Oh, Florence, Italy—I have so many mixed feelings. One thing I can tell you about summer in Florence is that it’s hot. And the apartments don’t have air conditioning. The incessant stench of cigarette smoke is unpleasant, to say the least, and there are hardly any trees.
Yet, there’s a certain charm to this place—there are the dreamy nights and the succo d’arancia (orange juice)—so now that I’ve left, I find myself with a soft spot for a place I once loathed.
I was visiting a friend studying abroad here and while I may not have fallen head over heels for this city, I still had so much fun. These were my favorite moments in Florence.
the city at night | florence, italy
Exploring Florence at night is something else. During the day, it’s sweltering, reeks of cigarettes, is full of swindlers, and is stressful to navigate the streets around the chaos of people, motorbikes, and cars. But at night, oh, Florence is like a dream.
At night, Florence is calm and warm with a cool breeze. The streets are softly lit by the warm glow of the street lamps and there are small groups of people happily chatting on the sidewalks and the benches and the staircases. It’s lovely.
And so, I became nocturnal here.
Every night around 7 pm I’d leave my apartment for the day. From there on out, I’d end up doing some combination of grabbing food, exploring the streets, and going out with friends.
Even the buildings are prettier at night. In the picture above, that’s the Duomo Cathedral. The picture doesn’t do it justice. It’s a giant. It’s so big I had to hold onto a pole to look at it without getting queasy.
Also, I feel it’s important to mention, the streets were so safe at night. There are definitely places in the world where this nocturnal lifestyle wouldn’t work out very well, but luckily Florence isn’t one of them.
There were many times when it was just me and one other girl, or even sometimes I was completely alone, walking home at 4 am and I never had any issues with creepiness, catcalling, or anything of the sort. In fact, there’s no one loitering on the streets at all—not at this time of night. Everyone who is out is headed somewhere with a destination and therefore mind their own business.
ponte vecchio
Man, this bridge is so cool. It’s the only bridge in Florence left standing from before WWII, and it was built around 1340—which makes it almost 700 years old! I had the most surreal feeling standing here, that specific feeling where suddenly you realize how vast time is and how small we are amongst it all.
It’s normally insanely crowded, the type where you can barely move, but if you visit at night you’ll have it mostly to yourself. The later the better—I went at 4 am.
boboli gardens
Throughout my entire week in Florence, I only truly ventured out in daylight once. That was to see the Boboli Gardens with my friend—and we only lasted 20 minutes. But alas, we did see some cool things.
The greenery was gorgeous and I was so happy to hug a tree after I hadn’t seen any in days. I also really liked seeing some of the ancient statues, even a beheaded one which was…interesting.
Oh! And we saw this huge pearlescent orb that was called the “Secret of the Sky”. It was almost double my height and I have so many questions as to its origin.
via reggio
One of my favorite experiences wasn’t even in Florence at all—it was in Via Reggio. In need of touching grass, or in this case, sand, my friend and I skipped off to the beach as soon as we could catch a train out of the city.
First off, the town was so cute. The buildings were painted in shades of pastel pinks and yellows and vibrant flowers decorated the balconies. The main street by the beach was lined with shops ranging from local gelato to luxury apparel.
At first glance, the beach has a very commercial look to it. It’s meticulously organized with hundreds of rows of umbrellas and chairs. Technically the rule is that if you sit in one of these chairs you’re supposed to pay a fee of anything from €30-70. Private beaches aren’t really my thing, so I ended up sitting on the sand in the 5-foot area near the water that is free. It was much comfier and no one bothers you, it’s great.
The natural elements were amazing. The sea breeze was refreshing, and the sand was so soft and fluffy that by the end of the night, I was lying in it and making sand angels. And the best part of all, the sunset was stunning. It was hands down the best sunset of my life.
Now I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t go back here. The town’s vibe was quite cold, bordering unfriendly, and it was uncomfortable to be there. The “privateness” of the beach takes away from that laid-back feeling that beaches are supposed to have. It wasn’t fun until later in the day when the hotel portion on the beaches closed down and it was only the sunset watchers left on the beach.
red garter
Going out at night in Florence is so much fun. I had more fun going out than I did doing anything else in the city. Everyone is so nice, easygoing, and open to making friends in these spaces. I met so many people just by being lost together and looking for the next best place to go.
We went to many different bars and clubs, but out of them all I highly recommend Red Garter. It wins amongst them all because it’s a karaoke bar!
And it’s an amazing one at that. There’s this 5-foot tall stage with two TVs on either side to show the lyrics of the song so the crowd can sing along. My friend and I sang “What Makes You Beautiful” and it was one of my favorite moments in Florence. It was so, so much fun. I’d fly to Florence in a heartbeat just to go here again.
The drinks are also great. The shots are sweet and go down easy and so do the mixed drinks. My favorite was the Vodka Lemonade—sweet and refreshing and perfect for summer.
florence’s food
I can’t talk about a place I’ve visited without talking about the food. Now that I’m thinking back, I didn’t eat much because it was so hot and my place didn’t have air conditioning, but I do remember a couple of really good meals.
If you’re ever in Florence, please go to Raw Vegan Firenze. I had the best smoothie bowl of my life here. Also, the woman who works there is the sweetest and she helped us pick the best smoothie bowl flavors. I decided on the Piña Colada smoothie bowl and I added spinach because it’d been a little too long since I’d had a vegetable. This bowl is made up of banana, pineapple, coconut, lime, and mint and it is so, so good.
One night when I’d only had a bowl of yogurt and granola and two peanut butter sandwiches all day, I decided to order takeout. And I’m so glad I did. I ordered the Extra Rice Bowl with the Signoria dressing from Base V Juicery. It’s got black rice, baby spinach, arugula, tofu, mushrooms, hummus, and cherry tomatoes in it. I’m not even usually a salad person but this was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. It was so fresh and had the perfect balance of flavors.
grocery shopping in florence
While Paris had more vegan, gluten-free options at the grocery store, I have to say Florence’s, albeit few options, were simply better. The granola I bought was better than any I’ve ever had. I don’t know what they put in it but it was like crack. It was perfectly sweetened with these little chocolate chucks, that in my sweltering apartment were just slightly melted which made it all that much better.
Oh, and the orange juice! The freshly squeezed orange juice was hands down my favorite experience in all of Florence. At the grocery store I frequented there was a juicer filled with fresh, plump oranges local to Italy, and you could fill up your own little jug to take home. And oh, I did, as often as I could. If I ever won the lottery, I’d have a fridge full of this juice.
arno sunrise & farewell florence
This was the most magical morning of my entire stay. I had just had the craziest night of my life and instead of going to sleep, we decided to catch the sunrise on the Arno River.
Being nocturnal certainly has its perks.
There was something so fun about watching commuters and runners pass me on the bridge—they were starting their day as I was ending mine.
This was my last sunrise in Florence, a special moment where I saw another side of the city, and found a bit of love for a place I once loathed.
If you’d like to see more photos from my trip to Florence, I have a whole board dedicated to it on my Pinterest.
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