I'm sure if I could search the site I would find others who have worked their way through the online vs phone and which vendor to get tickets to Accademia in advance. We have Rick's book and have tried several options, except we haven't called yet. On some sites it says that tickets aren't available, on others they are. On the actual Accademia site there are no instructions on the reservation site except for blank dates. What have you found to be the best way to get those tickets in advance so we can avoid the lines. I also read in one book that it's best to go late in the day since there will be fewer people. Your thoughts?
Posted by
1540 posts
I got tickets thru their website in July, yes, pick your date, then pick your time, it will walk you thru it, just not a lot of instructions. I got the 8.15am reservation, printed out the one receipt for the 4 of us....my 3 friends got in the museum "have ticket" line, I walked across the street and exchanged the receipt for 4 tickets.....we were the first people thru the door. we saw david almost by ourselves and then saw the rest of the museum (takes 2 hours if you see EVERYTHING) this was a sunday morning in july....the busy season
Posted by
Atlanta
1005 posts
The official site http://www.firenzemusei.it gets you tickets at the lowest price. The instructions at Home / Watch, Read, Listen / Rick's Travel Articles / Making Museum Reservations in Florence are very clear. Just click on that gray banner on the first screen and jump right in. I had some difficulty making the payment a few weeks ago but it was apparently a web browser issue. It didn't like Safari. When we tried again on a PC browser the payment went right through.
Not sure when it's less crowded. It's not a big museum so you'll never be packed in a herd for long. I've never thought it was too bad, but I've always been there somewhat off season (if Florence actually has one.) If it's feeling too cramped around David, walk back down the hallway to the Prisoners. To me, those massive human forms breaking out of marble are the real stars of the Accademia.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
@Ruth: I love the prisoners and especially the Saint Matthew.
I have gotten tickets at the gift shop/ticket window across the street from the Accademia with an entry time within 15 minutes. You could get the tickets earlier in the day, visit the Museum of San Marco about a block away on the same street, and then go to the Accademia.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
Here is the direct link to buy tickets from the official website: http://tinyurl.com/kkcxt2n. Don't forget that dates in Europe are dd/mm/yyyy, not mm/dd/yyyy.
Or, ask your hotel if they will do this - many will, sometimes for free, sometimes for a small fee.