Best Shopping Neighborhoods in Florence

Florence has been a city of artisans since the medieval guilds controlled its streets, and that tradition of making beautiful things by hand survives in workshops, leather studios, and boutiques that make shopping here fundamentally different from most European cities.

Leather is the obvious draw, but quality varies enormously. Avoid the San Lorenzo street market stalls selling goods imported from elsewhere and instead visit the workshops. Scuola del Cuoio (Leather School) inside the Santa Croce complex lets you watch artisans work and sells bags, journals, and accessories made on-site. Benheart on Via della Vigna Nuova does contemporary leather jackets and bags. In the Oltrarno, small workshops along Via dei Serragli and Borgo San Frediano still make and repair leather goods to order.

The Oltrarno is the artisan soul of the city. Via Maggio is lined with antique dealers and restoration workshops. Pitti Mosaici on Piazza dei Pitti makes pietra dura -- the Florentine art of inlaid stone -- using techniques unchanged since the Renaissance. Wooden frame makers, gilders, and bookbinders work in workshops you can often peer into from the street.

For fashion, Via de' Tornabuoni is Florence's luxury street -- Gucci was founded here, and Ferragamo's flagship occupies a medieval palazzo. But the more interesting fashion shopping is on Via della Vigna Nuova and the streets connecting to it, where smaller Italian labels and independent boutiques offer style without the logo premium.

The San Lorenzo Mercato Centrale upper floor has curated food stalls, but for actual food shopping, the ground floor vendors and the Sant'Ambrogio market are more authentic. Eataly in the former train station space stocks the best of Italian food products. For olive oil, visit an oleoteca -- the shops dedicated to Tuscan olive oil where you can taste before buying.

Paper and stationery are a Florentine specialty. Il Papiro makes marbled paper using traditional techniques, and Pineider near Piazza della Signoria has been selling fine stationery since 1774.