During Easter and the summer months, you should reserve well in advance, especially if you have your heart set on one hotel in particular, or for the smaller hotels and pensioni. To find an apartment for a longer stay, check with the listings in the biweekly Le Pulce, or the bulletin board at Paperback Exchange (Via Fiésole 31r). Also, language schools usually can arrange housing for their students.

The better hotels along the Arno have triple-paneled windows to muffle the noise of the traffic below, but rarely do the more modest pensioni. In the summer, you may find the lack of air-conditioning and the need to open your windows results in sleepless nights at the simpler establishments. Even with the limitations on traffic, you might prefer a garden view to protect you if you're noise-sensitive.

Florentines take pride in their cooking, just as they take pride in everything Tuscan. In fact, Florence has added its own variations to a number of dishes. Fish or eggs may become Florentine by being served on a bed of spinach; bistecca alla fiorentina is simply a thick steak made local by its T-bone cut, unique in Italy. Split and grilled chickens are served with a ginger sauce, becoming pollo alla diavola; roast loin of pork is cooked with rosemary, garlic, and cloves, becoming the popular arista alla fiorentina. Salami with fennel seeds is the popular finocchiona.

Of course, the Chianti reds make fine accompaniments to such fare, as do the Brunellos, if you can afford them. The white Vernaccio, from San Gimignanol, is quite decent, and many of the house whites are light and pleasing.

Please note: Many restaurants close in August as well as on Sunday and Monday. Meal times are usually 12:30-2:30 PM for lunch with dinner beginning at 7:30 or 8 PM. The menu turistico here often includes beverage, either mineral water or house wine.

Reservations are always advised.