We are heading to Florence, Italy, the first week of January 2024. We have rented an apt. near Piazza Santa Maria Novella and Ponte alla Carrara. We are visiting our son in Germany and will be taking a side trip by train. We intend to concentrate on exploring Florence. We have been to many places in Italy many times over but it always seems that we are always passing through Florence only stopping long enough to see the “big sights”. We are from the Midwest near Lake Michigan so we are prepared for the cold.
Here’s my question; based on so many people traveling now, will it still be crowded more than normal even in January?
Will I need to buy advanced tickets to the museums or other sights? Any info or recommendations for things to do or places to eat will be greatly appreciated too…thanks in advance.
Posted by
3 posts
Wonderful! I was in Florence in January of 2019 with a side trip to Prato. I was able to book most things while there and it was so much calmer than summer/fall/spring travel! Smaller sites like the Ferragamo museum in Florence and textile museum in Prato were easy to purchase ticket at arrival. I did notice that popular restaurants filled up if dining late with the Italians so you might want to book any favorites now. That being said things could have changed in the last couple of years so I defer to more recent travellers. Buon viaggio!
Posted by
ATL, USA
538 posts
I was in Florence the end of January/beginning of February this year. I was suprised at how crowded it was, but some of those crowds were study abroad students. There may not be so many of them when you are there. There were a lot of Italians out and about in Florence too, at all hours. It may have been because the weather was beautiful - chilly and breezy, but sunny every day I was there, and there were so many people out.
I think the only things I bought in advance were my tickets to the Uffizi and to the Accademia, and I bought each day before I went, when I was already in Florence. I did not tour the Duomo or the Baptistry, so I can't speak to the need for advance tickets.
Posted by
Ottawa
1446 posts
I spent a January week in Florence a few years ago, and I remember two events that you may want to check the dates of for 2024:
Fashion Week
This was so much fun - and less than an hour by train in San Giovanini Valdarno:
The Blessing of the animals/Benedizione degli animali.
We left SMN at around 9am. We watched the procession of the animals arriving, then the blessing ceremony at 11:00 in front of the Basilica di Santa Maria delle Grazie (all outdoors.) We then had a superb lunch in a local Osteria, before taking a mid-afternoon train back.
We found that a few days were a bit chilly walking around, but there was no snow.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16133 posts
Weather: likely night temperatures in low 30s F, likely high temperatures during the day in the high 40s to mid 50s.
Crowds: January is the least crowded month of the year, in terms of visitors’ presence. Obviously it won’t be a ghost town since the city has almost 400,000 people and the metro area is close to 1.5 million people, and many gravitate to the city center to work, shop, and play, so even if all visitors disappeared, there will still be people around. However compared to any town in the Midwest, aside from downtown Chicago, Florence will appear crowded even in the middle of a January night.
I doubt you need a lot of advance booking for museums, except for maybe the Uffizi, which is always popular.
Calling a restaurant ahead of time, even if just a few hours, is a good practice as Italians generally reserve a table at restaurants (especially tho more popular ones).. That is particularly true on weekends (including lunch, which is the most important meal for Italians). During workdays it is not necessary in January. Be aware that Florentines eat after 8/8:30pm so if you go at opening time (generally 7 or 7:30pm) restaurants will be largely empty. That doesn’t mean they will give you a table if all are reserved for later. Once you get a table, it will yours for the night, therefore they can’t pressure you to order more or leave. That is a practice in American restaurants that in Italy would likely cause a major argument with Italians. Pressuring customers to order or leave is considered extremely bad service, and actually waiters often don’t even come to your table unless you explicitly ask. For sure nobody brings you a check unless you ask, and actually often not even then, so when you are ready to leave, just pay at the cash register on the way out, that’s what we Italians do.