Planning to be in Florence from the 23rd - 28th of December. I'll be on my own which is fine unless Florence shuts down for several days. Will shops, museums etc close for just Christmas Day (which is a Sunday) or will the Monday (and beyond?) also be impacted? Thanks for any help.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23330 posts
Cannot speak directly for Florence but the two times we have been in Europe for Christmas -- Germany and Spain -- everything shut down starting around early afternoon Christmas eve through Christmas day. The only restaurants we saw open were associated with large hotels and they were packed. We had been advised to have our own food for that period. We did.
Posted by
Sioux Falls, SD, USA
3051 posts
Just off the Duomo Square, you will find the Eataly grocer, which we enjoyed. Lots of good high-end stuff. Plenty of wine, both cheap and expensive, from Tuscany and Umbria.
I would also go to ZEB restaurant. It's really great. It's in Oltrarno, at the base of the hill leading to the San Francesco Church and the Michaelangelo square, which has the fabulous view of Florence. There are only about 20 seats in the restaurant, which resembles a US lunch counter. But the food is great, and the chef chooses the wines. We spent E119 for 2 primi, 2 secundi, 4 glasses of wine, and a tiramasu. It was fabulous. It's ideal for a single diner, since there are no tables, just stools at a countertop.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
15852 posts
Zak, some of Florence's museums, such as the Uffizi and Accademia, routinely close on Mondays, holiday or not. Others may close on an every-other Monday basis, such as San Marco. B-ticket is the official ticketing site for a number of museums so I might suggest pulling it up and choosing December 26 under "Buy your tickets" for each museum you're interested in. If it won't allow you to buy tickets for that date, then the museum will be closed.
https://www.b-ticket.com/b-ticket/uffizi/default_eng.aspx.html
Not ALL of them will be shut tight on that day, though. As well, most of the duomo complex - outside of the cathedral itself - is showing as open. Change the date showing to DEc., 26th to see open times for each.
https://duomo.firenze.it/en/home#times
There is the outside chance that they may decide to open some of the museums usually closed on Mondays because of the Christmas Day closure but it's a wait-and-see. Sorry, can't help you with shopping question but I'm sure someone else can.
Posted by
Firenze, Italy
1535 posts
Apart from being a Monday this year, Dec. 26th is a festive day on its own and one of almost completely dead days of the year all over Italy. Even the shops in tourist areas, that may be open on ordinary Sundays, are likely to be closed on Dec. 26th as salespeople will be resting after having been working extra hours all the month long.
Posted by
Vancouver, Canada
20 posts
Thanks so much for the info and links! It sounds as though options will be limited for the 25th and 26th which is fair enough - I wouldn’t want to work on those days either! I have self catering accommodation booked so will stock up with some essentials and pack an extra couple of books in case the weather doesn’t lend itself to going out for a walk.