Italy: Florence: Introduction: Cheat Sheet

Firenze, famously dubbed the “city of stone” by writer Mary McCarthy, regards itself as a living museum.

Read Indagare’s Lizzie McGirr’s Just Back From… Rome and Florence, Why Go Now, Strategies and Dining Picks

Also in this report: The city’s best hotels under Where to Stay, authentic restaurants under Where to Eat, sights not to miss under What to See & Do, a guide to the shopping scene under Where to Shop, great guides, insider recommendations, travel specialists and villa rental in Indagare Intelligence and what to read before you go in Library.

ALSO: Read Best of Dining: Florence about Indagare’s favorite restaurants, cafés and bars

INDAGARE TOP TEN:

SLEEP…just steps from the Ponte Vecchio in the Ferragamo property Gallery Hotel Art

EXPERIENCE…a candle-lit meal at Alle Durate, in a former 14th-century guild hall

SPLURGE…on one of the Junior Suite at the boutique J.K. Place

EAT…at La Casalinga, a rustic trattoria in the Santo Spirito neighborhood

DRINK…the city’s best cappuccino at Café Giacosa, a favorite of insider Holly Dunlap

SAVOR…the scene at Prive Attico, the upstairs lounge of a disco above Louis Vuitton

VISIT…nearby Forte dei Marmi, Florence’s version of the Hamptons

SEE…exquisite and little-known Museo Horne for its collection of fine and decorative art

SHOP…at Elio Ferraro for vintage fashion , furniture and objet

KNOW…Friends of Florence who can get you into the Uffizi and Accademia off-hours