The cream of the crop of Florentine shopping lines both sides of the elegant Via de' Tornabuoni, with an extension along Via della Vigna Nuova and other surrounding streets. Here you'll find big names like Gucci, Armani, Ferragamo, and Mila Schön ensconced in old palaces or modern minimalist boutiques.

On the other end of the shopping spectrum is the haggling and general fun of the colorful and noisy San Lorenzo street market. Antiques gather dust by the truckload along Via Maggio and other Oltrarno streets. Another main corridor of stores somewhat less glitzy than those on the Via de' Tornabuoni begins at Via Cerretani and runs down Via Roma through the Piazza della Repubblica area; it keeps going down Via Por Santa Maria, across the Ponte Vecchio with its gold jewelry, and up Via Guicciardini on the other side. Store-laden side tributaries off this main stretch include Via della Terme, Borgo Santissimi Apostoli, and Borgo San Jacopo.

General Florentine shopping hours are daily from 9:30am to noon or 1pm and 3 or 3:30pm to 7:30pm, though increasingly, many shops are staying open through that mid-afternoon riposo (especially the larger stores and those around tourist sights).