Ponte Vecchio is the oldest bridge in Florence. From here you can enjoy a wonderful view over the Arno and the other bridges.The area is great for people watching, enjoying the river, and side-stepping hawkers, portrait artists, and souvenir vendors. High above, the buildings pass the Vasari Corridor, built by Vasari for Cosimo I, allowing to reach Palazzo Vecchio without being disturbed.

The oldest bridge of Florence is a mix of people, shops, colours and life. You can't miss it as you visit the town. The shops lining the bridge date back to '500 and are all laboratories and goldsmiths shops although no craftsmen actually "work" in their shops today, the jewellery is beautiful. Goldsmiths took up resident centuries ago, building extensions from their shops that overhang the river.

Until 1957, the Florentine bridges were six. Currently there are ten. As the name implies, the Old Bridge, by Fioravante dei Neri (1345), is the oldest of the city. Not only because it is the only authentic bridge surviving, but because it sits in the same place the other three decks from which it takes origin: the Roman, the one that collapsed in 1117, and that once again was destroyed by a flood of the Arno in 1333. In 1345 the current bridge replaced an earlier wooden one that was swept away in the flood. It is also the only bridge that was not bombed during World War II.