As you're getting ready to visit Florence, be sure to pack a good pair of comfy walking shoes. Once you get to Florence, walk around the city until you find the perfect store to buy a new pair. Known as the shoe capital of the world, Florence boasts more shoe stores than any European city and has anything from sleek stiletto heels to fashionable, hand-made leather flats. Florence shoes range in all shapes, sizes, variety and prices.

When I first visited Florence, I was twelve years old. I remember walking for hours on cobble-stone streets past shoe store after shoe store. Eventually, my family and I found a shop we were interested in and after trying a few pairs, I found the perfect pair of little leather loafers. These weren't the typical, dumpy, granny loafers I was used to seeing in the states; no, they were Italian, chic and black with a small heel. Over a decade has passed and these shoes still fit me and look great. Like most Florence shoes, they are durable, timeless, and fit perfectly.

If you're looking for the full Florence shoe experience, start at the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum (Via Tornabouni 14R) which opened in 1995 and displays Salvatore Ferragamo shoes from 1920 to the present. Salvatore designed the ultimate Florence shoes and fashion forever. Beginning in at age nine, Salvatore designed shoes for his sisters' confirmations and found out he had a knack for shoe making. After emigrating to Boston to work in a cowboy boot factory and travelling west to Southern California to design shoes, Salvatore decided to return to Italy in 1927 and start a company of his own for the wealthiest and most-fashionable people in the world. His clients included Greta Garbo, Sophia Loren, Ava Gardner, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and my favorite actress, Lauren Bacall. You'll enjoy the gorgeous shoes, designer sketches and the interesting setting, a medieval palace dating back to 1289. If you're interested in an elegant pair of Salvatore Ferragamo shoes, go to the downstairs shop where attendants can pick out shoes without sizing.

The entire area around the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum has great shoes. Explore Via Tornabouni and Via della Vigna Nuova to see a wide variety of Florence shoe stores. Between the Piazza Duomo and Ponte Vecchio, you'll also find a wide variety of shoe stores. At Piazza Duomo 55r, a great store, Bologna, which claims to be "Florence's favorite shoe store," sells everything from heels to hiking shoes. For a cheaper pair of Florence shoes, look in the leather market around the San Lorenzo Church. You should find a nice pair of leather shoes but be prepared to bargain!

If you're looking specifically for name-brand shoes, visit Via Strozzi, which has Gucci, Luis Vuitton, and Prada stores. For an extremely high end shoe shopping experience, make a visit to Stefano Bremer, a custom shoe designer who used to work at Gucci. Each pair of shoes costs at least $1,500. Even if you're not interested in buying these pricey Florence shoes, you can still enjoy the visit; the quality is unbelievable.

Have fun finding the perfect pair of shoes in Florence and try to stay within your budget. If you do end up splurging, remember what Sir Henry Royce, the founder of Rolls Royce, said that quality remains after price has been forgotten.