If I only had time to do one of these after seeing the Ponte Vecchio, Uffizi Gallery, Santa Croce, Bargello, Dome & Baptistry, and Accademia, which would it be?
I'm sort of leaning toward the Museum of San Marco, but is there any reason I shouldn't be? Thanks.
That's a hard choice to make. My wish for you is that you give yourself the gift of both.
At San Marco you'll see the world's best collection of Fra Angelico works, enough said.
But then how do you pass up Michelangelo's Day, Night, Dawn, and Dusk at the Medici Chapel? Contemplating the sculpture Night does make one think about Michelangelo's masterful depiction of the male nude versus that of the female nude (footnote: you've probably heard the theory that his models were exclusively male, and other theories as well).
You have a good list going. The wonder of Florence, where (arguably) the Renaissance started! Geniuses walked the streets of Florence for two generations. Like the Golden Age of Athens. Enjoy!
The Medici Chapel was about to undergo restoration - scaffolding, boardings etc when there in April.
Personally I'd go with San Marco. The Medici chapels are undergoing restoration of some kind and there was scaffolding up when we were there in May (but didn't go in as I'd been there twice in recent years). Given your time crunch I'm hoping you have reserved times for the Accademia and Ufizzi.
Thanks for the replies.
Of course, if the Medici Chapels are covered in scaffolding, that makes the choice a bit easier than it would have been otherwise, does it not? :-)
And yes maggie, I will be getting the reserved tickets for the Accademia and Uffizi. I wish b-ticket would allow morning reservations online...kind of frustrating.
My trip still isn't until October...people are probably beginning to wonder when the hell I'm actually going anywhere. I've been asking questions for months now. Ha.
If I were doing all of those museums, I would definitely purchase the Friends of the Uffizi Membership. You can find info on ordering it at:
http://www.florenceforfun.org/index.php?lng=1&id=31 and the website to actually order is:
http://www.amicidegliuffizi.it/become_a_member.aspx
It was 100 Euros for my husband and I and we were able to see all the museums listed, always go the the head of the line with no waiting, and no reservations were needed. The price for a single person is 60 Euors, or the 100 Euros membership we bought is actually good for 2 adults and 2 children. Hope this helps.
Valarie, so that is completely equivalent to having reserved tickets at the Uffizi or Accademia? We just walk up whenever we feel like it, and we're in after a wave of the card?
Also, on the website where we purchase the membership, what does the last part here mean?
"Your adhesion will guarantee:
Free entrance to the Gallery and the State Museums in Florence (4 people each 15 minutes)"
Thanks for your help though! This looks very promising. I didn't know there was a pass like that for Florence.
We went into the Uffizi 3 times, and there was never any restriction. I did my research on Slow Travel and posed a few questions myself. My understanding is that they have the right to limit 4 passes such as these per 15 minutes, but we never had any problems. We always had to show an ID and the Membership card to a guard at Entrance #2, and were waved right in. We did have to show them again to get our free tickets, but that was just a minute, and then we walked right in. We were treated the same at the Academia, Pitti Palace and Boboli gardens, Bargello museum and the Medici Chapels. You can send me a private e-mail if you need any more help. I strongly recommend them. We never needed any reservations.
Yeah, the chapels are probably still undergoing a restoration project, but it's not too bad. You can still see everything pretty well.
So the Friends of the Uffizi membership allows you free entrance and to skip to the front of the line? That sounds great.
Choosing between some of the world's greatest art can be a tough call. I enjoyed San Marco as you see the works "in situ" and in many ways they took on a meaning different from my experiences in museums. I didn't know about the Friends deal when we were there, but it sounds great. We were in Florence last September and discovered that The Pitti, The Uffizi and many, many museums were free that weekend (maybe the last weekend of the month?) I figure roughly we saved close to $100 or more. Our hotel told us about it, and it took some of the TI people by surprise, but there it was. Never knew why, either. Might also be worth looking into; perhaps more experienced posters here know.
