Is this a must do? I know it's all personal choice...but any thoughts?
Looks like I may be out of luck in ordering timed tickets to climb the duomo since the official website says none remain...I think I read somewhere you can climb another tower to get a similar view; if so, which would that be? Do I need to purchase/order/schedule this?
Any tips you can offer are greatly appreciated...thanks!
The best views over the city are from the Piazzale Michelangelo, on the other side of the river. To save you a long uphill walk, there is a bus 13, leaving from the main railway station.
You can also climb the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio (418 steps). This is not a location that we typically say needs advance reservation, but I have seen some moderately-long ticket buying lines there. www.musefirenze.it
Imo it is not a must do. I did it with a long wait in incredible heat one summer and was to exhausted to enjoy it all. I would skip it. Enjoy the beauty from outside.
We were there last July and the lines were hours long. Some tour operators walk the line offering a guided tour and no waiting in line. We did this. It added more to the cost to get in but this aloud us to skip the line. I enjoyed it, but I have to say, it was terribly hot. I only did it because my adult son wanted me to do it with him.
We stayed in an apartment that had a beautiful view of the duomo. It was stunning when lit at night. We didn't feel the need to climb it. We did go to see the amazing view of Florence from the Piazzale Michaelangelo. My husband and daughter enjoyed the walk up there, but the rest of us caught bus 13.
Well, I would say to climb it.
Not only do you get a magnificent view of the inside of the duomo, but you get a wonderful view of the city. From the top we could see our apartment!
Climb Giotto's Tower, right next to the Duomo.
Not claustrophobic, and you can see the Duomo and the whole of Florence.
