I have been reading the forum for years but never posted before.
This will be our third trip to Italy but the first in December.
We will be traveling with a friend who has never been to Italy.
We will be based in Florence the first two weeks in December.
Do I need to make reservations in advance for the Uffizi and Accademia?
Any other special holiday events we should think about attending?
Thanks!
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
885 posts
Hello TravelPuppy, and welcome to the forum!
People report the reservations in these places freeing up as you get into November but I don't think anyone knows for sure. I feel it is probably worth sacrificing a little schedule flexibility for 1) knowing you'll get in and 2) not wasting any time standing in a ticket line while on vacation. I actually think you'll be fine walking up in December but you will need to wait in the ticket line and then wait until your slot opens up assuming you can't get a ticket for the next entrance. I'd rather know and just make it work in terms of schedule.
Tickets like most of the Duomo sites are available for a 3 day window so you can reserve those and have a 3 day window to use them if that helps you keep some flexibility.
Florence has special Christmas fairs and so does Siena which are both worth visiting but Arezzo goes all out for their Christmas decorations and it is an easy train ride from Florence so that's is very much worth looking into:
https://tuscany.tips/christmas-in-arezzo/
Have a great trip!
=Tod
Posted by
San Francisco, CA (USA)
539 posts
Good idea to book in-advance, especially if this friend is hoping to see these destinations.
The Winter months is when Italians get to travel and see their country. This a bit of an over-simplification but, the realty is, as foreign-tourism 'calms down', Italians are able to travel around their country without the overwhelming, stifling crowds, during non-peak season, visit relatives (holidays of course) but, also play tourist in their country which for more than half the year is a destination for the world's travelers.
You'll find many restaurants and other retail business closed or, having Winter/off-season hours; not unusual to see places closed for a month or two.
Posted by
Rural Georgia
2139 posts
We were in Florence 10 days before Christmas in 2015. We decided to the the Walks of Italy Accademia/Florence Stroll in the morning and the WOI Uffizi tour in the afternoon. When we arrived at the Uffizi around 2:00 pm, there was no line. Since we had a guide and skip the line entry, we went right in. There were only 6 of us in the group and our guide didn't even use his headset.
Personally, we thought taking the WOI tour was well worth the cost. Our guide has a Masters in Art History and showed not only the "greatest hits", but also lesser known but very important pieces. Our tour ended around 5:00, but we lucked out and had chosen a day where the Uffizi stayed open late. We grabbed a snack and then wandered the Uffizi on our own, seeing tons of artwork not covered by the tour.