Climbing the Dome in Firenze

Is there any way to just reserve a time to climb the Dome? Online it
seems that you have to buy the 18 euro ticket for everything then use
the ticket number to reserve a time to climb the Dome.

There's no separate ticket just for the dome so yes, you'll want to purchase the cumulative 18-euro ticket online and reserve your time right away using the bar-code number (the website tells you how). I would not wait until to get to Florence to buy the ticket and then try to make a reservation, especially during high season: slots for the climb fill quickly in advance!

Thank you. Climbing the Dome used to be free but you had to potentially wait in line for hours. I guess one should just think of the 18 euro cost as a reservation fee.

Some people like to climb structures in Europe (or in America, for that matter). I have done climbs of various structures in Paris and Italy, and while those experiences were basically "been there, done that, got the t-shirt" type of events, they seldom are inspirational. For example, the best views in Paris are from the Montparnasse tower, not from the Eiffel tower. Likewise, the time spent slogging to the top of the Dome of St. Peters was a non-event, characterized by a sweaty haul in a claustrophobic stairwell behind other, slower climbers and culminating in a brief look around when we arrived at the top.

With that said, and not to be critical of the Duomo climb, given a choice of the climb OR a visit to the Duomo Museum, I would take the Museum in a hot minute. The artwork on display is deeply moving, world class renderings by some of the greatest artists of the Renaissance. The baptistery was interesting, and the Duomo interior is rather plain. Let me recommend the Museum as a wonderful place, and if you have only an hour or two, spend them in there. Of course, if you have kids with you, the climb is imperative because they will mope all day if you don't do that.

This isn't directed at the OP but it does touch on a trend that I'm still puzzled about. Aside from an interest in the techniques of it's construction, I can't see why someone would climb the Cupola of the Duomo, especially at the expense of seeing other sites in town. The life of a city in it's streets. When folks visit your hometown do you send them scampering up the highest structure for view of the rooftops or do you tell them about the places on the ground that make your town such and interesting place to be? If you have a prolonged time in Florence and have explored in depth, by all means climb away. But I've seen posts where folks have one or two days in the city and are fretting over the logistics of climbing the Cupola before they have to leave. Seriously?

As an aside, the Duomo Museum has an exhibit showing the method of construction that Brunelleschi used on the dome within a dome construction, including a mockup of how it looked at the time.

I see you already have a thorough answer in Kathy's reply. Depending on your reason for wanting to climb the Duomo (it is stunning to see the inside of that dome up close and personal at the half-way point, and the views are pretty amazing) but you may want to consider going up Giotto's tower instead. The views OF the Duomo from the bell tower are unique, and seeing the bells in person is cool too. I've been up both several times and last year I did not make our reservations for the Duomo early enough, but we were able to basically walk right into the campenile (September 5ish 2017). Have an awesome trip!

but you may want to consider going up Giotto's tower instead.

Good suggestion from Rena: the bell tower is a oft-recommended backup. I'm not big on crowds in long, very confined staircases so my personal up-high spot in Florence is Piazzale Michelangelo: no reservations or entry free, and San Miniato al Monte up there to marvel at as well! :O)

Thank you to everyone who has replied. Actually, when people visit my hometown, the capital of Canada, I do recommend they go to the top of the Peace Tower for the view. When they visited me in Vancouver, climbing Grouse Mountain was a must. In Florence we are doing the usual tourist sites such as Uffizi and David, Ponte Vecchio etc. We are also planning day trips to Siena ( I hear the Duomo is a must see), San Gimignano, Pisa and possibly Cinque Terre. When travelling you do have to make choices. Sometimes we really do get “churched out” or have enough of museums. The day we are doing the Dome, we will have arrived after an overnight, overseas flight with a six hour time change so we really only want to do one thing that requires reservations in case we are too tired to continue on. The bell tower is on our list but something like that doesn’t require reservations, is much less crowded and can be done at any time. It was because of the need to make reservations that I was asking the questions about cost. Thank you everyone for your advice and suggestions. We are really looking forward to our trip.

I'm not big on crowds in long, very confined staircases so my personal
up-high spot in Florence is Piazzale Michelangelo: no reservations or
entry free, and San Miniato al Monte up there to marvel at as well!
:O)

Kathy, if you don't like 'confined staircases' you would have not liked climbing the Duomo. October 2010 it was crowded, warm, claustrophobic and steep. I made it though. The best part was stepping on to the walkway every so often--so I wouldn't totally freak out--and viewing the ceiling up close and personal. It's wonderful from the floor, but that close it's simply incredible. Almost worth the 414 stairs.

And to boot, within hours of this ascension & descension, I had a kidney stone. Was in agony that night, on the train to Rome the next day, then--I know, TMI--passed it within a few hours after about three Nastro Azzurro beers in the Jewish Ghetto.

Kathy
When I read your original post I had some thoughts about your question and started typing. Then I read the response you put in near the end of the thread and completely changed my mind. I was in Italy in 2007 with my wife and her then 83 year old very fit mother. I climbed to the top of the Doumo then at age 62 and it was a wonderful experience. The climb up is long, miserable but the view is beautiful....but only to the climber. Pictures you will take do not do the view justice and your friends and family who see them will never appreciate the effort it took to get there. The climb down, however, is in my opinion spectacular. Somewhere enroute you will come into the inside of the dome (there are actually two domes) and walk on a railed pathway around half of it to the other side before continuing down. You are just a few feet from the surface of the inner dome and there is glass about six feet up protecting it, but with only this one chance I reached over it and touched it. It is not an easy climb, but worth your time. All that said, have you ever been to Europe before? The reason I ask is that you will be tired with limited sleep on the airplane and probably stiff from sitting so long. Most experts including Rick recommend that to overcome jet lag you keep moving and get "light" exercise and try to stay awake until 9 or 10 PM. I believe it is safe to say that climbing the Duomo is nowhere near light exercise and will probably tire you out for the following day as well.

As others have said, the Duomo museum and the Baptistery are much better choices and you're already seeing David (more to the Academia than David) and the Uffizi. Don't forget the frescos at San Marco. There is nothing to the Ponte Vecchio that you can't see in 15 minutes unless you're shopping for gold, and that's not the place you want to buy it.....unless you have a LOT of money. One last thing....there are several all day Grayline bus tours from the train station in Florence into Tuscany. We did San Gimignano, Siena and Pisa in a 9 hour day and it was time well spent. You are correct, the Doumo in Siena is a must see, and while there go into the library where they have original books containing pages of music chanted by monks 500+ years ago. There is more to Florence than the biggies and that is why I'm going back to Italy for two weeks next month, SOLO. Too many things there I missed while trying to help my travel partners have a great trip. And no, I won't be climbing the dome to relive that experience. Much more to see. Have a great trip.
Jim

Kathy When I read your original post I had some thoughts about your
question and started typing.

Jim, just FYI that I'm not the OP. :O)

Kathy, if you don't like 'confined staircases' you would have not
liked climbing the Duomo.

I'm sure not, which is why we didn't do it! We've done the towers at Notre Dame in Paris and some other lofty sites with crowded, narrow stairways and know it's not our thing. As hikers we've done plenty of elevated trails with jaw-dropping views but were under an open sky and didn't involve a conga line of company. That's why Piazzale Michelangelo worked much better for us. No right or wrong, just different.