• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Your Contact in Florence

Helping you to plan your holiday in Florence

  • Home
  • What to do
  • Where to stay
  • Books
  • Blog
    • News and Events
    • Attractions
    • History
    • Food and Wine
  • Contact
  • About

Florence shopping tours

October 18, 2015 By Andrea Leave a Comment

Florence shopping toursFlorence is one of the leading cities in Italy for fashion. The first ever fashion parade in history took place in the Sala Bianca of the Pitti Palace, in 1951. Many great Italian designers founded their company in Florence, and most of them still have their headquarters in Renaissance City: Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci, Prada, Emilio Pucci, Roberto Cavalli. That’s why many travellers are interested in Florence shopping tours and, as always, many of them feel disappointed after experiencing such tours, because they don’t know what they are booking. In part, it’s their fault: they don’t read the tour specifics very well, and then leave a bad review because they “didn’t know the tour was in the afternoon before paying”… you didn’t know because you didn’t read! In part, by the way, it’s because the tour descriptions make promises that cannot be fulfilled. There are two different ways to go for shopping in Florence: one involves moving to fashion outlets outside the city, the other one is shopping in the city center: each way has advantages and disadvantages. In this article, I will try to explain how Florence shopping tours work, to help you with your choice.

Shopping at the fashion outlets

In recent years, large fashion outlets were built in low-cost areas, where the main fashion brands can rent a large space for a price which is much lower than in the city center main streets. What is sold here? Well, certainly not the most recent collections: depending on the brands, you can find the collections of the past year or clothes with some minor issue, but for the most part: they have a separate production made for fashion outlets. That’s because fashion outlets, where prices are lower, have become very popular. For many brands, sales in these outlets are way more than in traditional shops. The standard discount you will find at a fashion outlet is 30%, but in sales periods (July. August, January, February), a further 30% discount is generally applied. In some cases, it can get as high as 80%.

Florence shopping tour to Prada and The Mall fashion outlets

Florence Shopping Tour to Prada and the Mall Fashion Outlets

Prada outlet is in the Valdarno area, about 40 km south of Florence. It is stored into an industrial facility and offers a very large shop, a cafeteria and restaurant. About 20 Km north, on the way back to Florence, is The Mall, one of the largest luxury fashion outlets in Tuscany, with about 40 brands and many shops. Again, don’t expect any particular “atmosphere”, it’s more like an industrial area. Don’t expect to shop with few euros either: if a cloth has a price of € 1,000, it will be expensive even for 30% less. I go shopping in these places, and sometimes I come back without buying anything, other times I find bargains: it’s a matter of luck. This is not a guided tour, you’re going to shop on your own. The tour starts at 2 pm in central Florence. You will hop on the coach and be driven to Prada outlet, where you will have time to shop; after hopping on the bus again, you will reach The Mall and will have more time to shop. Finally, you’ll be back in Florence around 8 pm.

Book this tour >>

 

Florence shopping tour to Barberino Designer outlet

Florence Shopping Tour: Barberino Designer Outlet

The Barberino Designer Outlet, compared to the two outlets of the previous tour, is definitely more affordable. At the same time, there will be less luxury fashion shops (but some are there) and more popular chains. The outlet has been built like a Renaissance village and the atmosphere is very nice. It also has all the services you might want, like restaurants, cafes, atm and so on. This tour is a round trip transfer service from Florence train station to the Barberino outlet desk (about 45 minutes drive) with an air conditioned coach. You can choose to leave Florence at 9:30 am, 11:30 am, 2 pm or 4 pm, while the trip back to Florence is scheduled at 1 pm, 3 pm, 6 pm and 8 pm. The good thing is you can decide how long to stay at the outlet: from the full-day immersion to just an hour or two.

Book this tour >>

Florence shopping tours in the city center

I don’t think you need a guided tour to shop for top luxury fashion in the city center; what you need for sure is a large budget. Then, just go to via Tornabuoni (our Rodeo Drive, or 5th Avenue if you prefer) and you will find plenty of beautiful things to buy. What is much more interesting to do, in my opinion, is to see something you can find only in Florence, and for this you need a tour guide. Below you’ll find a list of interesting Florence shopping tours which will show you the essence of the Florentine creativity.

Florence fashion walking tour

Florence Fashion Walking Tour: Gucci Museum, Loretta Caponi and Santa Maria Novella

This is a really good tour that starts in Piazza Santa Croce, where you will meet your guideat 2:15 pm. The guide will show you the School of leather, where artisans craft leatherware meticulously, and you will learn tips on what to look for when buying leather stuff. The next stop is at Gucci Museum, where you will be told about the history of the family and the brand and will have a chance to see collections created solely for the museum. Now, you will head to via Tornabuoni and via Strozzi, our most important shopping streets, and in particular to the Loretta Caponi atelier, where embroidery is protagonist. Finally, the tour features a visit to the Santa Maria Novella pharmacy, which creates perfumes and beauty products with natural ingredients since the 17th century. Here the tour will conclude at around 6 pm.

Book this tour >>

 

Private Florence artisans tour

Private Tour: Artisans of Florence Walking Tour

This is a tour that will show you the real Made in Italy, showing you activities of the past which survive in Florence, in ancient narrow streets that only the locals know. Florentine craftsmen will give you live demonstrations of their activities as you walk and visit several shops. This includes restoration, marble paper, semi precious stone mosaics, ceramics and more. After reaching Piazza Santa Croce, you will visit the ancient School of Leather. The final stage of the tour is a visit to either the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum or the Gucci Museum. It is a private tour, and the professional guide will pick you up at your hotel (if in central Florence) and will give you personalized attention. The tour starts at 9 am and has a duration of around six hours.

Book this tour >>

 

 

  • Private Florence Shopping Tour
  • Price: $31.46
  • Florence Shopping Tour: Barberino Designer Outlet
  • Price: $14.60
  • Florence Shopping Tour to Prada and the Mall Fashion Outlets
  • Price: $39.32

 

What other suggestions can you find in this section?

  • The best Florence tours and activities reviewed by a tour guide
    • Walking tours
    • Uffizi tours
    • Florence in one day
    • Duomo tours
    • Vasari Corridor tours
    • Inferno tours
    • Skip-the-line David tours
    • What to do on Mondays
    • Tours of Florence from Rome or Venice
    • Florence outdoor activities
    • Florence food tours
    • Wine tours in Tuscany
    • Cooking classes
    • Wine tours in Florence
    • Day trips from Florence to Tuscany countryside
    • Day trips from Florence to Pisa
    • Day trips from Florence to Siena
    • Day trips from Florence to Cinque Terre
    • Day trips from Florence to Rome
    • Day trips from Florence to Venice
Summary
Florence shopping tours
Article Name
Florence shopping tours
Description
Tired of sightseeing, want to do something else? Choose the best Florence shopping tours following the suggestions of a local professional tourist guide.
Author
Andrea

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Best tours reviewed by a professional tour guide

Private day trips to Florence

Best tours in Florence

  • Florence in a Nutshell; Uffizi, Galleria Accademia, Duomo & More!
  • Description:See all the sites of Florence including skip the line entrance to the Uffizi and Accademia galleries
  • Price: $122.74
 
  • Skip-The-Line Brunelleschi Tour – Florence Duomo
  • Description:Discover the genius of the architect Brunelleschi when you climb the Florence Cathedral dome
  • Price: $83.68
 
  • Small-Group Palazzo Vecchio Secret Passages Tour with Lunch
  • Visit the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio, as seen on "Inferno".
  • Price: $42.70

Insider tips for lodging in Florence

where to stay in florence

Best Luxury hotels

Booking.com

Best Bed & Breakfast

Booking.com

Best Countryside Villas

Booking.com
  • Privacy & Cookie policy
  • Copyright
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Copyright 2014 © 2023 · yourcontactinflorence.com · All rights reserved.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT