How Do I Buy Tickets for The Accademia in Florence?

I called them directly.

My inn is reserving them for me. The reservation is free of charge if you purchase the Firenze card. You may want to look into it. It also gives you free of charge reservations for the Uffizi. If you buy the Firenze card 85 euro, you can also call those two places yourself for reservations. I just can't call Italy with my phone. Firenze also gives you skip the line tickets to the other sites and when you get to Florence, you can reserve for the Duomo dome if that is of interest. I would be surprised if you can't purchase the audio guide when you arrive to the Academia. http://www.firenzecard.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&lang=en

Consider skipping it. Its a second rate art museum at best, its very expensive, and if you want to see Michelangelo at his best, go to the much, much less crowded Medici Chapel.

On the official site, The Accademia tickets are available up to December and 2 cost 16 € per adult; all the tickets purchased in advance let you avoid the queue to buy the tickets, who would ever wait in that line with the ticket in his pocket?
I'm not sure you can pay for the audio guide in advance, at least I did not find that option.

Its a second rate art museum at best,

Sure, The unfinished Prisons by Michelangelo are on display under the same roof of the polished David because nobody wanted them. "Let's put all the second rate art in the same room. Yes, throw in also some Giambologna, Giotto, Perugino and Botticelli"
At best... one really wonders...

I'll back up Dario here: book your tickets from the official website he has helpfully provided the link for. I'm seeing tickets available clear into December, and they are 16,00 € per adult; choose to pick them up on site.

I'll kindly disagree that the Medici Chapels is a superior attraction nor are the Michelangelo carvings there his best work, IMHO. It was the one attraction in Florence we could have skipped.

I'm going to Florence in October. I'm interested in what kb1942 and Dario think ARE the best attractions in Florence. I also noted in another thread that kb1942 doesn't think Florence is a very impressive city. I'm hoping to get more info on that as well. I'll be going regardless, just curious.

Jules, best to start a new thread with your questions versus hijack ladyread's as your questions are not the same as hers. And what others think are the "best" attractions may be different than your own if your interests don't mesh.

@Kathy, I do agree with you about a tendency for side trips on this forum , except when people drop a comment but not a lot of information, I find it helpful to get some clarification. Both Dario and kb1942 expressed opinions on this specific thread and I was curious how they came to their particular view. For me, I have already decided what I'm doing in Florence and my times are reserved.

Should I be starting a new thread when my question/comments pertain to this thread? Wouldn't it be helpful for the OP to understand the comments made about the Accademia? Maybe I wasn't clear enough on my response. Kathy and Dario and kb1942 were all expressing opinions and I wanted detail beyond what was given. Kathy said that she could have skipped the Medici chapel and I was curious as to why. In terms of what are the "best" attractions, that is something I determine after my own research and not based solely on one person's opinion.

Hi back, Jules -
My comment was just to try and eliminate confusion, which can happen when you get long conversations going about different subjects with different questions on the same thread! Ladyread's post was very specifically about the Accademia, and yours is about overall "best attractions". She may or may not be interested in the much broader discussion about individual attractions and their merits (or not), and may not want to get a bunch of update notices for thread responses which don't apply to Accademia tickets.

Starting a new thread will allow the fans (or not) of Florence to have a lively discussion without sidetracking the OP's post or any confusion regarding whose questions are being addressed. Make sense? And yes, I'd be happy to add my humble 2 cents to that discussion. :O)

I second kb1942 in skipping it. I was not impressed by the Accademia museum and you can see a copy of the David in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. The Uffezi on the other hand is overwhelming.

...you can see a copy of the David in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.

LOL. And there's a copy of the Eiffel Tower, "David", Grand Canal and the Statue of Liberty in Las Vegas so why go to Paris, Florence, Vernice or NYC? 🤔

@Kathy, Here's the point. In addition to convo about how to get tickets to the Accademia, the OP is getting advice to skip it, or go to the Medici Chapel instead or don't go to the Medici chapel, and they didn't come from me. To me, these are actually the hijacks/side trips, and all this is being thrown out with little or no info on WHY? And when someone implies that the Accademia or the Medici chapel is not one of the best attractions in Florence, I'd like to know what they would consider IS, within the context of the opinions that have already been thrown out. For me personally, I I make my own decisions. If someone were to tell me Pizza Hut is bad and not the best pizza I would want to know what they DO consider is the best within the context of the current conversation. My response was a follow up to points made by you and others.

When I responded to this question regarding tickets for Accademia, I mentioned the Firenze card. I do not have first hand experience with it, but I've spent a lot of time researching it both on the official website and with the host of our inn. I saw this post on the forum this morning which includes info on the Accademia and the Firenze card.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/fantastic-firenze-experiences-june-25-2019

The OP didn't ask whether she should visit the museum or not: she'd already made that decision. She just wanted to know why she was seeing price differences, and Oct. tickets available on Expedia but not the official site (which isn't the case). She also may very well not be Florence long enough to make use of a Firenzecard. Dario and myself made secondary comments regarding the unsolicited advice not to go/to go elsewhere.

Hopefully, she got her posted issues untangled! Ladyread, let us know if you're still having difficulties? I'm not seeing the ability to reserve an audioguide in advance but they are available at the museum, in multiple languages, for € 6.00 for one-person device, € 10.00 for a two-person device, if that helps?

http://www.galleriaaccademiafirenze.beniculturali.it/galleria/1/visiting/

Hey everyone, I appreciate all the comments and advice. I didn't mean to start a flame war about side issues at all. I found all the comments useful, though I can see the point of not going off topic when replying. There might be some useful info that someone would like to have, but they wouldn't see it because it's under my thread of purchasing Accademia tickets.
I now see the official Accademia site and how it goes to December. (Thanks Dario!) But when I had previously searched on my own, I found this site and assumed it was the official one: http://www.accademia-tickets.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIm52ngZrd4gIVBBgMCh0NEglTEAAYAiAAEgJuVPD_BwE
It bothered me that it said "not secure" at the top, but it sure looks official! Anyway, I will book my tickets on the REAL official site and rent an audioguide when I get there.

Whew, glad you didn't try to book with the other site!
Sounds like you're all set? Give a shout if you have any trouble booking tickets?

Oh, and no one is flaming here! Passionate travelers can just be a little, well, passionate when chatting about their fave subject? 😉 You're right though; there was as much concern about the "best" question buried under an Accademia ticket heading where it wouldn't be seen. That one is deserving of its own thread title where it would probably catch a lot more eyes.

We loved Florence (OMG art, the ART, THE ART!!!!!) and sure hope you enjoy as much as we did; can't wait to go back!

We loved seeing the David at the Accademia. I would recommend trying to get the first reservation in the morning. It was much less crowded first thing in the morning versus an hour later when we were leaving the museum