Ponte Vecchio

A medieval bridge lined with goldsmiths' shops

Hours: Bridge always open; shops roughly 10:00–19:00, varying by shop
Tickets: Free. The Vasari Corridor above it needs the Uffizi combined ticket (€47, €43 on the day)
Address: One minute west of the river end of the Uffizi

It looks like someone parked a row of houses on the river. Little shuttered shops hang off both edges, their windows glittering with gold chains and rings. It used to be a butchers' street until, the story goes, Grand Duke Ferdinando I tired of the smell in the 1590s and gave it to goldsmiths. The long passage running over the shop roofs is the Vasari Corridor, the Medici's private walkway between palaces. Look down the river from the open arches in the middle, but for the whole bridge in one frame, walk west to Ponte Santa Trinita.