Firenze card or Friend of the Uffizi

You may want to do a search. There was a thread on this same subject within about 1-2 weeks.

Bob,
thanks but I see only discussion about the Firenze card.... which I already knew.
It's the membership in the amici degli Uffizi (Friends of the Uffizi) that I want to examine the benefits.

Was there a discussion about this that I missed?
bill

I think it was mentioned in a couple of threads but I don't recall an extensive discussion. If you are going to be in Florence for awhile or plan to return, are traveling with family, or want the option to go back to the same museum on different days, the Amici card may be worth the cost.

I was trying to decide the same thing and went with the Amici card, due to being able to re-visit a particular site. The Firenze card only allows one visit per site and I felt we might not want to see the entire Uffizi at one time. Plus, from what I gather, transportation in Florence is not a necessity, unless you have trouble getting around on foot. In that case, maybe the Firenze card would be worth it. Also, the Amici card has a one year time limit, so if you are in Florence for more than 72 hours, that would be an advantage.

Hi, Bill,
I was the one who posted the original thread about the Firenze Card v. the Amici degli Uffizi. (I don't know if you would have found it doing a search; I don't think the search feature works so well on this forum!) We will be in Florence for four nights, and ultimately I decided on the Uffizi card. Here's why: we are a family of three; one of us is 11 years old. 72 EUR seemed pretty steep for him--216 EUR for all of us. (Only EU citizens get in free under age 18; no kid discounts for non-EU citizens.) The Firenze Card is only good for 3 days (72 hours). You may only visit each site one time. It does have unlimited public transportation, free wifi (not really clear where the hotspots are), and some kind of free app that gives you maps, information about museums, etc. If those things appeal, you might look into it.

By contrast, the Uffizi membership is 100 EUR for a family. It allows for unlimited (repeat) visits to museums (we might get tired before we see all we want to see); it covers all the museums we want to see except for the Duomo; we don't think we'll be taking public transportation all that much (and if we do, we'd have to buy a lot of bus tickets before we got close to spending 116 EUR); we don't care about the free wifi or the app. Here's the list of museums the Uffizi membership covers: http://www.amicidegliuffizi.it/diventa_socio.php?pg=8&ln=en

And here is the original post from a couple of weeks ago:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/firenze-card-v-amici-degli-uffizi

Hope this helps!

Debbie

You have gotten some great advice so far. For most travelers the Firenze Card is a a good value if they plan to see a few sites in Florence. If your main goal is to see the Uffizi and the Accademia making reservations in advance for those usually the best and more affordable option. If you plan to visit the Uffizi many times or feel the extra perks of the Uffizi membership are worth it for your needs then that could be a good option for you.

One other consideration I just discovered: with the Uffizi card, you get to skip the line only there, not at the other participating sites. Maybe not a big deal, but you should know of it.

Did NOT know that detail about only skipping lines at the Uffizi. May need to rethink. Hmmmm....thanks!

Go to tripadvisor.com, Florence forum and ask there or use the search slot. Lots of tips there. Firenze card is a tourist ripoff.