What language is spoken in Florence?

Italian, and Florence has a legitimate claim as its birthplace. Dante Alighieri wrote the Divina Commedia around 1320 using Florentine Tuscan rather than Latin, and that dialect became the foundation of modern standard Italian. You'll still hear Florentine quirks on the streets. The most obvious is the gorgia toscana, a Tuscan speech habit where hard C sounds soften into an aspirated H. A local ordering a Coca-Cola at a bar on Via dei Calzaiuoli sounds like they're saying "Hoha-Hola," which takes some getting used to on your first morning near Piazza della Repubblica. The written language is identical to standard Italian, so any phrasebook works. But the spoken rhythm in Florence is softer and faster than what you'd hear in Rome or Naples.

English proficiency in the tourist core between Piazza della Signoria and the Duomo sits at roughly 6 out of 10 (sourced from EF's English Proficiency Index, where Italy currently falls in the 'moderate proficiency' band, with Florence's tourist center skewing above the national average). Hotel front desks, Uffizi Gallery ticket counters, and restaurants on Piazza della Repubblica handle English without friction. Staff under 35 tend to speak it comfortably. The gap shows up at the Mercato Centrale ground floor, where the older butchers and produce vendors work in rapid Italian and hand gestures. Pharmacies near Santa Maria Novella station are another weak spot. If you need medicine at a pharmacy on Via dei Panzani, write the generic drug name on your phone rather than describing symptoms in English. Across the Arno in the Oltrarno, the artisan workshops on Via Maggio and Borgo San Frediano operate almost entirely in Italian. That said, the leather workers and woodcarvers on Via Maggio are patient with pointing and miming. Google Translate's camera mode handles printed Italian well for menus and signage, and it works offline if you download the Italian language pack before your flight.

The phrases that shift interactions in Florence are fewer than most guides suggest. "Un caffè, per favore" at a bar counter in Piazza Santo Spirito gets you a single espresso for about €1.20. "Il conto" at the end of a meal at a trattoria on Via dei Neri signals you're ready to pay. "Posso assaggiare?" at the Mercato Centrale cheese stalls will get you samples of pecorino toscano and finocchiona, the fennel-studded Tuscan salami, without any awkwardness. "Permesso" is the word you'll say 40 times a day on the narrow sidewalks between the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio, which has stood over the Arno since 1345. Mind you, Florentines appreciate the attempt more than the execution. A stumbling "buongiorno" beats a flat "hello" at a café on Via Ghibellina. One habit worth picking up is the greeting switch. Before roughly 3 PM, Florentines say "buongiorno." After that, "buonasera." Get it backwards at a bar on Piazza San Lorenzo and the barista will correct you with a grin.

Menu reading in Florence is less intimidating than it looks. Florentine restaurants split courses into antipasti, primi (pasta or soup), secondi (meat or fish), and contorni (vegetable sides, ordered separately). The dish on every menu is bistecca alla fiorentina, a thick T-bone from Chianina cattle priced by the kilo at roughly €45-55/kg and typically shared between 2 people. Ribollita is a dense bread-and-bean soup with a texture like wet, savory bread pudding that tastes like it simmered for 3 hours in a stone kitchen. Lampredotto, slow-cooked tripe in a peppery broth, sells from street carts near the Sant'Ambrogio market for €4-5 a sandwich. Worth noting, "coperto" on the bill is a per-person cover charge of €2-3. It is not a tip. Tipping in Florence follows Italian norms, and rounding up or leaving €1-2 on a €40 dinner is generous by Florentine standards.