Go out in Florence

Florence, the capital of Tuscany, is also the Italian capital of Renaissance, culture, art and good cuisine. Between a visit at the Uffizi and the Duomo, a walk on the Arno riverside, or a delicious meal with typical Tuscan dishes, it’s one of the most visited cities in Italy because of its vast cultural heritage. It features some of the best art and fashion schools in the world and is considered as one of the liveliest student cities of Italy. It has a lot to offer during the day, as well as at night, with many restaurants, bars and clubs where to spend your evening. Being a city full of tourists, restaurants here open quite early but generally, people in Florence have lunch around 1 pm and dinner around 8 pm, the usual Italian timings. Bars fill up around 6 pm for the famous “aperitivo”, during which you can enjoy a nice drink while tasting delicious Tuscan finger food. After dinner instead, they usually get crowded by 10 pm and are open until 1 or 2 am, the moment when who wants to carry on living the night moves to clubs. These stay open until 5 or 6 am, depending on where they are. After parties are not so common in Florence and usually people meet up in houses and go on until the early afternoon. As in every other city, there are some rules to respect, which are often just common-sense rules. Being full of artistic heritage, if you’re in the city center don’t leave your drinks on the street and don’t make too much noise, the neighborhood wouldn’t be happy. Don’t get too drunk either, or at least don’t show it when you’re walking around, you might get into the radar of the police and get into trouble.

Florence offers a lot in terms of music. You can’t miss a night of jazz, blues, soul, swing or funk live music while sipping good Chianti wine in one of the numerous wineries, nor can you miss one of the great electronic music events, if you’re into this music genre. Over the past years, it has become one of the most important Italian cities in terms of clubbing. Hits, hip hop and reggaeton set the pace in the most commercial venues, always full, especially with Erasmus students and tourists. Bars and clubs are located all around the town, especially in the historical city center. The most frequented areas are those of Piazza della Signoria, Santa Croce and Oltrarno, near the Arno river, with alleys full of restaurants, bars and places where you can enjoy your evening starting from dinner and going until the early hours of the morning. Among the bars which deserve a mention there are Cafè de Paris, with its Sundays of live music, Slowly Cafè, where you can enjoy exotic food and also DJ sets after dinner, Rifrullo, in a historical fifteenth-century building which offers Sunday brunches and evenings with music, Kitsch, one of the best places where to meet up with friends and have the “aperitivo”, Zoe Bar, with art exhibitions and house music, Le Giubbe Rosse and Paszkowki, both historical and in Piazza delle Reppublica, and also Baraka Cafè, The William Pub, Caffè Gilli, Casa del Vino and Le Volpi e L’Uva. In terms of clubbing, if you like electronic music you have to absolutely go to Tenax. It has made of Florence one of the most important cities in Italy for clubbing, hosting events with international DJs such as Loco Dice, Marco Carola, Chris Liebing, Nina Kraviz and many more. All around the year, but especially in summer, keep an eye on the events of Lattexplus which are usually organized in some exclusive locations such as Limonaia di Villa Strozzi. Other places to have fun at night are YAB, frequented especially by students and young people, Manduca and Momà, two of the most famous clubs in Florence, Otel Varietè, with its famous “aperishow” and its summer version Flò Lounge Bar, Space Club, near the Santa Maria Novella Station, Jazz Club Firenze, with its underground style and its jazz, blues, swing and funk live performances, Bamboo Lounge Club, where to enjoy the best hip hop rhythm, and also Rex, Moyo, Auditorium Flog, Colle Bereto, Dolce Vita, Club 21 (ex Andromeda), Full Up Club, Babylon Club, Blue Velvet.

Going out in Florence can be more or less expensive, it always depends on where you decide to go. To eat, unless you choose to go to the famous Enoteca Pinchiorri (and unless, of course, your pockets can afford it…), a lunch or a dinner will cost you between 15€ and 35€. For a delicious Fiorentina steak, you might even pay 50€, but if you like meat it’s really worth it. Drinking in the most sophisticated places of the city will cost around 10€ per cocktail, especially in the center, but in general you can find drinks starting from 4€, 5€ and beers starting from 3€. To go clubbing, depending on where you go, on the line up and the type of event, will cost starting from 10€ and may get to over 30€ if the guest is an international headliner DJ. Once in the club, the cloakroom will cost around 3€ and the drinks 10€. Some venues on top of the entry fee might also require a card, which is usually never over 6€.

Florence is one of the fashion cities of Italy. As already mentioned, it has some of the best fashion schools in the world, and every year Pitti Image sets the trends of the upcoming season. Said so, many people here like to get well dressed and follow their style, but when it comes to going out, as usual your outfit should fit the place where you have decided to go. The commercial and cool places will require a bit of a more curated dress code, a shirt and elegant shoes for him and a nice dress and high heels for her; while the underground venues are generally easy-going and won’t set too many limits. Just put your most comfortable shoes and get ready to live the night.