Oltrarno sits across the Arno and keeps the workshop heartbeat alive. Santo Spirito's piazza hosts students on the church steps, vintage markets, and late-night bars serving negroni sbagliato. San Frediano lanes hide woodworkers, frame shops, and trattorie where locals still argue over ribollita vs pappa al pomodoro.
Artisan studios open doors in the morning; aperitivo fills the streets by evening. Antique shops, independent galleries, and tiny cinemas thread the side streets. At dusk, laundry flaps above, scooters idle below, and the smell of grilled octopus drifts from a doorway.
It's less polished than the center, more lived-in, and where you hear Florentine dialect under string lights strung between terracotta roofs. Cross Ponte alla Carraia or Santa Trinita for quick returns to the other bank, but linger here for the human pace.