Mercato Centrale
Two floors of sensory overload in a soaring 19th-century cast-iron hall near San Lorenzo: the ground floor is a working food market for locals, the upper floor a buzzing street-food hall where you can eat extraordinarily well for very little money. Come hungry.
Ground Floor: Where Florence Shops
The ground floor has operated as Florence's primary fresh market since 1874 and still functions as a genuine neighbourhood provisioner rather than a tourist attraction. Stalls are piled with Chianina beef, wild boar salumi, aged Pecorino Toscano, fresh porcini mushrooms in season, and every cut of offal Florentines have always loved.
Arrive between 8 and 10 a.m. to see it at full throttle — vendors calling out prices, nonnas squeezing tomatoes, fishmongers laying out the morning's catch. It closes at 2 p.m. on most days, so a morning visit is essential.
Upper Floor: Eat Like a Local Tourist
The first-floor food hall, added in 2014, houses a constellation of counters serving lampredotto (Florentine tripe) sandwiches, fresh pasta, wood-fired pizza, craft beer, gelato and Tuscan wine by the glass — all under the original iron roof with communal wooden tables.
Nerbone, a legendary trappola (hole-in-the-wall diner) on the ground floor since 1872, is the most authentic lunch stop in the building. Order the bollito (boiled beef) sandwich dunked in broth — it costs around €5 and tastes like Florence itself.
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