Oltrarno Neighbourhood
Cross the Arno via any bridge other than Ponte Vecchio and you enter Oltrarno — the 'other side of the Arno' — a neighbourhood of working artisan workshops, neighbourhood wine bars called botteghine, and streets that feel genuinely Florentine rather than stage-managed for tourism.
Artisan Workshops and Design
Via Maggio and the streets radiating from Piazza Santo Spirito are lined with botteghe where craftspeople restore antique furniture, bind books by hand, make picture frames using 16th-century gilding techniques and hand-print fabric. Many welcome visitors to watch — just ask politely at the door.
Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella on the north bank is famous, but in Oltrarno you will find smaller perfumers, leather workers and ceramicists selling directly from their studios at a fraction of the tourist-shop prices across the river.
Eating and Drinking in Oltrarno
Piazza Santo Spirito is the neighbourhood's living room — a shaded square with a daily morning market and a cluster of bars where locals drink Aperol spritz at outdoor tables from late afternoon. Trattoria Sabatino on Via Pisana is a cash-only, no-reservations lunch spot where a full three-course meal costs under €15 and the clientele is almost entirely local.
Enoteca Pitti Gola e Cantina, directly facing Palazzo Pitti, has an extraordinary list of natural Tuscan wines available by the glass. Sit outside as the afternoon light hits the ochre palazzo walls opposite — it is one of the most beautiful aperitivo moments in Italy.
Oltrarno Neighbourhood on video
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