a “home” or “away team” section. Choose your wardrobe carefully. (Hint: The home team color is purple.)
You can order online at www.acffiorentina.it, buy at the stadium box office, or from a variety of bars in town a few days before the match. Resellers also have tickets and can be reached at tel. 055-503261 or 055-583300. The stadium is about 400m ([bf]1/4-mile) from the Firenze Campo di Marte train station along Largo Gennarelli, or take bus no. 7, 17, or 20 from Santa Maria Novella station.
After Romans beheaded Saint Minias in the 3rd century, he supposedly picked up his head and rushed up the hill to the spot of his future church. Visitors don’t need to make such a sacrifice to join the locals for afternoon vespers at San Miniato al Monte church (tel. 055-2342731). Just leave your camera in the hotel, dress conservatively, and climb to the church behind Piazza Michelangiolo in time for the 5:30pm ceremonies (4:30pm in winter), which begin with Gregorian chants and half an hour of vespers followed by a Latin mass.
If you can’t make it to the evocative services at San Miniato, then try to attend mass at any one of a number of other central Florence churches during those times when “tourists are forbidden.”
Times vary by church, but there are often daily services around 7:30 or 8am and again at 6 or 6:3opm, while on Sundays, masses happen throughout the day. For precise hours, you can search the database (in Italian) at www.messe.firenze.it. Again, so long as you act like a parishioner, with bowed head and whispered tones, you’ll be treated like one.
Florence’s early fortune was built with the textile trade, and today the city is still a leader in the fashion world. There’s no better way to glimpse this vibrant modern side of the Florence than to go to one of its major fashion fairs. This series of “Pitti Immagine” fairs—men, women, children, fragrances, living, knits, etc.—are held al year round in the Fortessa da Basso and Stazione Leopolda. Admission is around €20 for the official events, and they’re technically for “the trade” only, but you can probably fudge some info on the registration forms. For more information, go to www.pittimmagine.com.
Accommodations in town can be tight during the fairs, but Florence is alive with official and unofficial events, including fashion shows, product displays, and corporate promotions. Even passing on the periphery of one of these fairs is a good way to get an insider perspective on the modern business of the Italian fashion industry.
All of those activities are largely observational. How about getting some hands-on experiences that’ll help you get a better understanding of Florence and perhaps learn a little something along the way? I’m talking Italian lessons, cooking classes, and courses on everything from art restoration to painting your own fresco.
Learn to Read Dante in the Original
If you want to interact with the locals, a good first step would be to learn how to speak with them. When a simple “Come stai?” is enough to open doors of friendship, imagine what an Italian language class could do for you! In Florence, dozens of programs offer Italian instruction ranging from 1-week intros to multiyear degree courses.
The tourist office (and its Web site) has lists of the many institutes and programs, but perhaps the most highly recommended option for those interested in a mini study-abroad program is the well-respected Centro Linguistico Italiano Dante Alighieri (Piazza della Repubblica, 5; tel. 055-210808; www.clida.it). Its 2-week Italian course combines 4-hour morning lessons with afternoon cultural seminars and field trips, starting at €440 (one-on-one courses start at €400 per week). They also offer 2–hour wine tasting and 3-hour cooking classes for a reasonable €35. Speaking of which…
Cook La Cucina Toscana
Nothing is more valued by Fiorentini (or Tuscans, or Umbrians, or . . .) than the art and passion that goes into the preparation of their regional cuisine. And what better way to become part of this local culture than to get into the kitchen and learn how to make a meal?
Florence offers a variety of options for taking a cooking class, ranging from the Dante Institute’s half-day lessons (above) and lunchtime seminars at local restaurants to formal courses at the Cordon Bleu Academy (Via di Mezzo, 55r; tel. 055-2345468; www.cordonbleu-it.com)—charging €70 to €100 per lesson; most courses consists of 4 to 8 lessons, with a few 1, 2, or 3-lesson courses each year.
Another good option for a short-term tourist is the family-friendly, €85 daytrip into the Chianti with The Accidental Tourist (tel. 055-699376; www.accidentaltourist.com). Participants visit the Renaissance villa at a wine estate for a tour and tasting, followed by a hands-on lessons in making various pastas in an old monastery, and, naturally, a feast on the results.
Speaking of food, many locals do their food shopping at the Mercato Centrale covered market on Via dell’Ariento, near San Lorenzo (Mon–Sat 7am–2pm). Neighborhood restaurateurs come here for fresh meat, produce, and olive oils from the Tuscan-area farms.
You can pick up ingredients for a picnic in the park, or just ogle the amazing colors, shapes, and sizes of the fruits and vegetables on display. Get advice from vendors about a gift bottle of olive oil or essence of truffles, snack on some sample sausages from the butcher.
Few tourists are there to mingle with the chefs and local cooks at the smaller Sant’Ambrogio Market Piazza Ghiberti on the opposite side of town, north of Santa Croce (Mon–Sat, 7am–2pm).
Take Art History, Restoration, or Fresco Classes
Florence is a city of craftspeople, from the mightiest Renaissance artists to the humblest modern cobbler, and there’s no better way to get a feel for that tradition than by taking a course in art, art history, crafts, or fashion. The tourist office has a list of dozens of programs, though most require a commitment of at least a month of two if not a full semester. Here are a few of the shorter-term options (two weeks or less) of which even a dabbling tourist might have time to partake—you can even learn to fresco in 5 days.
Perhaps the best one-stop shopping for such an experience is FlorenceArt.net (Via di San Bartolo a Cintoia, 15r; tel. 055-7879097, or in the U.S. 800-420-5531; florenceart.net), which charges €550 to €650 for a variety of introductory 5-day courses.
Most classes meet about 4 hours per day—leaving plenty of time for exploring—for courses in decorative painting, gilding, fresco and graffito (bet you didn’t know we get our word “graffiti” from an Italian form of wall decoration), art restoration (you actually restore a real 19th century painting), metalworking (chasing and embossing/repousse), and wood carving.
Accademia del Giglio (Via Ghibellina 116; tel. 055-2302467; www.adg.it; to each of the following rates add a €45 enrollment fee) offers a half-day life drawing class for €35, one-week courses in various art techniques for €180, and one-week art history courses: on the Renaissance in Florence and Tuscany, the history of Italian fashion (both €290) and the Italian garden and Tuscan villa (€390). If you have a full month and come equipped with some basic artistic skills, you can even take an intensive fresco workshop for €700.
The Florence branch of Studio Art Centers International (in Italy: Via Sant’Antonino, 11; tel. 055-289948; in the U.S.: 50 Broad Street, Suite 1617, New York, NY 10004, tel. 877-257-7225; www.saci-florence.org) offers 2-week, continuing ed. programs in July; you select 2 classes from their regular courses in studio arts, design, art conservation, art history, and Italian language for $1,000 ($2,000 for a 4-week program).
Though geared mainly to longer-from programs, the Angel Academy of Art (Via Fiesolana, 34r; tel. 055-2466737; www.angelartschool.com) does offer 10-day summer workshops on such topics as Caravaggios’s painting techniques, painting the figure in oil, still-life, and fresco for €1,400 to €1,500.
Shopping
Florence built its medieval riches from the textile and clothing trade, and continues to be a mecca for shopping as well as a center for fashion and design. Ferragamo makes its headquarters here in a riverside castle, and the high-rent Via Tournabuoni and its side-streets feature showrooms of all the top designer brands, including Armani, Gucci, and Prada.
But Florence is equally well known for its many artisans carrying on their family craft traditions in jewelry, furniture making, engraving, and bookbinding. Many of these small workshops can be found south of the Arno River in the Oltrarno district.
Leather is one of the major products of the city, with high-end stores selling jackets, purses, and bags in the Santa Croce district, and dozens of street-side stalls haggling over cheaper versions in the San Lorenzo area.
A note about hours: In general, Florence’s stores are open between 4pm and 7:30pm on Mondays; and from 9 or 10am to 1pm and again from 3:30 or 4pm until 7pm Tuesdays through Saturdays (though in the summer many shops also open on Mon mornings and stay open through the midday riposo).
If you’re big on shopping, you won’t want to visit in August, when many shopkeepers draw their shutters and take a week or even the entire month off for vacation.
Books & paper goods
Enrico Giannini does bookbinding and creates handmade artistic papers at Giulio Giannini & Figlio (Piazza Pitti, 36-37r; tel. 055-212621; www.giuliogiannini.it) as his family has since 1856. He speaks English well, and can be persuaded to give a near magical demonstration on how he creates the swirling colors on his book jackets and wrapping papers. He not only does custom bookbinding but also sells reasonably priced boxes, papers, and journals for unique souvenirs.
Another leading Florentine shop for paper goods—more on the refined, stationery end of the business—is Pineider (Piazza della Signoria, 13-14r; tel. 055-284655; www.pineider.com), the oldest stationers in the city, founded in 1774 and still turning out exquisitely crafted paper and paper goods, from diaries and photo albums to engraved stationery.
There are two English-language bookstores in Florence that also serve as unofficial gathering places for ex-pat English-speakers in Florence. BM Bookshop (Borgo Ognissanti, 4r; tel. 055-294575) is the smaller of the two, but with a better and more well rounded selection.
Larger and packed with great deals on new and used books—as well as a place to trade in your own finished novels for new-used ones, and a fab new location just south of the Duomo—is the Paperback Exchange (Via della Oche, 4r; tel. 055-293460; www.papex.it).
The largest, multi-story chain booksellers in town also carry plenty of books in English (along with plenty of coffee table souvenir photo books): Libreria Edison (Piazza della Repubblica 5, tel. 055-213110; www.libreriaedison.it), and Libreria Feltrinelli (Via de’ Cerretani, 30–32r; [te]; 055-2382652 and Via Cavour, 12; tel. 055-292196; www.lafeltrinelli.it).
Cheap necessities
A good place to stock up on necessities, like forgotten toothbrush, soap, paper, pen, a rubber duck, or purple tableware, is the Nine T Nine Cent Paradise (www.cent-shop.it), where, you guessed it, everything is 99 eurocents. Sweet! You can find its bright yellow-and-blue signs at Via Cavour 92r (tel. 055-217172), Via Nazionale 124r (tel. 055-287116), Via dei Conti 57r (tel. 055-214185), Piazza Gaetano Salvemini 22–23 (tel. 055-212153), and Via degli Orti Oricellari 16–20r (tel. 055-212153).
Engraving & woodcarving
Bartolucci is a cluttered cuckoo clock of a shop, packed with every variety of woodcarving with two centrally located branches (Via Condotta, 12r; tel. 055-211773; and Via Borgo dei Greci, 11A/r; tel. 055-2398596; www.bartolucci.com). Since 1936, the family has been carving wood versions of everything from Tuscany’s own Pinnochio to half-size motorcycles, model airplanes, picture frames, and clocks.
You can see engravers in action at L’Ippogrifo Stampe d’Arte (Via S. Spirito, 5r; tel. 055-213255; www.stampeippogrifo.com). Examine the cityscapes and still lifes on the walls of this Oltrarno shop then step back into the workshop to witness the copperplate pressing technique that has been used in Florence for 500 years.
For antique engravings in an historic shop (est. 1903), stop by Giovanni Baccani (Via della Vigna Nuova, 75r; tel. 055-214467), which has a grand collection of prints and engravings.
Fashion
For chic Italian clothes at last season’s prices (generally because you’re getting last season’s styles), I have two suggestions: Stock House-Grandi Firme (www.stockhouse-grandifirme.com), with branches at Via del Trebbio 10r, Via Lamberti 16r, and Viale De Amicis 169 (though check the Web site, as they seem to favor short-term leases and move locations frequently); and Stock House Il Giglio (Via Borgo Ognissanti, 64; tel. 055-217-596). Both carry overstock clothing in perfect condition from some of the biggest names in Italian fashions––at discounts of as much as 70%.
If you need to be more au courant than that, you can find affordable clothes at the department store Coin (Via dei Calzaiuoli, 56r; tel. 055-280531; www.coin.it); or at La Rinascente (Piazza della Repubblica, 1; tel. 055-219113; www.rinascente.it). Both are members of national chains.
And for the fashionistas among you, head directly to the Via dei Tornabuoni, Via Nuova, or Via degli Strozzi, where Pucci, Gucci, and other big names in Italian fashion have their chic shops.
Jewelry
Florence doesn’t offer the same buys on jewelry that it once did. Prices tend to be high and there are some shops that will pass off inferior stones, so choose carefully. There are, however, some stores that have a reputation for both craftsmanship and honest service. For a wide variety, go to Gioielleria Manetti (Via dei Calzaiuoli 92r, near the Duomo; tel. 055-214401; www.gioielleriamanetti.it), a popular family-run craft shop with jewelry, watches, and silver.
For something a bit more unique, try the Alessandro Dari Museum Shop [ST] (Via San Niccolo, 115r, Oltrarno; tel. 055-244747; www.alessandrodari.com), Goldsmith/craftsman/musician Alessandro Dari is always busy at his bench in this combination showcase, lounge, and workshop. Prices range from €120 for a simple “love ring” to €30,000 for what looks like an actual-size jeweled golden village for your finger.
Leather shops & stalls
You can find a decent leather jacket for not much more than €100 in the stalls of the San Lorenzo Leather Market, stretching from San Lorenzo church up around the Mercato Centrale—but don’t expect it to be an heirloom.
Indeed, it’s not uncommon to experience fraying stitches and broken zippers after only a few weeks’ use of the cheaper leather goods, so check the craftsmanship closely before purchasing. Generally, the fewer number of pieces used for construction, the higher the quality; a jacket that looks like a quilt has a greater chance of falling apart.
Both at the stalls and in the shops immediately behind them (for which the stalls are merely bait), you are supposed to haggle. You can usually get the seller to drop the initial price by half, more if you buy multiple items—wallets, purses, and other smaller leather goods make excellent gifts for the folks back home.
A less fun option, but one with a bit higher guarantee of quality, is to shop in a proper store; also, stores will usually alter a jacket at no extra cost (be sure to allow at least a day, though, if you need any work done). Top names include Gherardini (Via della Vigna Nuova, 57r; tel. 055-215678; www.gherardini.it) and Beltrami (Via della Vigna Nuova, 70r; tel. 055-287779; www.beltramifirenze.it).
Another Florentine nexus for high-quality leather goods is the Santa Croce neighborhood—and, in fact, in the church itself. The Santa Croce Suola del Cuoio (Piazza Santa Croce, 16; tel. 055-244533; www.leatherschool.com) initially began as a leather-crafts school for Franciscan monks, but has expanded its partnership over the years with a major Florentine trading house to develop into a well-known and full-service leather shop (with prices to match).
You normally enter it through a corridor off the right transept of the church (through the sacristy and church gift shop), but now that Santa Croce has gotten greedy and begun charging admission, the leather school has opened up a back door at Via San Giuseppe 5r so you can get in without paying church admission.
A good cheaper option is Lorenz Leather (Piazza San Lorenzo, 10r; tel. 055-213348; www.lorenzleather.com), with a wide selection and quick turn-around on alteration. Bags and purses can be found in these same stores, and both get good reviews.
The high-end Prada and Gucci stores also offer finely crafted products, but you’ll be paying a lot for the name and their high-rent location. Moreover, if you’ve come all the way to Florence, you should probably buy something more unique than a name brand you can pick up in your hometown.
South of the Arno, John F. (Lungarno Corsini, 2; tel. 055-2398985; www.johnf.it) and Anna (Piazza Pitti, 38–41r; tel. 055-283787; www.annapitti.it) both offer butter-soft leather goods for men and women.
For more made-in-Florence accessorizing, head to Madova Gloves (Via Guicciardini 1r; tel. 055-2396526; www.madova.com). Gloves are all they do in this tiny shop, and they do them well. The grandchildren of the workshop’s founders do a brisk business in brightly colored, supple leather gloves lined with cashmere and silk.
Festive Florence
Florence has a number of annual festivals and events, some focused on the modern business of textiles and fashion. But the more entertaining ones have history as their theme.
The games of the Calico Storico are held in connection with the celebrations related to St. John the Baptist, Florence’s patron saint, on his feast day of June 24.
After parading through town in 16th-century costumes, teams from each of Florence’s four city quarters assemble in a dirt-filled Piazza Santa Croce. They then play a set of games said to have originated during a siege of Florence in 1530. If the Renaissance soldiers were as brutal as their modern descendants, the siege was probably broken quickly.
The games are a combination of rugby and soccer, as well as general mayhem, with teams—comprising 26 people––beating the daylights out of each other while trying to advance from one end of the square to the other. Qualifying matches are played in the 2 weeks prior to the 24th, with the final on the feast day.
The winning team, assuming they have any teeth left, enjoy a roasted calf as their prize, and then they watch that night’s fireworks with the rest of Florence. Tickets can be hard to come by for the bleachers in the squares (tel. 055-2616052), but the processions through town during the weeks approaching the finals are free.
The Scoppio Del Carro, or “Explosion of the Cart,” is Florence’s Easter festival, in which the descent of the Holy Spirit to earth is celebrated by blowing up a cart filled with fireworks. This creative interpretation of heaven meeting earth is said to have begun with a burning wagon pulled around town by returning crusaders, to bring the flame of Holy Saturday to Easter Sunday.
The modern buggy is hauled by six nervous bulls from Porta a Prato to the Duomo. In the piazza, a mechanical dove on a wire descends from up high to set the wagon (minus the relieved oxen) ablaze for a resulting explosion of holy spirits.
Moving to the secular, Florence’s notable music festival is the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (www.maggiofiorentino.com). It features opera, dance, theater, and orchestra performances at venues across town, including the Teatro Comunale, Teatro Verdi, the Palazzo dei Congressi, and several outdoor performances.
The season usually runs from May to early June. Tickets begin at €15 to €20 for the cheap seats at concert san ballets, €25 to €30 at the opera, up to €90 for the best seats at the marquee events. A semi-related opera season runs from September through January under the auspices of the same organization.
The Other Turin
To understand Italy—or at the very least to learn the stories behind Cavour, Garibaldi, Mazzini, Vittorio Emanuele II, Massimo d’Azeglio, and other people after whom most of the major streets and piazze in Italy are named—you need to brush up on the Risorgimento, the late 19th century movement that launched Italian unification.
\While any self-respecting town in Italy has a museum dedicated to it, Turin’s Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento (Via Accademia delle Scienze, 5; tel. 011-5621147; www.regione.piemonte.it/cultura/risorgimento; €5; Tues–Sun 9am–7pm) is the best of the bunch. After all, much of the history of Italy’s unification played out in this Turin palazzo, which was home to unified Italy’s first king,
Vittorio Emanuele II, and later became, in 1861, the seat of its first parliament. Documents, paintings, and other paraphernalia recount the heady days when Vittorio Emanuele II banded with General Garibaldi and his Red Shirts to oust the Bourbons from Sicily and the Austrians from the north to create a unified Italy.
The plaques describing the contents of each room are in English, and the last rooms house a fascinating collection that chronicles Italian fascism and the resistance against it, which evolved into the Partisan movement during World War II. Note that the museum will be closed for renovations, probably until sometime in late 2008.
As befits a city responsible for 80% of Italian car manufacturing, the Museo dell Automobile (Automobile Museum; Corso Unita d’Italia, 40; tel. 011-677666; www.museoauto.it; €5.50; Tues–Sun 10am–6:30pm) is a shiny collection of most of the cars that have done Italy proud over the years, including Lancias, Isotta Frashinis, and the Itala that came in first in the 1907 Peking-to-Paris rally.
Among the oddities is a roadster emblazoned with the initials nd, which Gloria Swanson drove in her role as faded movie queen Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard. The museum lies well south of the center; take Bus 34 or 35, or tram 1 or 18.
However, it, too, will remain closed for renovations until sometime in late 2008—in this case, a complete overhaul courtesy of the same folks who created the avant-garde Museum of Cinema in Mole Antonelliana, turning this car showcase into a much more sprightly and interactive modern museum.
But that’s just a museum, displaying a century’s worth of Fiats. To really get behind the scenes, get a glimpse of industrial Turin at its best on the 3– to 4-hour Turismo Industriale tours (run by the tourist office; 011-535181; www.turismotorino.org; €10; Mar–Dec 2, 4 times a month).
On a rotating schedule, this bus tour visits one of Turin’s top industrial or design firms—most frequently il grande Fiat itself (usually once a month), but also one of a quartet of pen makers (from Aurora’s classy engraved fountain pens to Lecce Pen’s famous biodegradable ballpoint) as well as a trio of top-notch design firms.
These include Bertoni (designing Fiats and Lancias since the 1920s—not to mention cars for MG, Maserati, Aston Martin, BWM, Volvo, Ferrari, and the incomparable Lamborghini Countach), Giugiaro (a firm that helped assemble the winning Olympic bid), and Pinin Farina (their 1947 Cisalpino high-bullet train was the first vehicle ever honored by New York’s MoMA as one of the “eight wonders of our time”).
The tourist office runs other tours, including a basic 90-minute Saturday morning “Giro Torino” tours around town at 10am, followed by a tour of the Egyptian museum at 11:30am (€8 for either tour alone, €10 for both). On the first, third, and fifth Saturdays of each month, these tours are in Italian and English, on the second and forth Saturdays in Italian and French.
The tourist office also offers intriguing themed walking tours on Saturday evenings for €8 each. The themes change around, but may include film locales (among others, the original The Italian Job was filmed here), contemporary art installations, a “Tasty Turin” tour of historic cafes, “Literary Turin” tours of places where Nietzsche, De Amicis, and Alfieri lived. The language shedule on these is reversed: in Italian and English the second and forth Saturdays of the month, Italian and French on the first, third, and fifth Saturday.
All of these tours depart at from the Atrium info pavilion on Piazza Solferino. Holders of the Turin Card get 20% to 25% off.
Somewhere (tel. 011-6680580; www.somewhere.it), a private tour agency, runs another series of guided tours. Get the dirt on the city’s secret side with either the 2-hour “Magic Turin” tour, which traces the city’s traditions of black and white magic (meet at Piazza Statuto; €20; Thurs and Sat at 9pm), or on the 3-hour “Underground Turin” tour, which takes you under the baroque palazzi to cellars, air-raid shelters, and other spaces laced with stories of mystery, intrigue, and murder (meet at Piazza Vittorio; €25; Fri 8:30pm).
Gourmands in a hurry might prefer the 2-hour “Delitram,” a gourmet meal, with a guide and a live sax player, aboard a trolley car converted into a roving restaurant (meet at Piazza Carlo Emanuele II; €45; Sat 9pm). There’s also a 2-hour shopping and culture tour of the historic center (meet at Piazza Savoia; €25; Sat 10am).
The Other Milan
Unlike other Italian cities, Milan doesn’t give much thought to tourism beyond its major sights.
Sure, it has a vibrant cultural scene; a busy schedule of events, exhibitions, and trade fairs; and a fashion industry that, outside of the boutiques, keeps itself behind closed doors and invitation-only parties.
But since most of Milan’s cultural events are conducted in Italian only, they’re a bit inaccessible to the visitor who doesn’t speak the language. Which brings us to our first way to break out of the tourist mold in Milan.
Parla Italiano?
Lots of foreigners come to Milan for business reasons, many on frequent visits or for stints of a few months or longer, so the city is better equipped than most with language schools—especially the kinds devoted to getting you up to speed quickly, teaching you how to get by in everyday conversation rather than mucking about for weeks with obscure verb conjugations.
All of these institutions and schools offer lengthy courses spread over many weeks or months; we’ll just mention the courses they offer that last a week or two and are thus better suited to tourists.
The Società Dante Alighieri (Via Napo Torrani, 10; tel. 02-6692816; www.societadantealighieri.org) has the benefit of the longest pedigree—it’s been around since 1889—and offers one-on-one lessons from €35 per hour (€40 per hour for two people).
The Scuola Leonardo da Vinci (Via Darwin, 20; tel. 02-83241002; www.scuolaleonardo.com) has been teaching Italian to foreigners since 1977; two weeks of 40 lessons in small classes (12 people max) cost €300.
The International House Milano (Piazza Erculea, 9; tel. 02-8057825; www.ihmilano.it) offers two levels of courses: standard (20 lessons per week) for 1 week (€198), 2 weeks (€349), or 3 weeks (€517), or intensive (28 lessons per week) for 1 week (€261), 2 weeks (€458), or 3 weeks (€689).
Attend Mass in an Historic Church
The Milanese may worship the almighty euro Monday to Friday, and pray for bargains on haute couture during Saturday-morning shopping sprees, but come Sunday they remember that they’re Italian—and Catholic—and show up for Mass.
As so much of Milan’s urban fabric is made up of gray, utilitarian architecture lining broad boulevards strung with tram lines and teeming with traffic, it comes as a bit of a shock to realize that the city is also home to some stupendous churches—a heritage from its 4th century role as a capital of Western Christianity.
On Sundays, dress to the nines (this is Milan, after all) and you can have your pick of churches for Mass, from the huge, echoing nave of the Gothic Duomo (Sun at 7, 8, 9:30, 10, and 11am and 12:30 and 5:30pm—plus lauds at 10:30am and vespers at 4pm), to that hidden jewel box of Renaissance architecture, Santa Maria presso S. Spirito (Sun at 10am or 6pm).
Perhaps the most evocative spaces, though, are those 4th-century churches just south of the center: the elegant Romanesque interior of Sant’Ambrogio (a popular place, with Sun Masses scheduled at 8, 10, and 11am—that one’s in Latin—and at 12:15, 6, and 7pm) or the ancient octagon of San Lorenzo Maggiore (Sun at 9:30am, 11:30am, and 6pm—or, for an odd experience, pop into the 4pm Mass in Tagalog; this church serves as a cultural center for Milan’s sizeable Filipino community).
Shop with the Locals
So many people come to Milan for the shopping, but so very few can afford the prices in the Quadrilatero d’Oro boutiques. That’s why the real Milanesi don’t bother buying there; they just window-shop and pause for see-and-be-seen drinks at Cova.
When it actually comes time to break out the credit cards, most Milanesi head instead for two neighborhoods where prices are cheap, stock shops abound, and mid-priced middle-class goods take precedence over Prada and Armani designs.
To the northwest of the historic center lies the neighborhood for true bargain hunters, the grid of streets southeast of the train station surrounding the broad Corso Buenos Aires (follow Via Vitruvio from Piazza Duca d’Aosta in front of the station; Metro stops Lima and Loreto are the gateways to this bargain stretch).
This wide boulevard is home to a little bit of everything, from shops that hand-sew men’s dress shirts to CD megastores. As it crosses Piazza Oberdan/Piazza Venezia heading south, it becomes Corso Venezia and the stores start moving up the scale. It is liens with literally hundreds of shops, bars, and boutiques.
You can take a virtual tour of many of its shops, complete with loads of photographs, at www.milanomia.com/VIA/CORSOBUENOSAIRES/CORSOBUENOSAIRES.htm
There are loads of stock shops and discounters in the neighborhood from here to the central train station. For designer shoes at a discount, look no further than Rufus (Via Vitruvio, 35; tel. 02-2049648; Metro: Centrale F.S. or Lima), which carries men’s and women’s styles from lots of labels for under €100.
Fashion Outlet (Via Vittor Pisani, 12/A; tel. 02-67380150; www.fashionoutlet-italia.com; Meto: Centrale F.S. or Piazza delle Repubblica) offers 40% to 80% off men’s and women’s fashions from such labels as Fendi, Prada, D&G, Armani, Gucci, Roberto Cavalli, and Calvin Klein.
Spacci Bassetti (Via Procaccini, 32; tel. 02-3450125; www.bassetti.it; Metro: Garibaldi F.S., but closer on tram 33 or 94) is a discount outlet of the august Bassetti line of high-quality linen, and the huge space offers the luxurious towels and sheets at excellent prices. They also have regular (non-discount) stores at Corso Buenos Aires, 52 (tel. 02-29400048; Metro: Lima), and Corso Genova, 20 (tel. 02-58104149; Metro: Porta Romana), near the Navigli.
The other hunting ground for discount fashions is south of the historic center in the Navigli district (starting at the south end of Corso di Porta Ticinese; Metro to Porta Genova, or trams to Piazza XXIV Maggio). Shops in this trendy and developing district have a tendency to open and close on a monthly basis, making it tough to single many out, but it’s well worth wandering the streets, especially those along either of the two main canals.
One stalwart that seems here to stay, Biffi (Corso Genova, 6; tel. 02-83116052; Metro: San Agostino) attracts fashion-conscious hordes of both sexes in search of designer labels and the store’s own designs at a discount.
