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Florence without advance planning

Posted by on

Hello,

We bought the airline tickets, we bought Rick Steve's AND Lonely Planet, and created a forum account all with the best intensions but work, family nd life got in the way and we are here without reservations.

"Skip the line" for the Doge Palace in Venice seemed to be slower than the ticket purchase line but they already had our money... so I'm not sure about that service any longer. What appears to be the official sites are sold out for Accademia, Uffizi, Duomo... cant we just show up at 07:45 and stand in line to buy tickets once they open?

Surprise; some of the sites are closed Monday's.

Are there any suggestions for must see sites that you don't need to book far in advance?
(Looks like we will go into Santa Maria then cross the river for some sites over there on Monday)

I think that the Firenzi pass can get us in to two of the sites the day before we leave.
That or line up before they open on Tuesday if we can stand in line to get tickets.

Thanks,
Darren

Posted by
2502 posts

There are plenty of smaller, quieter places to see great art and architecture in Florence (as compared to the Uffizi and the Accademia). I'm particularly thinking of the Museo San Marco, the Bargello, and the Capella Brancacci. Also, you could visit Santa Croce, the Capella Medici, Santa Maria Novella (the church, not the train station), and San Miniato al Monte. I'm sure others have additional suggestions.

Posted by
1613 posts

The Duomo Museum, the Bardini Museum (& its gardens mainly for the views of Florence from above), and the Benozzo Gozzoli chapel in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi (very small room, just skip the rest of the palazzo).

Posted by
1878 posts

Do I understand correctly that you are there right now? The Pitti Palace is one where you can just walk in, at least it was in early November 2016 when I was there. Maybe if you show up at 7:45 at the Uffizi, I don't know the line looked like it was hours long when I was there early afternoon that same time of year. Luckily I had pre-purchased. Accademia is a little more forgiving for those who show up without pre-purchasing. Of course you are there at what is probably a busier time than I was. Duomo sites were easy to buy a ticket to the day of my visit (actually some sights I went to the next day).

Posted by
16695 posts

No surprise about some of the biggies being closed tomorrow: all Italian State Museums are closed on Mondays.
San Marco is excellent and will be open tomorrow.

"Timetables:
Monday to Friday: 8.15 am - 1.50 pm The ticket office closes at 13.20
Saturday, Sunday and holidays: 8.15am - 4.50pm. The ticket office closes at 16.20
Closing: 1st, 3rd, 5th Sunday and 2nd and 4th Monday of each month; December 25th, January 1st.

Tickets:
Full price: € 4.00 Reduced: € 2.00

https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/san-marco.html

Walk just down Via Cesare Battisti from San Marco to Piazza della SS Annunziata, pop into the church there (Basilica della Santissima Annunziata) and admire the wonderful frescoes by Renaissance masters. The Innocenti Museum is also on that square. While no longer serving as a foundling hospital/orphanage, Ospedale degli Innocenti (now Istituto degli Innocenti) is the oldest public institution in Florence. Open Monday.

https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-monuments/piazza-ss-annunziata.html
https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-churches/santissima-annunziata.html
https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/innocenti-museum.html

All of this is VERY close to the Accademia.

Posted by
4666 posts

Museo San Marco is one of my favorites. You can see the paintings in place in the monastery for which they were painted.

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