This Wildly Popular Italian City For Vacationing Recently Banned Outdoor Dining

Florence  a city full of art and architecture, is not only breathtaking to behold, but attracts scores of people each year. In fact, it welcomed around four million visitors from January to October of 2025. Travelers will find museums with priceless works of art, delicious regional cuisine, and pretty day trips to take throughout Tuscany. While there are plenty of attractions you can't skip in Florence, one thing you might have to do without starting in 2026, is dining outside. 

While Florence is known for its outdoor sites, with gorgeous churches, buildings, and piazzas, that you can admire as you stroll around the most walkable city in the world, you'll no longer be able to see this amazing architecture while you sip Chianti at an outdoor café table. According to Florence Daily News, Florence has banned outdoor dining areas in the historic UNESCO World Heritage core. This ban will cover 50 streets in the center of Florence, including a number of famous areas where you might expect to be able to enjoy a meal outside.

Outdoor dining increased during the pandemic lockdown in Italy, just as it did in many other places in the U.S. and around the world. Resident complaints about how packed Florence's city center had become, with outdoor tables crowding the streets, helped create the ban. However, some residents don't believe it's enough. On the other hand, restaurateurs understandably worry about how this will affect their businesses. 

In addition to the ban in the city center, which includes tourist-favorites like the Piazzale degli Uffizi courtyard and the famous bridge, the Ponte Vecchio, there are going to be strict regulations on outdoor seating on 73 other streets. These restrictions vary by place, but include things like bans on outdoor plastic covers or awnings, changes to umbrella rules, and suggestions to use green carpet on outdoor areas with seasonal flowers and plants. 

The wildly popular vacation destination of Florence has been making changes to combat over-tourism for some time. In fact, in 2024, CNN reported that Florence was set to ban key boxes for rental spots in the city center and loudspeakers from tour guides, while golf carts for ferrying tourists around would be limited. While the new outdoor dining ban may not deter people from coming to this historic city, it will make the streets easier to navigate. If you have your heart set on dining al fresco in Florence, don't fret. There will still be places where you can eat outside, possibly even driving visitors to find lesser-known restaurants and cafés further from the city center.