While Cinque Terre was my must-see for our tour of Italy, Florence was the place for the Kiwi. He was drawn to the history, the art, and, yes, the food. I can safely say that he was not disappointed and neither was I. Florence was simply amazing–and full of tasty places to grab a bite.

photo by the Kiwi

Based on Lauren from Aspiring Kennedy’s glowing recommendation, the first place we headed to upon our arrival in Florence was Trattoria ZaZa. They have an entire truffle menu, folks. An entire menu. In comparison the only thing we get full menus of in Germany is asparagus. {Keep on with your truffles ZaZa.}

It was also just down the street from the apartment we had rented, so since it was so convenient, we ended up eating there more than was strictly necessary. Sure we tried other places, but its hard to beat fried polenta with truffle wild boar sauce or spaghetti carbonara with truffle seasoning. Or pizza with truffle cheese. Or baked herbed rabbit with steamed spinach and garlic. Or truffle french fries. Can you tell we were fans? If you only eat at one place in Florence, eat here. You won’t regret it.

Somewhere I read about a stand in the Mercato Centrale called Nerbone that we absolutely had to try, and since it was within spiting distance of Trattoria ZaZa, we really had no excuse. This place has been going since 1872, and whatever they have that day, is what they have. It’s the luck of the draw. I love places like that because, let’s be real, folks wouldn’t take the risk if it wasn’t all delicious. The line was long, but totally, totally worth it just for a bite of their shaved pork sandwich, roasted pork {with crackling} and bread skewer, and some delicious fresh pesto pasta.

This last place we found by accident. We had been trying really hard all week to make it to this place called Zeb by the city wall near Piazza Michelangelo. We went back three different times and they were closed each time. Real bummer too because I heard it was so good. But anyway. Each time we tried to go there we walked by this place, Bevo Vino, that had the best looking Aperol spritzes I had ever seen. It was always busy with Italians sipping and eating this comfy little cafe. On our last day we struck out again at Zeb, so we decided to give this place a go. It was lunch so the place wasn’t as chocka as we had seen it previously in fact we pretty much had it to ourselves, but y’all the food was so good! I had a sandwich on warm focaccia with with cream cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and capers. The Kiwi ordered the summer parmigiana which consisted of layers of grilled eggplant, thick slices of mozzarella, and juicy tomatoes sprinkled with basil. Yum!

{other Florence tips}

Get the FirenzeCard. Just do it. It’s good for 72 hours and gets you into pretty much everything, you don’t have to make reservations, and you get to skip the lines in most places. It also gets you free wifi.

Climb all the stairs. We did the Duomo {stairs}, the bell tower, the Palazzo Vecchio tower, and climbed up to the Piazza Michelangelo. The views are stunning, and you’ll work off all that tasty, tasty food you’ve been eating.

Don’t miss the Galileo Museum. Things like the Duomo, the Uffizi, and Palazzo Vecchio are a given, but the Galileo Museum is a gem for science lovers.

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