Florence art & legends: Michelangelo’s David and wine windows walk

Florence's wine windows — known in Italian as buchette del vino — are small stone openings, roughly the size of a hand, set into the walls of historic noble palaces, primarily in the Oltrarno and centro storico districts. There are around 150 documented wine windows in Florence, most dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, when noble families used them to sell wine directly to passers-by without the seller and buyer needing to make physical contact. On this evening tour, our guide leads you to several of the most historically significant and architecturally intact wine windows in the city, including active ones where you can purchase a glass of wine just as Florentines did four hundred years ago.

Florence's wine windows originated in the 16th century when Florentine noble families — many of whom owned extensive vineyards on their rural estates — were granted the right to sell wine directly from their city palaces without paying the taxes imposed on commercial wine merchants. The small stone openings allowed a minimal transaction: a coin would be passed through, a flask of wine handed back, with little social or physical contact between the parties. The wine windows fell into disuse over the following centuries but became symbols of Florentine ingenuity during the COVID-19 pandemic, when several bars and wine shops revived them as a socially distanced way to serve customers. Today a small number of original wine windows in Florence are active, and this tour visits them.

Yes — Accademia Gallery tickets are included and secured in advance as part of the tour. During the guided visit, you’ll discover the museum’s highlights, including Michelangelo’s David, the Prisoners and the Florentine painting collection. The Arno River cruise is also fully included in the tour price, with no separate ticket required.

Yes — a small number of original wine windows in Florence have been restored to active use and serve wine today. After centuries of dormancy, the tradition was revived during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when local wine bars discovered that the socially distanced format of the buchetta was a near-perfect solution for outdoor service. Several remained active after restrictions lifted, and the wine window has since become one of the most distinctive food-and-drink experiences Florence offers. On this tour, one glass of wine served from a historic buchetta del vino is included in the price — you experience the tradition exactly as the original Florentine clients did, exchanging coins through a stone opening for a cup of wine.

Piazza Santo Spirito is the social heart of the Oltrarno district and one of the most authentic squares in Florence. Dominated by the unadorned facade of Brunelleschi's Basilica di Santo Spirito (his last major church project), the piazza functions as a genuine neighbourhood gathering point — a contrast to the more tourist-heavy squares of central Florence. In the evenings, the square fills with locals, students, and travellers sitting at the terrace bars, and a lively street-market atmosphere takes hold. This tour passes through Piazza Santo Spirito as part of the Oltrarno walking route, giving you a genuine sense of how Florentines actually spend their evenings in a neighbourhood that retains the texture of everyday city life.

Cancellations are free up to 24 hours before the tour departure. For cancellations made within 24 hours of the tour start time, as well as in case of no-shows, the full amount will be charged.