[Florence] How long for Uffizi?

I'm exhausted reading this. By the time you get to the Uffizi you may be very tired. On a visit last year, not seeing everything we were there about 4 hours. Slow down, leave something to come back to, wonder (wander?) around and get lost, and enjoy your holiday.

It will be very busy, almost guaranteed. I’ve been to many major art museums across the US and Europe - the only one that felt appreciably busier than the Uffizi was the Louvre. The big difference is the Uffizi is not massive, so the crowds fill up the space more. At other big museums if the crowds are bothersome I’ll seek out some less-visited wing and find a respite.

That detracted from my willingness to linger, and I’m definitely a “linger-er” in museums. We stayed 2 hours and I was ok leaving at that point.

Could you make plans to meet the rest of your party later? They can take a walk, shop, nap, whatever, while you relax and enjoy the Uffizi? Is there a reason you must all stick together the entire time?

Perhaps there is some activity they might enjoy more than you. Flexibility is a useful tool.

If you don’t have a reservation expect to wait in a 4h line. It takes the average person 2h to walk through the museum.

All most helpful, thank you!

Ksea and MaryPat, thank you -- we were certainly expecting crowds, and likewise expecting them to contribute to an urge to move along. Having that general two-hour timeframe in mind helps me sort out a reservation entry time that allows us at least that long, and ideally longer, before we may wish to depart, wander town, eat, and eventually get to our Duomo reservation that evening.

Jane, good suggestion, and it's close to our plan. While we do all want to see the Uffizi, the idea is to plan an entry early enough to allow everyone the bare minimum (sounds like 2 hours), and then anyone who's had their fill can head along to something different, while anyone who chooses to stay longer could do so. It's a shame to be so penned in by reservation times and the no-reentry policy, but it does make sense for crowd control. And certainly much better than wasting a ton of time just waiting in line!

John, I agree, the Florence leg is unfortunately the most time-pressed segment of our two-week trip. It's also the only one where we have to make advance reservations to see some of the things we want (Duomo and Uffizi, namely). Thankfully, we're pretty energetic folks, and our 14-year-old keeps up pretty well. We're looking forward to a mix of fast and slow over the trip.

For what it's worth, we rarely -- if ever -- repeat our travel destinations. There's simply too much world out there to see! Never say never, of course, but we do try to ensure we hit each person's top desires in a destination in case we don't make it back for another trip. Not exhaustive, but top can't-miss. It's a formula that's worked pretty well for us so far, and we look forward to testing it again this time.

Thank you all! This forum is such a help.

My quick answer is at least 2 hours with 3 being better. This is in line with our museum visiting philosophy. We limit ourselves to on museum a day, but will do two in a pinch. It's easy to get museum burnout.

I think a good compromise for the family is to have a designated meeting spot and time outside the museum if they want to leave before you're done.

You'll be there at the height of the tourist season and I can't imagine what it will be like at the Uffizi. We were there 10 days before Christmas and there were no crowds. We took a Walks of Italy tour of the Uffizi. It was nice to have a Masters in Art History guide us through the highlights. The tour started at 2:00 and finished just before 5:00. The museum was open late that day, so we went to the cafe and had a sandwich, then stayed and explored on our own. Even then I feel we barely scratched the surface.

I'm in agreement, looking at your schedule makes me tired. I can't imagine what the rest of your trip looks like. I hope you follow Rick's advice and schedule at least one down day in the middle of your trip. The more I travel, the less I like drive by tourism. In an effort to see it all, you run the risk of not really seeing anything.

Appreciate the confirmation of our plan; the benchmark is just what I was looking for! Sounds like, as mentioned, assume at least 2 hours for all, then leave a buffer zone of time to either dive deeper or retreat from crowds and explore city, as desired.

We are keenly aware of burnout issues. Meet-up points are always wise, and we are moving into a new era as our son becomes more independent and capable. On a 14-day itinerary, this is literally the only museum we are committing to, as the Duomo is likewise the only church. We may choose to do others, but Florence's popularity didn’t allow us to play this loose and decide on the day, as we prefer.

Given our druthers, we would certainly not travel in summer. However, we are in the season of life when school schedules and demanding work hours leave us little alternative, so we are making the best of it and feeling fortunate to do so.

The remainder of our itinerary is fairly open: outlined with suggestions and ideas, not mandatories. For example, we have 3 nights in Venice with no rigid plans whatsoever and the goal simply to wander at will. Hardly drive-by tourism.

That said, we are active, energetic travelers. We approach our travels by balancing plans with openness to the moment. We are very purposefully not making a checklist of traditional Must See in Italy, but rather planning for only items that really strike the fancy of at least one of us. The Duomo climb and a few specific paintings at the Uffizi were that for me — though given how much they are limiting our flexibility, I almost wish they weren’t! ;-)

Travel is a joy and a privilege. I feel so lucky to be going on this adventure, and to have found all of you as the sages to advise me on mapping it out. Grazie mille!