Is it expensive in Florence Italy to buy things on a daily basis? Food, Shopping, Eating Out?

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Selphie

I'm not a resident but from my experience.

1. Don't try and drive in Florence.
2. You can buy water and food from small supermarkets but they are on the back streets. Don't go buying water ice creams etc from the main squares such as plaza republica as they are v expensive.
3. Food is cheap but again you can pay vast amounts if you want to sit on the main squares with a coffee.
4. If you find a good restaurant stick with it and smile at the staff a bit of tipping and you'll find your portion size and/or table improves!
5. If you want to visit the Uffizzi Gallery or similar a) book in advance b) go early before the coaches arrive.
6. Try Lampredotto from the street vendors it's good just forget what it's made from.

Reading and Answering Your Q&#39

Firenze (Florence) is the BEST place to buy leather purses!
(+jackets)
Go out to the piazzas and buy them from street vendors- they are of excellent quality

martox45

To buy food Florence is the cheapest town of the whole Italy (a statistic report has been published just recently) but as I've read in an answer here below you must go and buy at the different supermarkets (the most convenient are,in order of preference, COOP - ESSELUNGA - PANORAMA and CONAD).-
For the shopping the talk is totally different. Florence is a tourist town and prices are very high if compared with other towns of the region;on the other side shops in Florence are fantastic and you have a lot of choice. However if you cannot afford this, it's enough you move (also by train,.it's cheap and easy) to other towns in the neighboors (Prato,Empoli,Pontedera,Pisa) and you can save a lot of money.
As to drinks,ice-creams,etc. just avoid the bars/pubs located in midtown,close to the tourist area;move out by bus (avoid taxis,ugly expensive).Going out at night is rather expensive but it's not necessary you go every night to the disco;a few times a months is affordable but this is also depending on yr budget.
Restaurants are very expensive but if you take care to go out of the famous tourist route and you look for "trattoria" or "pizzeria"
your poket will not cry. As already advised always travel by bus and by train (also rent a car is very expensive).
Last but not least prices for us Italians are rather convenient but in this momen the weakness of the US$ has caused for you a 10% rise in the conversion that's not our fault. For this reason it's possible you'll find them not that convenient I'm describing;a 10 years ago it was exactly the contrary.
Anyhow have a nice staying in Florence.

marameo

As for buses Florence is as expensive as every other Italian city,
but for the rest...they earn money from tourism.

KeS

Hi,

As a tourist I have found Florence to be one of the most expensive cities in Italy.

If you're living there I suppose you can find shops that isn't more expensive than else.

I have found the "Eurospin" shops in Italy to be very cheap as well as offering fresh food.

If you plan to travel in Italy here is a good place to start:
http://www.italyexposed.com

PS!
Here are a place where you can read lots of Italy related articles:
http://www.italyexposed.com/Article_archive.shtml

Hope this was useful info!

george

I lived in Florence for about six months and there are definetly good values if you know where to look. Standa and Co-op brand grocery stores are your best bet for food and have prices much lower than America on many products. They are scattered all over the city and after a little exploring you're sure to run into one. As for shopping, clothes are going to be expensive pretty much wherever you go. If it's souveniers you're looking for though go to San Lorenzo Market about five minutes from the Duomo for the best prices and selection. When eating out try and stay at least ten minutes walk from the Duomo or Uffizi and you should be fine. At night most bars same to have the same prices which is a bit a more than America so you may as well just find ones you have fun at. Finally with traveling Trenitalia's website is a great resource. Play around with times, usually trains leaving before seven and returning at five offer prices less than five euros. This is especiialy helpful for "smaller" cities like Padua and Ravenna. If flying, book with Ryan Air and fly out of Pisa. The trains between Florence and Pisa run every half hour and take about as long. They also have a stop right in the airport which is convenient.

ontheroadagainwithoutyou

Expensive compared to what/where?
There are many ways to travel, so Firenze can be expensive or not so expensive depending on the choices you make.

gabrielalaura74

I'm not sure were you are from and what currency you have, but if you have USD.. Florence and any city in Europe can be expensive. The way I save money is in Florence they have great flea markets, you can get great deals and the quality is much better then what you can get here in the States. Food.. well if you dont mind eating sandwiches, or pizza then you should be in good shape. do this at least once a day and have a nice dinner maybe go to the restaurants that have toursit menus. Its a fix price and you have a full course meal! it can run from 12 euros to 30.

robin g

Depends on what you call expensive--when I studied abroad in Florence I found it horribly expensive compared to other towns and cities I visited in Italy (the south outside of Romeis far cheaper). But Italy in general is certainly cheaper than London or Paris.

Try going to the cinema in the areas where the students live. I seem to remember it being a buit better. Stay away from the Plaza San Marco and the streets near the Basilica.

Powerpuffgeezer

Not sure about Florence but Italy in general is quite cheap in comparison to Germany France & England

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