Be Bop has run a vaulted basement room on Via dei Servi a few steps from the Duomo since 1981, with a small stage that hosts live blues, rock, indie and tribute-band sets six nights a week and a short pub kitchen that runs through service.
Tip: Doors at 20:00 and shows from around 22:00. The room is tiny so arrive early on weekends; the cover varies with the act and is usually under fifteen euros.
Address: Via dei Servi 76R, 50122 Firenze, Florence
Caruso Jazz Cafe occupies a brick-vaulted basement on Via Lambertesca a step from the Uffizi, with live jazz sets Thursday through Saturday starting around 21:00 and a small Italian kitchen that runs through service for early-evening diners.
Tip: Italian and touring jazz players cycle through weekly; reserve a table close to the stage for sightlines in the narrow vault. The Risotto Caruso with prawns and prosecco is the house plate.
701 Rooftop opened in summer 2024 on the seventh floor of the Lungarno Collection's Gallery Hotel Art a step from Ponte Vecchio, with two panoramic terraces pointing at Brunelleschi's Duomo, Giotto's Tower and Palazzo Vecchio and an interior by architect Michele Bonan in warm boiserie and English-club lines.
Tip: Cocktails sit around 22 euros and the bar opens for sunset only, Tuesday to Saturday. Book a terrace table well ahead for the Duomo sightline; the room is small and reserves out fast.
Jazz Club Firenze runs a small vaulted basement on Via Nuova de' Caccini and remains the city's longest-standing dedicated jazz room, with a six-night-a-week programme that books contemporary Italian players alongside touring acts and a late slot that runs to 04:00.
Tip: Ten euro membership at the door includes a drink; sets begin around 22:30. Notable Italian players including Stefano Bollani and Enrico Rava have passed through, so check the calendar before booking.
Caruso Jazz Cafe occupies a brick-vaulted basement on Via Lambertesca a step from the Uffizi, with live jazz sets Thursday through Saturday starting around 21:00 and a small Italian kitchen that runs through service for early-evening diners.
Tip: Italian and touring jazz players cycle through weekly; reserve a table close to the stage for sightlines in the narrow vault. The Risotto Caruso with prawns and prosecco is the house plate.
NOF runs a small Borgo San Frediano room with nightly live music since September 2011, programming Italian songwriters, rock, blues, funk and jazz quartets across a free-entry calendar that has logged more than a thousand concerts in its first decade.
Tip: Doors at 19:00 for aperitivo, sets from 22:00. The room fits perhaps fifty so arrive early on weekends. Cocktails and a short small-plates kitchen run through service.
701 Rooftop opened in summer 2024 on the seventh floor of the Lungarno Collection's Gallery Hotel Art a step from Ponte Vecchio, with two panoramic terraces pointing at Brunelleschi's Duomo, Giotto's Tower and Palazzo Vecchio and an interior by architect Michele Bonan in warm boiserie and English-club lines.
Tip: Cocktails sit around 22 euros and the bar opens for sunset only, Tuesday to Saturday. Book a terrace table well ahead for the Duomo sightline; the room is small and reserves out fast.
Empireo has run on the rooftop of the Plaza Hotel Lucchesi since 2014, with a pool deck, an American bar and a wraparound terrace that takes in the Duomo, Santa Croce and the Arno bend, paired with the Segno kitchen for an early-evening dinner service through the warm months.
Tip: Non-guests need a reservation after 19:30; the pool is hotel-guest only. The view across to Santa Croce works best at sunset with a Negroni in hand.
Sesto on Arno sits on the sixth floor of the Westin Excelsior on Piazza Ognissanti, with a glass-walled dining room, two open-air terraces split between bar and restaurant, and a sightline that picks up the Duomo, Ponte Vecchio and the Oltrarno hills across the Arno.
Tip: Bar service runs during dinner hours; book the bar terrace if you only want a drink. The west-facing terrace is the seat for sunset; cocktails sit around 22 euros.