Live Music in Florence: 2 Venues to Consider

A live-music night in Florence depends on the particular performance, not just the venue name. Choose NoF Jazz Bar only if its programme advertises live musicians for your date. Teatro Cartiere Carrara is the alternative for a scheduled concert, with a ticket and a longer journey from the centre. The two suit quite different evenings.

NoF Jazz Bar or Teatro Cartiere Carrara?

Criterion	NoF Jazz Bar	Teatro Cartiere Carrara
Setting	Small bar in San Frediano	Concert theatre in eastern Florence
Walk from Piazza della Signoria	about 1000 metres; about 13 minutesBest	about 3.4 km; about three quarters of an hour
Admission for the selected night	—	Varies by event and seating category

First choose the performance, then the venue. NoF is a bar-night option only when the date advertises a live set, while the theatre lists individual concerts and other live shows. Look for named musicians or a concert on the event listing rather than assuming a DJ set means musicians will play. At the theatre, the event listing also determines the ticket price and whether you will be seated or standing.

If you want to dance to recorded music instead, night clubs in Florence are a different evening out. Plan the journey home for the night you choose: from San Frediano you can walk towards central accommodation if that suits your route, but after a concert in eastern Florence, decide between walking, a bus that runs after your show and a taxi according to where you are staying.

NoF Jazz Bar in San Frediano

NoF Jazz Bar sits on Borgo San Frediano in the Oltrarno. Its small-bar setting suits an evening built around a particular advertised set, rather than a large ticketed concert. Decide whether the performers and the date appeal to you before crossing the river, because the name alone does not tell you what will be playing that night.

The central walk makes a set easy to pair with time in San Frediano. Choose the route home from the bar to your own accommodation, rather than treating Piazza della Signoria as everyone’s destination. If the advertised performance does not appeal, Florence nightlife areas gives you a broader choice of neighbourhoods for an evening out.

The bar’s street number is 17R on Borgo San Frediano, useful when identifying the entrance. If a listing gives a start time, leave room to settle in before the musicians begin, and make your spending decision for that particular night rather than assuming a fixed concert ticket or a regular set.

Teatro Cartiere Carrara concerts

Teatro Cartiere Carrara, formerly Tuscany Hall, hosts scheduled concerts and live shows on Via Fabrizio De André in eastern Florence. Choose a named performance before making the journey: its listing gives the date and show time, the ticket categories and the arrangement for that event. The room can be configured for seated or standing audiences, so do not assume you will have a seat. Enter from Via Fabrizio De André at the corner of Lungarno Aldo Moro.

Tickets are available online through TicketOne or at the theatre’s weekday box office. Telephone reservations are not accepted. The published box-office hours are not general opening hours for the theatre: visits follow the performance calendar. A late arrival may have to wait for staff to admit you, and reaching a reserved seat once the show has started is not guaranteed. Allow yourself enough time to reach the entrance before the performance begins.

For an outward bus trip, take Autolinee Toscane line 14 from Firenze Santa Maria Novella station towards Varlungo and alight at Aretina Monzani or the following stop, Aretina De Nicola. The published daytime journey averages 20 minutes, with buses averaging every 10 minutes in daytime. A Florence urban single ticket costs €2.00 and is valid for 90 minutes. From the stop, head towards the entrance on the riverside road. The bus journey begins at the station, not at Piazza della Signoria.

Arrange the return independently of the daytime outbound service, especially if your show ends late. The walk back towards Piazza della Signoria is substantially longer than the one to the San Frediano bar. Whether you walk, take a bus or use a taxi depends on your destination and the time you leave. Choose the concert for its performance, and plan the journey home as part of that evening.

Sources & fact-checking

Checks against the sources below cover: services and fares and charges.

• Contatti – Teatro Cartiere Carrara
• La struttura: scheda tecnica
• Come arrivare
• Autolinee Toscane — fares and charges