Florence Walking Tour & visit to the Central Market with tastings

If you want to explore a different side of Florence, avoiding typical itineraries, our ‘Florence Walking Tour & visit to the Central Market with tastings’ is the best choice for you! This original food and Wine tasting itinerary in Tuscany includes a pleasant walk around the streets of Florence accompanied by an experienced local guide, a visit to the large Florence Central Market and, last but not least, tastings of three excellent Italian POD products.

• Our tasting tour of Florence – Italy - starts from PIAZZA SANTA MARIA NOVELLA, one of the most beautiful and important squares of the Tuscan capital city and a popular tourist destination, especially for its Dominican Basilica which towers over the whole area with its splendid Renaissance façade. The two marble obelisks positioned at the two opposite sides of the Piazza once delimited the ‘Palio dei Cocchi’ race area: an ancient race between carriages. The obelisks rest on four bronze turtle statues attributed to Giambologna and hold a golden lily on top, a symbol of the city of Florence. Another important building in the square is the San Paolo hospital, built in the 13th century and now the location of the Museo del Novecento, containing a selection of contemporary works of art: you will definitely be impressed by its splendid Loggia where, in between columns, you can admire terracotta reliefs by Andrea della Robbia. 

• After leaving Santa Maria Novella square, our food and wine tasting itinerary in Florence will get into full swing by visiting one of the most peculiar parts of Florence, the CENTRAL MARKET, built in 1874 and comprising of an original iron and glass structure. The first floor was opened in 2014 and contains many artisan workshops and more than 500 seats to taste the locally produced delicacies. The wholesomeness and freshness of products such as fish, bread, pastries, fruit and vegetables, sandwiches, cheese and ice cream, have helped breathe new life into one of the most significant and vital areas in Florence.
  The secret to this success? The genuineness of the products! Not only must all operators undergo a rigorous quality check, but all the served dishes are also prepared exclusively using food provisions from the stores within the market itself. The tastings at the Florence Central Market are always appreciated by visitors since they make it possible to discover and taste the excellence of the best Italian POD products (Protected Designation of Origin) in a location that manages to bring together the modernity of the place with the authenticity and tradition of the dishes being offered. This is precisely where the first tasting session of our tour will take place, based on ‘Cantuccini’ - crunchy almond biscuits - and ‘Vinsanto’ - sweet dessert wine produced in Tuscany. 

• Our taste tour of Florence continues with the external visit to the CHURCH OF SAN LORENZO, constructed by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1419: the external facade has remained unfinished because the one built by Michelangelo was never added and today can be viewed at the Museum of Casa Buonarroti. Inside there are two bronze pulpits - used by Savonarola for his heated sermons - and other works by Donatello and, inside the Medici Chapels, the remains of the most important members of the Medici family.
  Through a beautiful curved stone staircase you reach the Laurenziana Library which houses the lecterns designed by Michelangelo, the galleries and the Tribolo ceiling. 

• A must-stop of our tasting itinerary of Florence and its traditional products is undoubtedly the CATHEDRAL COMPLEX: you will definitely be amazed by the marvellous architecture! Accompanied by our guide, you will admire the exterior of the Baptistery of San Giovanni, characterized by white and green marble cladding, by the beautiful bronze door by Ghiberti and the dome with eight segments.
  In front of the Baptistery there is the symbol of Florence, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, commissioned in 1296 by Arnolfo di Cambio and enriched inside with precious sculptures, frescoes and marble floors made with the contribution of artists such as Giorgio Vasari, Paolo Uccello and Andrea del Castagno.
  The Cathedral Dome by Brunelleschi, completed at the end of the seventeenth century, houses the largest mural cycle with sacred subjects ever made.
  This exciting stop will end by admiring the Campanile, a splendid example of 14th century Gothic architecture, conceived and initiated by Giotto in 1334. After the death of the Master, the construction work was entrusted to Andrea Pisano - who fortunately managed to remain faithful to the original design – and completed by Francesco Talenti in 1359. Embellished by external lozenge decorations made by Alberto Arnoldi and by numerous statues created by the greatest Florentine masters, Giotto's Campanile is considered the most beautiful bell tower in Italy.

• Our wine tasting itinerary - Italy - will then continue in PIAZZA DELLA REPUBBLICA, which owes its current rectangular shape to urban modernization which took place in the years when the city was capital of Italy (1865-1871). In the same period, to allow for the construction of wide avenues, the historic thirteenth-century walls that framed Florence were unfortunately demolished: in some paintings and prints preserved in the Museum Firenze Com’Era, you can see what the Square looked like in ancient times. 

• The next stop will be in front of the CHURCH OF ORSANMICHELE that has a truly original story, having been built as a lodge for the corn market. With 14 shrines located on the outside and made by masters of the likes of Brunelleschi and Donatello, it is considered one of the most characteristic churches in Florence... if you want to find out more, you just have to take part in our Florence tasting itinerary of typical products! 

• Last but not least, the tour will stop at the PONTE VECCHIO- a symbol of Florence - which once enabled the Medici family to move safely from Palazzo Vecchio to Palazzo Pitti without having to go through the streets of the city. Above the bridge, in addition to the numerous goldsmith shops, there is a part of the Vasari Corridor, built by Giorgio Vasari in 1565, which houses not only a valuable collection of paintings of the '600s and' 700s of the Uffizi gallery, but also a number of self-portraits of the most important artists of the period between the sixteenth and the twentieth century. 

• In the midst of such great art, however, let's not forget another peculiarity of Florence and of the whole of Tuscany: food and wine! After the first culinary stop at the Mercato Centrale, the second tasting, based on Finocchiona, pecorino cheese, cold meat and Chianti wine, will take place in a charming place in the city centre, while the final tasting will be held in an exclusive location where you will be offered the renowned Pappa al pomodoro and Ribollita, both typical dishes of Tuscan home cooking. 

Among the wine tasting tours in Florence, choose our tour ‘Florence Walking Tour & visit to the Central Market with tastings’ ': you will admire the most famous places of the Tuscan capital and enjoy high quality food... a real joy for the eyes and palate!