Every painter who ever wanted Florence wanted the river light, and the Lungarni — the embankments running the length of the old centre — are where you walk straight into it. East to west, four bridges, the water carrying the colour the whole way. Do it in the evening, walking with the sun as it drops toward the hills.
Start on Ponte alle Grazie, the open eastern bridge with no shops to block the view, and read the river running away from you. Take the north embankment, Lungarno degli Archibugieri, beneath the Uffizi arches and the Corridoio Vasariano overhead, to the spot where Ponte Vecchio gives up its proper portrait — don't cross it, just look back at the stacked shops and the overhang. On to Ponte Santa Trinita, the most elegant bridge in the city, rebuilt from its own dredged stones after 1944; stand at the centre for the framed view painters always chose.
Then Lungarno Corsini, the palace front taking the last sun, and out onto Ponte alla Carraia. Look back east at the whole chain, the dome glowing behind the roofs, and cross to the Oltrarno for a drink as the lamps come on.
