Café Life Florence: A Guidebook to the Cafés & Bars of the Renaissance Treasure

by Joe Wolff

Like its older sibling Cafe Life Rome, author Joe Wolff and photographer Roger Paperno's new book profiles family-owned cafes, bars, and gelaterias, this time in the glorious and historic city of Florence. Reap the rewards of their exhaustive research into the fine espressos and artisanal gelatos to be found in the city that is the heart of Tuscany, one of the world's great regions of gustatory pleasure. Not only will this book recommend choice vantage-points...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1566565626
• ISBN13: 9781566565622
• Release Date: June 2005
• Publisher: Interlink Books
• Length: 151 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.1" x 7.0"

Customer Reviews

Like a stroll along the Arno

It's misleading to call Café Life Florence a guidebook. Sure it's that, and if all you want out of it is to find delightful cafes and bars it will do the trick. But it's also a great read, whether or not you plan to travel to Florence. The well-written descriptions of cafes and bars include wonderful discourses on local history, traditions and people. From carabinieri jokes to how Leonardo da Vinci's flood control scheme failed, I felt I didn't just know the cafes and their proprietors; I got to know the city.

Cafe Life Florence

This book made my trip to Florence worthwhile. Instead of standing in line for a church or museum I was able to sit in the best cafes and read a potted history not only of the cafe but the surrounding area. Joe's interviews with the cafe owners led to the inclusion of some anecdotes you won't read anywhere else! I tasted only the best old fashioned style gelati of every flavour. If the beer was a bit expensive at the Cafe Rivoire the free nibbles made up for it. Following in Joe Wolff's footsteps I was led to various slightly off the beaten tracks parts of Florence and up to Fiesole. If you've already 'done' Florence do it again with 'Cafe Life'. A tip - put the page numbers beside the Cafe Locations on the map to save going back and finding them on the Contents page.

the best book ever on florence cafe's

voted "travel book of the year" last year, and i couldn't disagree more with the negative reviewers. went to florence and used the book and was DELIGHTED, as were the cafe owners when i showed them the book. they were positively EFFUSIVE and didn't even want my money. this book is armchair and travel jackpot. buy the book, have the fun, at home AND in florence!

Excellent book on cafes in Florence

Another great book in the "Cafe Life" series. This one lists the best caffes in Florence. Use the book to learn everything about cafes, bars and gelato shops before you leave for your trip to Italy; take the book with you for your tour of the best cafes. Recommended by the Slow Travel website.

Guide Zeros In On Where to Spend Your Limiited Time in Florence

I really liked this Guidebook, because a lot of time and thought was put into the choice of cafes and bars that are featured here. Further, you get a real sense of who the people are who own these places. When you're in Florence on a limited time schedule, it's nice to know where to go for what the author considers to be the best gelato, or the best cappucino, etc. These guys have already done the homework, so a reader of this book is just leveraging the product of this guy's time and energy.