District
San Lorenzo
Florence neighbourhood guide
market streets, Medici church, busy and practical
The streets around the Medici parish church of San Lorenzo and the Mercato Centrale. By day the outdoor leather stalls and the market halls make it loud and commercial; it is also where you find some of the city's most traditional lunch counters. Close to Santa Maria Novella station.
Day trips from Florence
Siena · Pisa · Lucca · San Gimignano · Chianti
Most are about an hour away by train or bus.
Explore San Lorenzo
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Trattoria Mario
A family-run lunch trattoria beside the San Lorenzo market, with shared tables, a handwritten menu and a reputation for bistecca at fair prices. Lunch only, Monday to Saturday, no reservations, cash only (check before you go). Get there before it opens.
Trattoria Zà Zà
A big, busy trattoria on the square in front of the Mercato Centrale, with outdoor tables and a long menu of Tuscan classics. Popular with visitors and reliable rather than surprising; book for dinner in high season.
Mercato Centrale (San Lorenzo market)
The 19th-century iron-and-glass market hall. The ground floor is a working food market for butchers, cheesemongers and greengrocers; the upper floor is a modern food hall with counters for pasta, pizza, lampredotto and wine, open into the evening. Good for groups who cannot agree.
Da Nerbone
A counter inside the ground floor of the Mercato Centrale, serving market workers since the 19th century. Order a bollito (boiled beef) or lampredotto (tripe) sandwich, dipped in the broth, with green sauce. Mornings and lunchtime only, and usually closed on Sundays like the market floor; order and pay at the till first.
Medici Chapels
The Medici mausoleum behind San Lorenzo: the marble-encrusted Chapel of the Princes and Michelangelo's New Sacristy, with his tombs and the figures of Night, Day, Dawn and Dusk. Part of the Bargello Museums.