The city of Florence is renowned for many things: perfectly preserved Renaissance architecture, a particularly favourable ratio of phenomenally famous artworks per capita... It is not renowned for being cool, at least not since about 1500 when the bad boys of art were swaggering around painting frescoes and creaming the Medici dollar.
Fast forward 600 years and, while still by no means edgy, you can certainly escape that fussy, fusty Room With A View tourism that has long dogged the time capsule city centre. To do this, the first step you should take is across the River Arno, to the rather literally named Oltrarno district, where neighbourhood vibes rule and you might even hear some Italian voices in the bars, restaurants and shops.
