how to plan ahead for florence

If you want to see the Accademia (David) or the Uffizi gallery you need to get reservations OR get the Florence Card.

WHAT does the florence card cover and where/how is the best place/way to get it or reservations for the museums?
thanks

Felicia
We have our hotel make the reservations. The girls might enjoy walking up to Plz Michelangelo -take a picnic lunch enjoy the view then take a leisurely stroll down through the Oltrano.

I think if you are a large group you'd better make your reservations on line now, especially if you are going in high season. Make sure you have the official web address. Rick Steves Italy or Florance and Tuscany has it.

we are a total of 9 people. I have read we need to buy our tickets ahead so I'm trying to figure out what all we can do in the short time we are there and what is the best use of our time to experience florence and still relax and enjoy. thanks for all the help

A bit more details: Uffizi & Accademia phone line: 011 39 055 294 883 May be the hotels might be able to get the times you want.
I am going May 22, 23 and there were no morning appointments. I took the earliest available fat 12:30 for the Accademia. Uffizi at 3:15 - gives me a bit of time to walk without rushing. They gave me a reservation number for each which I have to redeem for the ticket 10 minutes before my appointed time. I called because the web connection was very slow. I later found that I click on the calendar, go do something else and when I come back, the calendar had changed to the date I wanted - that slow. The phone had a wait time too but I hung on as per Rick Steve's suggestion and got through. I called about midnight on the West coast - 9am in Florence. With the phone, I only pay when I get there. I still have to pay the reservation fee. If you plan to use busses, there is a 10 ticket card that can be used by more than one person - swipe as many times as you have paseangers when you get on the bus. Might want to go up to Piazzale Michelangelo by bus and walk down. http://www.ataf.net

The convent of San Marco is my favorite place in Florence, and is much quieter than many other museums. No reservations needed, although check the hours since they are shorter than many other museums. The world's best collection of work by Fra Angelico (lovely, gentle, beautiful early Renaissance frescos and panel paintings) still in the monastery where he did much of his work. The Bargello is also wonderful and uncrowded. An amazing collection of sculpture in a historically interesting building. And for something different, you may enjoy the Palazzo Davanzati. It's a well preserved 14th C house that gives you a good idea of what life of a prosperous merchant was like. Doesn't take long to visit, and might hold attention spans better than some museums.

WHAT does the florence card cover Its all at http://www.firenzecard.it/

I read about the firene card and it doesn't seem like a great choice for us. thanks nigel. I'd be happy to hear your suggestions for firenze

You want to be carefulmabout museum overload in Florence. Mthe cost adds up and the attention span can get saturated if youndo too much. Nthe Accademia and the Uddizzi are each 14 euros, including reservation fee. You might consider doing just one, not both. Here are some things our girls really enjoyed doing in Florence: Climbing the Duomo (6 euro). Go first thing in the morning (8:30'or 9:00) to avoid lines and heat. With an 11:00 reservationnat the Accademia, you can climb the dome, then wander through the street market on your way to the Accademia. The big Mercato- good place for lunch, or just stroll and admire the food. Ponte Vecchio-no shopping, just cross the bridge on the way to the gardens. bobble Gardens and Giardini Bardidi : combined ticket is about 10 euros. Don't bother with the Pitti Palace,must domthe gardens. Boboli has great views over the countryside from the walls at the top. bardidi is more garden-like,with pretty landscaping, interesting plants, and a great view over Florence from several spots. Don't forget to leave time for gelato.

Lola, I agree about the possibility of museum overload. It is hard to choose between David and Uffizzi. I think the Duomo sounds good. the also want to shop in the leather market. Do you have any experience or recommendation concerning the leather market? We will make time for plenty of gelato. Also, somewhere I read a post about nuns who make soap. Do you know anything of this soap? thanks,
felicia

Do you recommend a local tour guide for the museums or other site seeing in florence?

I think there is both an inside and outside leather market. I am trying to find the hours they are open.

If you buy tickets to Uffizzi, does that give you an entrance time and therefore mean you do not have to wait in line to get in? Is the line just to buy tickets? Is there a line to also get in to the museum?

can someone tell me how to buy tickets to uffizzi and accademia . I'm trying online. It seems to want me to register. is that necessary? maybe I did not have the correct website? If someone knows and can post the websites, that would be helpful thanks,
f

Tickets for both the Uffizi and the Accademia are for a reserved entry time, so you do not have to wait in the general line. You book a specific time, and then arrive a bit ahead to pick your ticket. You may have a smal line at the pick-up entry but nothing like the general entrance line. There iare lots of websites that sell tickets, but they are agencies that inflate the prices. This is the official site: http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/?m=uffizi Click on the blue "buy tickets" link and it will take you to the purchase website, which is b-tickets.com The trouble with reserving online is that the Accademia site at least will not let you reserve a time before noon. Mybe the Uffizi site either but I haven't checked. You CAN reserve a morning site by calling (the number is in Rick's book). If you call, you choose the English-speaking operator. You book a time and she gives you a code for picking up your tickets. You do not pay until you pick them up. I believe cash is required. Another way is to have your hotel reserve them for you. Most places are used to doing this. These two methods get around the problems with using the b-ticket site that many have reported. The phone call cost me $10 but we did not have a good international calling plan at that time.

Lola, Thanks for your help. I have sent an email to the B & B where we are staying in florence to see if they can help with museum tickets. We are stay at the B/B that you recommended. I think his name is riccardo. Next on my to do list is to call ATT and see about an international calling plan for my land line and or cell phone. We actually prefer late afternoon entry times for both museums. We arrive in florence at 14:05 by train. I hope to get to the b/b and checked in and get to accademia by 5:00 or 6:00 to see David and maybe a bit more around the museum. Then the next morning we hope to go first thing to the top of campanile and then see St. mark's basillica. After that maybe shop the leather market, I'd like to see that awesome bridge you mentioned( I looked up photos of it) and go to Uffizi late afternoon. I'm still trying to think thru it all especially the parts that require committing ahead of time to tickets for specific times. I am considering if it is too much museum time. We have 1 art major and a couple of history buffs in our group and florence is really the main stop on our trip we are seeing art and museums.
thanks for all your help and time

With regards to buying leather in Florence, please make sure to go to my blog www.bellasabroad.wordpress.com and click on Scams and Scammers. I was scammed in San Lorenzo market in Florence (Firenze- Florence in Italian) buying a leather jacket, and ended up with BAD leather.

Florence is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe but be sure to have at least one day out in the surrounding country. The vineyards, olive groves and hill-towns are not to be missed. If you are travelling during the summer months make sure your hotel has air-conditioning. Not all do. The city of Florence lies in a basin/valley somewhat like Los Angeles and the heat cannot escape. We took wonderful day out visiting the less touristy villages in Tuscany and a family run vineyard last year with Slow Days tours in Florence. It really made a nice change from being in the city. Their website- http://www.slow-days.com Another thing we did during our stay in Florence was a cooking class with 'Cook Eat Italian'. I would highly recommend doing a cooking class if you have the time!

The Santa Maria Pharmacy is the nuns who make soap. It's kind of expensive, but fun to poke around. The building is old too. My favorite thing is the rose sachets (actually wax in shape of heart with small roses embedded)great to put in drawers. I think they were 6 euros when I last went which was a couple years ago. It's around the corner from the Santa Maria Novella church, nice and peaceful if you all need a break. I agree with picking only one museum, especially since you only have a full day. The Uffizzi is bigger and I think more interesting, but the other has David. And a lot of "churchy" pictures. Hard choice IMO. Leather-look for something that says "made in Italy" otherwise it could be Italian leather but made somewhere cheaper. Probably cheaper if not made in Italy tho. Check out prices at home before buying, cuz it's not always the best deal anymore, however, you will see unusual designs for purses etc that you don't see in the US. If you buy scarves, buy all at one place cuz they're usually cheaper for 3, can probably cut a deal if you buy more. Scarves are very popular in Europe, even in summer.

Also agree with Melissa about having a hotel with air conditioning! It's worth the extra money!

Thanks for all the ideas. We already have a B & B in florence. I hope it has AC. However, as girl scouts, we camp in the summers in oklahoma and it can be 100F with high humidity. You put wet rags on your body and hope for a breeze. It may be a museum overload mistake but I'm having a hard time picking 1 museum. We arrive on a tues at 2:00. I'm thinking see David at 5:00 and look around a bit and go to Uffizi for a couple hours in the afternoon on wed. Is Uffizi air conditioned? That would be a nice cool break in the hot of the afternoon. Climb Duomo early wed. morning hopefully before hot and crowded? Any thoughts?
thanks

I called Uffizzi today using Skype and made reservations for June 19 at 8 15 (right when it opens). I could not find any tix for sale online before 10 am at the Uffizzi either. It has been a very long time since I've been for Florence. I've been looking at web sites. Some places that sound good and less crowded: Orsanmichele, Ognissanti, Apollonia. A big consideration is what day of the week you're in Florence because the closing times and closed days are distributed. We decided not to see the "real" David because of the outside replicas. We are definitely going to Santa Maria Novella church. You could go there right when you arrive off the train. Palazzo Vecchio is open til midnight. I am not sure we want to see it though. Ponte Vecchio should be a lot of fun. Museum Ragazzi has some interesting family activities, maybe your troop would be interested in some of them.