Arguably the most famous Market in Florence, Mercato Centrale is the ultimate hub in Florence to buy, sample, and eat fresh produce by local artisians. A two-level food market set in the famous San Lorenzo market, you can find, sample, and eat produce from dozens of food and specialty shops, selling everything from meat, cheese, pasta, pizza, oil, fish, fruits and vegetables.

I highly recommend visiting Mercato Centrale, if only for the fact that it is quite the spectacle to walk around and view the different types of food and produce essential to the Tuscan and Florentine cuisine. AND if you see something that you’d like to take back with you to your home country, just ask the vendor – they know very well what products are able to be transported across the borders and will vacuum-seal the product for you to make sure there aren’t any problems.