Teatro Cartiere Carrara, the former Tuscany Hall on the right bank of the Arno at Bellariva, runs as the city's flagship 2,300-capacity concert hall with a 2025-2026 season that books Italian touring acts including Neffa, Nomadi, Nek and Bandabardo alongside national stand-up, musicals and New Year's-eve programming.
Tip: Doors typically open 19:30 with shows from 21:00; ticket prices vary by act. The 6 and 14 buses drop you on Lungarno Aldo Moro a short walk from the door.
Address: Lungarno Aldo Moro 3, 50136 Firenze, Florence
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.
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.