We will be climbing Brunelleschi's dome in Florence, either on Friday, April 24 or Saturday April 25. How far in advance will we need to buy our tickets? Will they sell out if we try to get tickets once we arrive?
Posted by
Firenze, Italy
2053 posts
Just remember April 25th is a national holiday in Italy
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
17834 posts
Hi Lisa -
I definitely would not wait until you get to Florence! The dome climb is in high demand and tickets have been known to sell out several weeks in advance for high season...which is essentially when you'll be there. I'd keep an eye on the ticketing calendar and if you see it starting to fill for your desired dates, pull the trigger on your purchase. I'll assume that you know that you need to purchase the Brunelleschi Pass to do this, and that you've read up on the physical challenges of this climb?
https://tickets.duomo.firenze.it/en/store#/en/buy?skugroup_id=3006
Editing to add: I'll say the same for the Uffizi and Accademia: make your timed-entry ticket reservations in advance if they're on your must-see list.
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
1866 posts
The timed Domo climb tickets come with a 3 day pass to the rest of sites. If you're a fan of the dome don't miss the excellent Duomo Museum and be sure to keep going up until you reach the very top.
As others have said - get your tickets early. The website says you'll need ID to use your tickets. I've found the demands for ID claimed on websites to be less enforced at many of the actual locations, but you should be prepared.
Enjoy,
=Tod
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
17324 posts
I recommend you also watch this documentary aired on PBS (NOVA) a few years ago, featuring the reconstruction of a model of the dome by a crew of masons from the US under the supervision of an Italian professor at the University of Florence (recently passed away) who discovered how Brunelleschi was able to build the dome without using supports below it. The model was reconstructed in a park (Anconella Park) right in front of my parents’ home in Florence, a park where I grew up playing soccer as a kid. The small size model is still there. Watch it because it’s very interesting.
Posted by
OP
7 posts
Thank you all! These tips are so helpful.
Posted by
Midlothian, TX
10 posts
Hello, Lisa!
Kate is spot on. The Brunelleschi pass is already on sale for the dates you mention. The website lists how many openings are available for each time slot. I highly recommend the first slot of the day. My wife and I went last March, and I did the climb while my wife had breakfast. My slot was the first of the day, and I was about the fifth person at the top. It was awesome. 10 minutes after I reached the top, it was so crowded it was hard to move around. It was difficult to get through the opening to go back down, because so many people were coming up (through the same opening).
The Brunelleschi pass includes all of the Duomo related sites, including the museum nearby. Not to be missed.
Same advice for the Accademia, first available slot. Very short visit, but wonderful.
Advice for the Uffizi is the opposite - book late in the day. The area around the Uffizi was packed when we showed up for our time slot, but the museum closed before we got in (sever flooding in the area). We stopped back by after our other planned activities the next afternoon to see if we could book another time. The said we could go right in. 3:00PM on a Saturday, very few people there.
Another suggestion is the Convent of San Marco. It was empty when we were there. Fra Angelico's frescoes are beautiful, especially The Annunciation.
I hope your trip is as memorable as was ours.