Out and about in Florence

Last updated at 11:48 31 January 2003


Ryanair

(www.ryanair.com) flies to Pisa from Stansted twice a day. It takes just under two hours and costs from £29.99 return. A week's car hire from Hertz costs from £137 (Tel: 08708 484 848; www.hertz.co.uk).

WHAT TO DO

Spend an afternoon at the Uffizi, which houses all the greats of Italian painting - including Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Titian. Marvel at Michelangelo's giant David in the Galleria dell'Accademia. Visit the gardens of the Pitti Palace. Go to Santa Croce for Giotto's frescoes. Climb to the top of Brunelleschi's Duomo to work off all that wild boar sausage. Travel to nearby towns Lucca, Siena and Pisa.

SHOPPING

Via de' Tornabuoni has all the big fashion names such as Ferragamo and Gucci. There are great stationers, including Il Torchio, 17 Via de' Bardi, selling leather-bound diaries and photo albums. For cheeses, head to the Mercato Centrale, Piazza del Mercato Centrale, Europe's largest food market. For wine, try Zanobini, 47 Via Sant'Antonino.

RESTAURANTS

Logli Mario, 1 Via di Carteano, Prato, a local restaurant where you can eat a five-course meal for less than £20 per head. The bean soups and meat dishes are perfect winter fodder. La Fontanelle, Via Traversa il Crocifisso, Prato, the most upmarket restaurant in Prato, specialising in seafood. Belle Donne, 16 Via delle Belle Donne, a cosy restaurant which serves perfect Florentine bistecce. Al Lume di Candela, 23 Via delle Terme, a good-value restaurant near the Uffizi which serves delicious home-made ravioli. Enoteca Pinchiorri, 87 Via Ghibellina. Florence's finest restaurant, this has two Michelin stars and a 60,000-bottle wine cellar. Zà-Zà, 26 Piazza del Mercato Centrale, famed for its classic Tuscan cuisine.

HOTELS

Brunelleschi, 3 Piazza Santa Elisabetta, a designer hotel built around a Byzantine chapel with its very own museum. Hermitage, Vicolo Marzio, if you want a view of the Arno, this is the place to stay. Porta Rossa, 19 Via Porta Rossa, one of the oldest and most atmospheric hotels in Florence. Stendhal and Byron both visited. Costantini, 13 Via dei Calzaiuoli, simple but right in the centre of the city.

CELEBRITIES

Tuscany, and Florence in particular, attracts a whole host of celebrities. The authors Stendhal and EM Forster were both in thrall to the city. Tony Blair and his family often holiday in the region - they once stayed in Geoffrey Robinson's £3-million villa, Il Mucchio. Anthony Hopkins filmed Hannibal and Helena Bonham Carter and Daniel Day-Lewis - who owns a villa in Tuscany - filmed A Room with a View here. Roberto Cavalli studied art here. When Naomi Campbell and Bill Crosby visit, they eat at Zà-Zà. Sting, Muriel Spark and the Duchess of York all own villas nearby - the Duchess became a regular visitor when she started her five-year relationship with Count Gaddo della Gherardesca (she has now bought the Santa Lorica estate). Gwyneth Paltrow, Kenneth Branagh, Keanu Reeves and Kate Beckinsale have all visited.

Most watched News videos

Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.