As the museums are closed on Monday (we're only able to spend 1 night in Florence)and we are limited on time Tuesday, which gallery would be the best to see? Also the www.b-ticket.com shows neither museum has openings that day til noon. Is that possible & if so, would our hotel be able to even get us earlier tickets? Thanks in advance for your help--Debbie
Posted by
Calgary
2297 posts
The number of tickets available online is limited. Let your hotel make a reservation and they might be able to get you the tickets for your preferred time.
Uffizi is best known for its amazing collection of paintings, definitely a must-see. 2 hours seems to be the minimum time to see the highlights there.
Academia is famous for the "David" and not much else - unless you're really interested in sculptures.
It's a 15 min. walk between the two museums. I'd go to the Uffizi first and if there's time afterwards stop by the Academia and have a quick look at David - you might be lucky that the line-ups aren't that bad on your particular day.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1317 posts
Beatrix's advice is spot on. Many people report trouble booking morning tickets online but the hotels/phone system have no trouble at all.
The Uffizi is huge and has a ton of paintings. You could probably easily spend two days in there. Accademia has David, a few other statues, and a music instruments gallery that's fun if you or someone you know is a musician.
You don't say how limited time on Tuesday is. If you have a full morning or so, I'd do as Beatrix says and go to the Uffizi, then hope the lines at the Accademia are short. If you only have an hour, it's probably not worth it to go to the Uffizi.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
If you have to see The David, you'll have to go to the Accademia, period (okay, they've got one in Vegas).
If you want to see what's arguably the world's best collection of Italian Renaissance art, go to the Uffizi. The Uffizi collection is not massive, compared to a museum like the Louvre or the Metropolitan, but it's apples and oranges to compare the Accademia to the Uffizi.
Many find they only need 30 minutes at the Accademia. Maybe you'll decide you have time for both.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1317 posts
There's also a fake David in Florence outside of the government palazzo. It marks the spot where original David once stood. If that's all you have time for, you might zip by there and then you can say you saw "a" David in Florence.
It was covered up for repair work when I was last there in Nov 2008 but hopefully they are finished by now.
Debbie, you didn't say what time of year you are going. If the off season, I doubt you will have any trouble getting in. We went in early December and hired a private guide for the Uffizi (something you may want to consider to get the most of your visit, if you have the budget. Our guy was awesome but unfortunately I don't have his contact info).
Then we went up to the Accademia and bought tickets to walk right in, even though we had reservations. We didn't mention the reservation aspect and saved ourselves the fee!
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10887 posts
FYI they also have The David at Forest Lawn Cemetary in Glendale, CA. They have some other interesting art there too.
Posted by
OP
Kansas City, MO, USA
63 posts
Thanks so much for your help. We need to be in Rome on the Tuesday afternoon by 3p to get our Papal Audience tickets, so we didn't feel we could do late reservations on the museums.
I have asked my hotel to make reservations for us to attend the Uffizi & they were able to get the 8:15a time (even though the website said there wasn't any available slots til noon) on the day we wanted. If we have time left over we'll try to get into the lines for the Accademia.