Italy: Florence is still one of the finest cities

Nicky Swallow

Florence: March 30 2024 was a sunny Easter Saturday in Florence. In historic Piazza del Duomo, preparations were being made for the Scoppio del Carro (the Explosion of the Cart), the centuries-old ritual that features a parade of costumed flag-throwers and musicians, a towering cart laden with fireworks, a mechanical dove and lots of noise.

At 11am sharp, the dove would be shot along a wire from the High Altar in the Duomo; according to local lore, if it ignited the fireworks, there would be a bumper harvest.

It was one of the busiest weekends of the year, and the Unesco-protected centro storico was heaving. Bridges were blocked by tourists taking selfies and gawping at their TikTok feeds; bike tours and golf carts snarled up the traffic; and there was barely a table to be had at any of the restaurants. Among the residents, there was a feeling of déjà vu. Few of us have an appetite for another summer season like the last.

Florence has come in for a lot of criticism recently, with articles appearing in the foreign press highlighting the impact of 2023’s estimated 11 million visitors on the historic city and its inhabitants. With numbers expected to exceed that this year, the issue of over-tourism – especially of the “mordi e fuggi” (hit and run) variety which contributes virtually nothing by way of revenue – is a hot topic.

Residents are leaving the centro storico in their droves, driven out by escalating rents and the scarcity of available housing. Whole palazzi are being converted into short-term lets (it’s said that 29 per cent of apartments in the centre are now given over to Airbnbs), while real estate is being scooped up at inflated prices by re-locating foreigners leaving hollowed-out neighbourhoods and a sense of anger – and loss – among residents.

Small shops – reliant on local trade for survival – are being forced to close, only to be replaced by outlets selling focaccia, fast-food, mass-produced gelato or tacky souvenirs. The streets in the city centre are so jammed with people and traffic that navigating daily life has become a serious problem.

And yet…Florence, cradle of the Italian Renaissance and home to an estimated 30 per cent of the world’s art treasures, is still a ravishing mix of artistic and architectural wonders and quintessential “Italian-ness” that, in spite of the bad press, richly deserves its place on anyone’s bucket list.

It is buzzing with revamped galleries and museums, a glut of new hotels, restaurants and cocktail bars and exciting urban regeneration projects, such as the multi-functional creative spaces at erstwhile tobacco factory Manifattura Tabacchi.

Extended pedestrianised zones make wandering around the city centre a much more pleasant experience, new tram lines improving the accessibility of outlying neighbourhoods are under construction, and plans to extend the runway at Peretola airport to handle more flights seem likely to move ahead. The newly designed terminal building will even sport a vineyard on its roof.

And though the volume of tourists may be a challenge, there are ways to mitigate the problem when planning your visit. For starters, choose your dates carefully. If you come first and foremost to see art, do it in winter (Christmas holidays aside, December to February are the best months).

For sunnier weather, choose the so-called shoulder seasons (early spring or late autumn), and pre-book time slots to visit the principal galleries at the end of the day when most people will be leaving. You can always go back for a second visit if necessary. Avoid the first Sunday of the month when many museums are free, and Tuesdays when the cruise ships dock in Livorno, disgorging thousands of passengers onto coaches heading for David and the Duomo. Until December 27, the Uffizi will stay open on Tuesdays until 10pm, long after the cruisers have returned to their ships.

More extreme still? Consider side-stepping the big hitters altogether. While the masses queue under the baking sun to score a selfie in front of the world’s most famous nude statue, wonders such as the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo, the Bargello and the Museo di San Marco remain largely ignored, even in high season.

Winkle out off-radar gems like Andrea del Sarto’s Last Supper painting in San Salvi, Perugino’s Crucifix in Santa Maria Maddalena dei Pazzi and the wonderfully eclectic – and eccentric – private collections in the Stibbert and Bardini museums. There is enough to keep an art buff happy in Florence for several weeks without going anywhere near the main galleries.

The city’s eating and drinking scene is flourishing, with young chefs riffing on their culinary roots in a wave of new-generation osterias, increasingly in out-of-the-way locations where you’ll find a neighbourhood vibe, reasonable prices and a predominance of Italian being spoken.

If you want to stay in the thick of things, there are plenty of excellent, centrally located hotels and short-term lets to choose from of course – but a B&B or apartment outside the city walls will offer a much more local take on Florentine life. Le Cure, Piazza Beccaria, Campo di Marte and Gavinana are all lively neighbourhoods with good transport links and bustling markets, along with plenty of small shops, bars and restaurants where Italian remains the dominant language.

On June 8 and 9, the Florentines will go to the polls to elect a new Sindaco (mayor) with the issue of over-tourism and its complex knock-on effects among the hottest topics on the table.

Most feel that outgoing mayor Dario Nardella’s move to ban new Airbnbs in the centro storico was a case of way too little way too late, but will the media-savvy, German-born ex-director of the Uffizi gallery Eike Schmidt, whose candidacy is supported by PM Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing coalition, be able to convince the traditionally left-leaning Fiorentini that he’s their man?

In a recent interview with The Times, he declared that he was “on a mission to save this city”, adding that he had decided to run “because I love Florence with all my heart and cannot see it treated badly”.

His desire is to make Florence magnificent again. Fine words, but are they enough? We’ll soon find out.