Florence's nightlife is fuelled by the city's well-heeled foreign students who come to study Italian and History of Art. Old World meets New World as gangs of silver-tongued romeos gather to admire leggy American blondes.
Despite a minimum drinking age of 18, partying in Florence is a determinedly young scene, with students fresh out of school getting their first taste of freedom and enjoying the proliferation of inexpensive wine. The most bohemian area is the Oltrarno, south of the river, where bright young things can play until the small hours. Elsewhere, nightlife is concentrated around Piazza della Signoria, home of more sedate venues. Florentines, like most Italians, are self-consciously stylish with a definite bent towards smart, conservative dress. Dress up, take a pew outside one of the city's elegant cafes and enjoy being admired, in a city where beauty is taken for granted.
Bars
Amadeus Cafe
Via dei Pescioni 5r, tel. 055 239 82 29.
Open 07:00 - 03:00, Sat, Sun 20:00 - 03:00.
What this beer hall and Mozart have in common is a good question, unless he was prone to cavorting with backpack-clad teenagers on pub crawls. The interior is so darkly lit that snoozing between steins would almost seem natural. However, if only a large stein of lager is what you're looking for, we recommend coming a little earlier when you can at least hear the person talking next to you.
Area 51
Via Ugoccione della Faggiola 30, tel. 055 680 03 89.
Open 14:30 - 02:00.
Food and drinks in a "virtual" atmosphere. Internet points and videogames.
H202
Via Ghibellina 47r, tel. (+39) 055 24 32 39/(+39) 339 753 87 32.
Open 22:00 - 04:00. Closed Wed.
A great pre-clubbing destination where Florentine groovers pose and limber up to the sounds of mildly progressive house and drum & bass.
James Pub
Via della Mattonaia 20r
Open 20:00 - 01:00.
This watering hole is your 'local' where the bartender has your drink poured by the time you get to the bar. There are Tennets and Caffreys, but also Staropramen on tap, which is something of a rarity in these parts. If you can appreciate the music selection from the bartender who doubles as DJ, you'll easily find yourself staying here until closing.
JJ Cathedral
Piazza San Giovanni 4r, tel. 055 28 02 60.
Open 10:00 - 02:30.
The tiny, two-chair outdoor terrace on the second floor of the narrow JJ Cathedral is one of this world's more enchanted places to dally over a pint of Newcastle.
Soulciety Club
Via San Zanobi 114b, tel. 055 830 35 13.
Although centrally located, it's well-kept secret, especially since it changes names every six months, but is known as Soulciety. The R&B and rap video rococo decor pull in some of Florence's more exotic party people, including the city's Senegalese community.
Universale
Via Pisana 77r, tel. 055 22 11 22, fax 055 233 54 85.
Open 19:00 - 02:30. Closed Mon.
info@universalefirenze.it www.universalefirenze.it
Once a cinema it has been renewed in a new modern-style and re-opened last December. It is very large by Florence's standards, and have a restaurant, several bars, and a concert hall for live music. Definitely a place for 30-something's. Bus N°6, 26, 27.
Zoe
Via Dei Renai 13r, tel. 055 24 31 11.
Open 08:00 - 01:00, Fri, Sat 08:00 - 02:00, Sun 18:00 - 01:00.
Drink prices are a little steep but the trick is to make your drink last, and soak up the atmosphere while you're at it. There is always plenty of people, shoulder-to-shoulder in the standing-room-only bar within Zoe's red walls, so take a table outside, and make every sip count, and get there early enough for the bar snacks during aperitivo time.
Pubs
Cheers Pub
Via de' Renai 27, tel. (+39) 34 98 63 50 77.
Open 10:00 - 01:00.
Will people know your name here? Probably not. But if you come back more than twice, the bartender will probably say hello and strike up a conversation. In the San Niccolò neighbourhood, it's not yet swamped with a student crowd. It's simply an enjoyable alternative to many of the pubs in the busy centre - and is even open in the afternoon for a light lunch (and we don't mean cocktails either).
Chequers
Via della Scala 7/9r, tel. 055 28 75 88.
Open 18:30 - 01:30, Fri - Sat 18:30 - 02:30.
It's one of the largest pubs we've seen in Florence. A giant-sized boozer whose rock soundtrack gets louder as the night progresses, but the good thing about this place is that if you come with company you can almost always find a table, and if you come alone you can probably strike up a conversation at the bar. You'll be able to watch Saturday afternoon football matches from any of the tables as the TV screen is large enough to been seen from a kilometre away.
Cluricane Irish Pub
Piazza dell' Olio 9r, tel. 055 28 45 09.
Open 16:00 - 02:30.
A tiny closet of a bar reminiscent of a New Orleans interpretation of an Irish pub. Very mellow and quietly hip. The usual liquid suspects from across the Irish Sea can be found. A good place to duck into to escape the afternoon heat.
Dublin
Via Faenza 27r, tel./fax 055 29 30 49.
Open 17:00 - 02:00.
www.dublinpub.it
They follow the formula. Guinness, Harp, Kilkenny and tables with exclamations of politics and love carved into them.
Fiddler's Elbow
Piazza Santa Maria Novella 7r, tel. 055 21 50 56.
Open 15:00 - 01:00, Fri 15:00 - 03:00, Sat 14:00 - 02:00, Sun 14:00 - 01:00.
If there were ever an Irish bar in Florence, this is it. It's a cornerstone of the pub scene whose cavernous depths and outside patio are sprawling with people in the midst of conversation. When in Rome, be sure to check out their sister bar.
Il Bovaro
Via Pisana 3r, tel. 055 220 70 57, fax 055 230 63 64.
Open 19:00 - 01:00, Fri 19:00 - 02:00, Sat 19:00 - 02:00.
It's accepted that Italians are much better at pressing the grapes for their wines than harvesting the hops for their beer. However, this micro-brew puts these assumptions to shame, as it's concoctions rival any Czech or German beer. Four brews ranging from a double malt to a light lager are your choices. Take bus N °6, walk just past Porta San Frediano, across the street from Sabatino.
Kikuya
Via dei Benci 43r, tel. 055 234 48 79.
Open 11:00 - 02:00.
It's hard to pin down exactly what this bar is. It's got the standard furnishings of an English pub (upholstery booths, dark wood and all), but a mostly Brazilian staff, and music that's equally diverse beaming over the speakers. Strangely enough, it also has decent Mexican food on the menu which is available even for lunch. If you're not in the mood for J. Lo and university co-ed, you might want to depart around 22:00 when the music changes and the masses arrive.
Lion's Fountain
Borgo Albizi 34r, tel. 055 234 44 12.
Open 18:00 - 01:00.
www.pubflorence.com
One of the rowdier, more rollicking, victualling establishments in the centre, with a roughly equal mix of Italians, students and bemused, weary package holiday tourists more comfortable sitting down with a pint than say, standing up to drink a coffee. Two televisions screening football matches, and matey sing-alongs keep the atmosphere convivial.
Old Stove
Via Pellicceria 2/6r, tel. 055 28 46 40.
Open 12:00 - 02:30, Fri, Sat 15:00 - 03:00.
pubflorence@fionline.it www.pubflorence.com
It fills up quickly, and so does its outdoor seating area. The pub is outfitted with all the standard Guinness promotional decor plus old wheelbarrows, broken trumpets etc. (Somewhere in Ireland there's a huge warehouse of this stuff).
William Pub
Via Magliabechi 7/11r, tel. 055 263 83 57.
Open 18:00 - 01:00, Fri, Sat 18:00 - 02:00.
This is like nothing so much as a sprawling English country pub, without the thatched roof but with a frescoed ceiling. All types congregate here for the Newcastle Brown Ale, and to discuss butter, cider and annual crop yields. Well, perhaps not, but you could be forgiven for thinking so.
Discos
Central Park
Via Fosso Macinate 1, Parco delle Cascine, tel. 055 35 35 05.
Open 21:00 - 03:00. Closed Mon, Sun. Admission free, minimum drink charge.
The alternative to Meccanò in Cascine with indoor and outdoor dance floors to get your groove on. The music ranges anywhere from R&B to house and techno. A slightly older crowd that seems less frenetic, although you can be sure to encounter your fair share of predators and youngsters. Imbibers should be forewarned that the drinks are not cheap.
Dolce Zucchero
Via Pandolfini 36/38r, tel. 055 247 78 94.
Open 22:00 - 03:00.
It's worth while to go there on R&B nights to shake rattle and roll in the cavernous basement. Other times you may find yourself among crowds of young students and foreigners. The place can be rented to organise private parties.
Ex Mood
Corso Tintori 4, tel. (+39) 328 817 98 09.
Open 22:00 - 04:30. Closed Mon, Tue.
October ushers in the new Ex Mood whose look has been re-vamped but the cool factor remains the same. Located downstairs in a cavernous - but strategically lit basement with bar and not too small dance floor. Programs change every evening. Wednesdays: Electronic and Experimental; Thursdays: Reggae and Hip Hop; Fridays: House; Saturdays: Drum and Bass; Sundays: Surprise nights.
Full Up
Via della Vigna Vecchia 25r, tel. 055 29 30 06.
Open 23:00 - 04:00. Closed Mon.
It's something in between a bar and a disco. You could see the piano bar as a hangout for gigolos, and a house of unchallenging grooves. There's a high bald-head, gold chains and conspicuous Champagne consumption factor. There is a room on the smallish dance floor to frug the night away.
Jaragua
Via dell' Erta Canina 12r, tel. 055 234 36 00.
Open 21:00 - 03:00. Admission free.
jaragua@tiscalinet.it http://web.tiscalinet.it/jaragua
Gentlemen take your white loafers out of hiding and put them on without socks or guilt. Straight from the Miami Vice to Florence this place oozes the 1980s Latin dance crazy. The upstairs portion even has a parquet floor with mirrors surrounding it for optimal shaking of your bon-bon and such. The floor downstairs tends to be packed. Expect great music, awful cocktails and if you are of the female persuasion the occasional visit by a slightly inebriated transplanted South or Central American that just wants to ballare , baby.
Maracana
Via Faenza 4, tel. 055 21 02 98.
A large Latin dance spot where you generally find pimply young boys and a few exhibitionists among the "palm trees," dance floor and the cages above. You can, however, have dinner there before you twinkle your toes. You'll certainly be thoroughly entertained by the quasi-variety act they put on.
Meccanò
Viale degli Olmi 1 - Parco del Cascine, tel. 055 33 13 71.
Open 11:00 - 06:00.
The unspoken requisite for entering this club is sunglasses and hair gel (lots of it). It's is a multi-level club with quasi-post industrial décor. There are several dance floors varying in style and mood which accounts for the broad age range it attracts. Although popular among the young trendy crowds, it's not recommended for claustrophobes or those who cannot hold their own among the wandering hands of the cramped bar areas.
YAB
Via Sassetti 5r, tel. 055 21 51 60.
Open 21:00 - 04:00. Closed Tue. Admission free. Minimum drinks charge depends on night. www.yab.it
This is one of the most popular and central discos in all of Florence. Recenly re-opened and completely renewed. Sundays - concerts with groups from the 70s and 80s (televised live on RAITV); Monday - Hip Hop; Tuesday - House with international DJs; Wednesday - Hip Hop; Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays - commercial and disco.
Live music
Chiodo Fisso
Via Dante Alighieri 16r, tel. 055 238 12 90.
Open 20:00 - 02:00.
When Little House on the Prairie left television the prop closet must have been transferred to Florence for the opening of this establishment. By afternoon it serves as a quick outpost for lunch with its daily menu tacked on the door. By night it transforms into a guitar club with several local Italian guitarists on stage.
Eskimo
Via de' Canacci 12r, tel. 055 21 06 05.
It's been described as "where the real music is". Anything from jam bands to locals testing their wings. It is a good place for those whose ears are in need of something more stirring that electronica.
Jazz Club
Via Nuova di Caccini 3, tel. 055 247 97 00.
Open 09:00 - 01:30. Closed Mon.
There are no bones about what happens here. It's jazz, and it's live. Moreover, the Jazz Club is a true find for those in Florence whose ears long to hear something smooth and mellow. Jazz musicians from Florence and around Italy gather in this intimate club, and on some nights there are jam sessions. Call ahead for a listing of performances and to reserve a spot.
