Short on time? San Lorenzo Leather Market can wait.
Allow 30–60 minutes.
Fun as street theatre, buyer-beware as commerce — and the insider tell is worth more than the haggle. Real full-grain leather smells faintly of hide and tannin, creases softly and shows pores; the glossy, uniform, plasticky-smelling 'genuine Italian leather' draped on the busiest stalls is usually bonded or imported, and the 'made in Italy' tag often refers to a stitched-on label, not the hide. If you actually want a piece to keep, walk five minutes to the Scuola del Cuoio inside Santa Croce, where you watch it being made and buy at a fixed, honest price. Treat the market as a place to browse and bargain for a cheap belt, not to spend real money on a 'leather jacket.'