Things to do in the Oltrarno: a local guide to Florence’s left bank

The Oltrarno — literally “beyond the Arno” — is the left bank of Florence, and it’s where our kitchen is. Cross the Ponte Vecchio away from the Duomo and within two minutes the crowds thin, the streets narrow, and Florence starts behaving like a city people live in. Here’s how we’d spend a day on our side of the river.

The Oltrarno in short:

• What it is — Florence’s left bank, “beyond the Arno,” reached by crossing the Ponte Vecchio away from the Duomo.
• Known for — Piazza Santo Spirito, Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens, five centuries of artisan workshops, and the city’s best aperitivo.
• Best for — an unhurried, lived-in Florence: trattorias, craft studios, and San Miniato al Monte at sunset.

Morning: Santo Spirito

Start in Piazza Santo Spirito, the neighbourhood’s living room. Brunelleschi’s Basilica di Santo Spirito anchors one end — his last church, with a famously blank facade hiding one of the calmest Renaissance interiors in the city (and a wooden crucifix attributed to a young Michelangelo). Most mornings the piazza hosts a small market; have a coffee standing at a bar like a local and watch it work.

From the piazza it’s a short walk to Palazzo Pitti, the Medici’s oversized palace, and behind it the Boboli Gardens — the green half of the Oltrarno, with cypress avenues, grottoes and the best legal view over the city rooftops. Give Boboli two hours and comfortable shoes.

Midday: the artisan streets

The Oltrarno has been Florence’s workshop quarter for five centuries, and in the streets of San Frediano and around Via Maggio it still is: bookbinders, gilders, marbled-paper makers, goldsmiths, leather and shoe workshops, furniture restorers. Most are one-person operations with the door open — look in, and if the artisan looks up, say buongiorno and ask to watch a moment. Buying something small directly from the person who made it is the best souvenir logic Florence offers.

Art lovers should detour to Santa Maria del Carmine for the Brancacci Chapel, where Masaccio’s frescoes taught the young Michelangelo what painting could do. It’s small, often quiet, and frequently requires booking ahead — check before you go.

Golden hour: the climb

From the eastern edge of the Oltrarno, walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo for the sunset postcard everyone comes for — then keep climbing five more minutes to San Miniato al Monte, the thousand-year-old basilica above it. It’s one of the most beautiful churches in Italy and dramatically less crowded than the terrace below. If the monks are singing vespers, stay.

Evening: aperitivo and dinner, the Oltrarno way

Come down and let the evening happen where it actually happens: Piazza Santo Spirito fills up at aperitivo hour with a mix of students, artisans and neighbours that the right bank can’t fake. Take a spritz on the piazza, then dinner in one of the honest kitchens of Santo Spirito or San Frediano — this side of the river still has the highest density of real trattorias in the centre. We’ve written a whole guide to where to eat handmade pasta in Florence, and most of it points here.

Or spend the morning with your hands in flour

One more thing you can do in the Oltrarno: learn to make the pasta yourself. Our kitchen is here, near Piazza Santo Spirito, and The Chef’s Table class runs at 10:00, 14:30 and 18:00 — three hands-on hours that end with lunch (or dinner) at the table. It pairs suspiciously well with everything above: class in the morning, Boboli in the afternoon, San Miniato at sunset, and back to the piazza by dark. That’s the Oltrarno day we’d choose ourselves.