Old Bridge (Ponte Vecchio)

This famous 14th-century bridge, built by Taddeo Gaddi and home to medieval Florence’s gold and silversmiths, is still paved with jewellers’ shops today. The Ponte Vecchio’s genteel atmosphere dates back to the days of Cosimo de’ Medici, a member of the city’s ruling dynasty in Renaissance times, who threw out a group of butchers who set up shop on the bridge. Above the shops that line the bridge is a secret passageway known as the Corridoio Vasariano, linking the Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi Gallery and the Pitti Palace, and originally built as a private passage for the Medici family. The Ponte Vecchio was the only bridge across the River Arno to be spared German bombing during World War II.
Air: Amerigo Vespucci Airport (Florence), Pisa Galileo Galilei Airport. Rail: Train: Santa Maria Novella Station.