Florence is famous for its fascinating museums and historic churches, home to world-famous artworks, and important religious landmark. But one of the very best things to enjoy when visiting Florence is shopping!

With the city offering an overwhelming number of goodies for any kind of traveller! To narrow down the best options Florence has to offer, we’ve put together a list of the top five best things to purchase in the city for all your shopping needs!

  • Gold

    Florence has been master goldsmiths since the early Renaissance period. Back then, the city fashioned stunning works in gold, silver and precious gemstones not just as jewellery, but as incredible artworks for private rich families and the Church. You can even see these precious works of art by heading to the Palazzo Pitti’s Silver Museum, where these exquisite pieces are on display for visitors to marvel at them! To purchase some gold jewellery of your own, you must cross Ponte Vecchio. Both sides of this ancient bridge are lined with shops that sell exclusively jewelry. With newly made pieces or antique sets perfect for a great gift for your friends and family, or even just yourself!

  • Ceramics

    Ceramics were also a very important creation within Florence in the Renaissance era. First starting when the Della Robbia brothers created strikingly brilliant blues, yellows, greens, and even a clear glaze to decorate their terracotta artworks. The pieces skyrocketed in popularity, with platters, plates, pitchers all stunningly decorated in these colourful artworks, appearing in many of the Florentine nobility homes. You can see the first stages of these creations inside churches as well as the outside of several buildings to this day, which gives the ceramics you purchase yourself a little more meaning to them! However, these days, ceramics aren’t typically produced directly in town, being created in the surrounding regions of Florence. However, you can still purchase all these goodies from the city centre, with completely ceramic base shops dotted around the streets. Florence’s decorative plates and pots carry their own unique designs, so you can show off to your friends and family once home with your lemon painted platters, olive oil flasks and even salt and pepper shakers. They aren’t generally that expensive, so anyone can shop for a special ceramic treat while visiting!

  • Leather

    By far one of the biggest sellers in Florence is their fabulous leather goods! From custom made shoes, beautifully decorated bags, belts, and wallets, Florence has every kind of leather creation available. Tannery and leatherworking have been the main Florence produce for centuries, with leather shops appearing along the Arno River for hundreds of years. However, after the smell of the leather became too much for the shops to be within the centre region of Florence, the production was moved downstream to the area of Santa Croce sull’Arno. However, despite this being one of the best goods you can get within Florence, it doesn’t go by cheap. With the great quality of the Italian leather one of the best leathers, you can get your hands on, and therefore, on the pricey side. if you want a jacket with a beautiful drape, with leather that will last, you do need to consider your purchase as an investment, particularly for a jacket or shoes and boots.

  • Paper

    Nowadays, most of us live in the digital age, reading our books online and typing away on our laptops. But Florence gives us a nostalgic flashback of the time of paper, with the divine handmade stationery on offer. Florence created these fabulous paper masterpieces with their famous marbling techniques, creating an astonishingly beautiful masterpiece. While you are buying this stunning paper books, you can purchase a number of other cool trinkets. Such as wax for your letter sealing, or handmade leather pouches for your documents, making your work stationery have a little magic to them!

Related article: Our Favourite Accommodation Options in Florence

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