Florence Museums

There's an official website for advance reservations and tickets. When are you going to be in Florence? Often there's no line at all at the Academia in the late afternoon.

There is a ticket window at the outside of the Orsanmichele church (on the opposite side of the entrance). They can sell reserved tickets to both places with virtually no line-up.

We've done what Ruth suggests. Just go diagonally left across the Piazza San Marco and buy the tickets for both there. No lines. It may be called the Church of San Marco but I believe we are talking about the same place. Or, you can easily do this online.

Two good options are mentioned, however, you could also consider the Firenze Card if you plan on maybe seeing some other sites as well. I understand the price has gone up considerably, so to figure out if it a good value for you, consider your sites and add the prices (include the online reservation fees which are usually around 4 euros per person!) and then compare that against the cost of the Firenze Card. Google it for more info. Also, remember that the sites listed on their website are their Italian names, so you may have to figure out the name of the sites you want to go to in Italian to see if they are covered (almost all in Florence is covered with the card though). Have fun!

You can also ask your hotel to make reservations for you, and then pick up and pay for the tickets when you get to Florence. Most hotels will make reservations either free or for a small fee.