Evening in Florence - sightseeing, food & wine tour - 3 hours

Taste your way through Florence and meet bakers, chefs and local food enthusiasts along the way. This delicious tour lasts three hours and will introduce you to some of the best known (and less well-known) delicacies of the region. With five stops along the way, plenty of Tuscan wine, a traditional dinner with Florentine steak and a friendly and knowledgeable guide who is passionate about the local cuisine, this tour is the perfect way to immerse yourself in Florentine food culture.

You tour starts in Piazza della Signoria, the artistic centre of Florence. Your guide will give you a brief introduction to the Piazza, centre of political life in Florence since the 1300s, and of course to Michelangelo’s David.

Your first stop will be to sample some of the delicacies that originate in the poor or working class tradition. This style of cooking ‘of the people’ developed to make the most of what little was affordable and included using as much as possible of an animal. The famous lampredotto (tripe) sandwich remains to this day a popular street food in Florence, and you will get to sample this and the simple dish pappa al pomodoro, plus a selection of cured meats along with a glass of local wine.

You will then cross the Ponte Vecchio, the centuries old shop-lined bridge over the River Arno. Originally where butchers, fishmongers and tanners plied their trade, the overwhelming stink in the area prompted Ferdinand I to proclaim in 1593 that only jewellers would be allowed to set up shop on the bridge. Some of the most important jewellers’ shops in Florence are still there.

Next on the itinerary is an exceptional wine bar where you will taste two types of fine Tuscan wine. You will also taste some truffle and crostini, and get a chance to mine your guide for more information and recipe advice.

Passing through lively Piazza Santo Spirito, known as one of the most picturesque in Florence and well worth another visit during the day, you will come to one of the best bakeries in Florence. This is a family-run business where you will get to sample cantucci, the famous biscuits of Prato, and maybe buy a bag to take home with you!

A food tour of Florence couldn’t leave out pasta or steak, so your sit-down meal in a historic tavern will start with a pasta dish, to be followed with the wonderfully flavoursome and tender bistecca alla Fiorentina (Florentine steak)* which you will watch being cooked and which should be served rare.

*If your group consists of three people or fewer you may be served tagliata, a delicious juicy thick cut of beef.

Your tour wouldn’t be complete without Italian ice cream, so your last delicious stop is at a chart-topping gelateria for a refreshing after-dinner sweet.