There is a Florence that starts early, when the alleys smell of bread and the shops open their shutters with a light noise, almost like a ritual. A city that does not shout, but whispers. A city that allows itself to be touched by those who know how to observe slowly.
This is the Florence described in Firenze, the new guidebook written by Ginevra Poli and published by Feltrinelli/Morellini.
A book that does not promise yet another list of “things to see in Florence,” but a discreet door to the soul of the city: the one that lives among artisan cafés, secret architecture, local markets, and hidden glimpses that reveal themselves only to those who have the time to stop.
This guide was born from a simple and dizzying question: is a lifetime enough to truly know Florence?
It is the same question that anyone who has fallen in love with this city carries within them. A question that does not ask for an answer, but for a journey.
A guide that is a walk, a playlist, a memory
Leafing through Firenze means entering a slow and contemporary narrative. The aim is not to provide the perfect list, but the perfect experience. Each page is an invitation to discover the city with a new perspective: beloved and lived-in neighborhoods, lesser-known squares, details that you might otherwise pass by too quickly.
The structure combines practical advice with poetic insights. Between an address where to have breakfast in the Oltrarno and a suggestion to lose yourself in the hills of Fiesole, stories, curiosities, and traditions flow, making the reader feel part of the place, not a spectator.
And since Florence is music, voice, and rhythm, the guide opens up to digital: QR codes, audio content on Loquis, Spotify playlists, videos, and a light PDF version to take with you wherever you go. It’s a way to transform your trip into a complete sensory experience, both analog and digital at the same time.
Ginevra Poli: the perspective of someone who lives Florence
Poli does not observe Florence from the outside. She lives there. She studies it. She walks through it every day. Born in 1998, she is an art historian and freelance journalist who grew up between Bagno a Ripoli and the historic center, in that perfect balance between hills and Renaissance stone.
Her writing is precise and luminous. Cultured, but never distant. It stems from a love of artistic heritage and a contemporary sensibility that makes this book much more than a guide: it is a personal, honest, and kind reflection.
Some call Florence a “museum” city. In these pages, however, it becomes a living city, still capable of surprising. Poli demonstrates this by talking not only about museums and churches, but also about people, shops, crafts, and stories that make Florence a constantly evolving reality.
The aesthetics of Florence, portrayed with grace
The photographs by Leonardo Mincolelli, born in San Frediano, add a pure and authentic perspective. Soft lighting, intimate perspectives, fragments of everyday life: a real Florence, effortlessly elegant, like a woman who needs no introduction.
Together, text and images create a visual story to be treasured—and reread whenever the desire to return arises. Because that’s how it is with Florence: you always come back.
Itineraries for those who love the essentials
This guide speaks to slow travelers, curious Florentines, those who choose independent cafés over franchises, neighborhood bookstores over souvenir shops, artisan workshops over cookie-cutter stores.
Those who leaf through it will find half-day, weekend, and multi-day itineraries, recommendations for tastings, walks in the countryside, family activities, and suggestions on where to sleep, eat, walk, and listen.
But above all, they will find an invitation: to look at Florence with open eyes.
Don’t rush to the dome just to photograph it, but climb a hill to find silence.
Don’t just look for famous names, but discover who keeps it alive every day.
A Florence that belongs to those who love it
Firenze is a guide for those who want to feel part of the city, even if only for a few hours. For those who prefer a cappuccino in Via Maggio to breakfast in a hotel; a walk in San Niccolò to a quick selfie in Piazza della Signoria.
It is a book that celebrates detail, the calm voice of the neighborhoods, the pleasure of entering an independent bookstore and talking to those who live there.
In a fast-paced world, Ginevra Poli reminds us that there are cities to be listened to slowly.
And Florence, with its ancient streets and young heart, is one of them.
