Florence tips - Where to shop :

GIFTS

PINEIDER
13-14r piazza della Signoria, Florence (00 39 055 284655; www.pineidershop.com). The Florentine equivalent of Smythson, except it has been going even longer (since 1774) and is rumoured to provide the Pope with his customised writing paper. Notecards come in a rainbow array of pastel shades.

INTERIORS

ANTICO SETIFICO FIORENTINO
4 via Lorenzo Bartolini, Florence (00 39 055 213861; www.setificiofiorentino.it). Owned by the Pucci family, this by-appointment-only showroom offers bolts of the best hand-woven damask and Ermisino silk (Renaissance shot taffeta), as well as a range of accessories: tassels and braids, photograph albums, cashmere scarves and silk pot-pourri bags.