Florence — Leather, Perfume and the Tornabuoni

Both banks in one arc: fragrance and saddle-stitch around Santa Croce, the artisan Oltrarno at golden hour pace, across the Ponte Vecchio, and up Via Tornabuoni to finish inside eight centuries of perfume.

1. 0:00 — AquaFlor Borgo Santa Croce 6
   Begin in a frescoed palazzo of scent — Florence’s modern perfume atelier, vials mixed before your eyes.
2. 0:30 — Scuola del Cuoio Via San Giuseppe 5r, behind Santa Croce
   Through the monastery corridor: the leather school the friars founded for war orphans — watch the gilding irons work.
3. 1:10 — Stefano Bemer Via San Niccolò 2, Oltrarno
   Cross to San Niccolò: bespoke shoes in a deconsecrated chapel — Daniel Day-Lewis apprenticed at these benches.
4. 1:50 — Angela Caputi Borgo San Jacopo 78
   West along the artisan bank: resin jewelry in colors Pucci would envy, made upstairs since 1975.
5. 2:10 — Madova Via de’ Guicciardini 1r
   At the foot of the Ponte Vecchio: gloves and only gloves since 1919 — they will read your hand like a palmist.
6. 2:35 — Il Bisonte Via del Parione 31r
   Over the bridge: vachetta leather that ages like the city’s stone — the 1970 original shop.
7. 3:00 — Ferragamo Via de’ Tornabuoni 2, Palazzo Spini Feroni
   The Tornabuoni anchor — a medieval palace, the shoe museum in the basement, Marilyn’s lasts on file.
8. 3:30 — Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella Via della Scala 16
   Finale: the 1221 pharmacy — rose water made for plague years, Caterina de’ Medici’s eau, frescoes overhead.

If hunger strikes on Tornabuoni, Procacci’s truffle panini with a glass of prosecco has been the correct answer since 1885. The Mall’s outlet pilgrimage and Loretta Caponi’s embroidered linens deserve their own days.