Need advice for my visit to Florence

Day two – visit the Uffizi Gallery and Accademia. Buy tickets two months out to guarantee a reservation at the Uffizi. I went in March and waited in line for four hours because I didn’t reserve tickets before leaving home. A friend of mine tried to buy tickets before going and it was sold out each day she was going to be in Florence. When she got there she learned it was best to reserve two months out and you’ll understand why; the Uffizi Gallery is the worlds greatest fine arts museum. Afterwards walk over to Accademia. No need to buy tickets beforehand, this line moves fast.
It will take two hours to tour the Uffizi and an hour for Accademia and that includes waiting in line. Once you have these two spectacular museums checked off your bucket list you can move around at your leisure. Florence has a beat to it with great cuisine. You have to be organized to get from one place to the next and you do not have to see everything.
The other places on your list are the Duomo Museum and Pitti Palace which I would try to fit in but if you don’t it’s OK. Remember, you’re there to enjoy each other’s company and have fun. Being on your feet all day makes it harder especially when you’re arguing about which direction to walk in.

I go to Wikipedia and study major cities while planning our trips. But it is too easy to overplan. There is so much to see in Florence and not enough time to see everything on your list. Just let your trip evolve after you get there.

That’s a long list. That is a marathon in my book.

It looks like you are in Florence for two nights. So the day between the two nights in Florence is a full day dawn to night. That is the day where you must fit the most. Uffizi must fit on this day because you need reservations. Accademia is a quick visit and lines are not too bad in March.

The Loggia de’ Lanzi is next to the Uffizi, so you can do that at the same time. You can kill that in 20 min.

I would not bother with climbing the Giotto’s campanile if you are climbing the Cupola already. Choose one, and the dome is more interesting. The view is identical. The Central market closes at 2pm, although the restaurant area on the top floor stays open late at night. Downstairs is a great place for a quick lunch, besides gourmet food shopping. The carts stands outside (“barrocci” in Florentine dialect) stay open until about 6:30pm.

If you are running out of time, I would skip the Duomo museum and Pitti, if you aren’t into art. Piazzale Michelangelo is not a must if you do the Boboli garden. Go to the top of the Boboli garden, near Forte Belvedere (around the Kafeehaus) and you get a better view

If your overall plans are not set in stone yet, is there a possibility that you could put Florence at the beginning or end of your trip, rather than the middle, in such a way that you’d have more time there? Perhaps fly ‘open-jaw’ into Rome and out of Florence, or vice-versa?

You are planning too much. Florence is loaded with world class sights. you cannot see them all in the time you are allotting. I would skip Boboli Gardens and Patti Palace. In March the gardens will not be that interesting. We were able to do all the other things (except the Museo Galleria) on your list in 2 1/2 days. We visited the Accademia Gallery (make reservations) right after we dropped our luggage off at our hotel , and it was a perfect info to Florence. With a 12 year old boy, I would climb both towers. They do have similar views but the Bell Tower gives you an amazing view over the outside of the Dome while the Dome climb gives you an amazing view of the inside of the dome. Plus, the climbs are fun. Visit the Uffizi Galleria first thing on day 2 to avoid crowds-see the Logia dei Lanzi right after as they are very close to each other. I found the inside of the Duomo Cathedral to be a bit disappointing -- you will get a view of it from the Duomo climb. Of utmost importance is to reserve a centrally located hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Davanzati and it was a perfect location. They have a family room so it might work for your family. Have a wonderful trip and leave time for gelato!

Hi again, feiliao!
Oh gosh, when we chatted in a previous post about the Passepartout, I didn't realize that you had so little time to work with! Honestly, if not having all that big a jones for art, I'd skip the Pitti. It's room after room after room of the stuff, and some of it hung too high to really get a good look at. You'll see plenty (!!!) of art at the Uffizi and Accademia. I'd skip the Boboli as well; IMHO it only makes sense to do that one if doing the Pitti too, or are really into green spaces; do be aware that you won't see much for flowers, if expecting that. It has a nice view from the top of the hill behind the palace but you'll get expansive views from Piazzale Michelangelo and either the dome or belltower...

...and as previously suggested, I'd choose either the dome or belltower climb at the duomo but not both. Removing the Pitti /Boboli on Day 2 would allow you to replace it with the Duomo museum, if desired, and not split the attractions in the complex into 2 separate days. Check to make sure all of them are open on the single day you have to visit.

Tip: Ponte Vecchio is best admired from anywhere that's not ON the thing. That's why most of the photos you see are of the exterior. :O)

I'd keep Piazzale Michelangelo and add the climb further up from there to San Miniato. She's a very old and important lady, and I'd love to see you have another church or two on your list anyway as I think you'll find the interior of the duomo a bit austere, compared to some others of Florence's more notable churches. The attached cemetery, Porte Sante, is an engaging ramble of monuments too. Both may be closed, however, if heading up there too late in the day. Your Day 1 is pretty aggressive for a partial day.
https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-churches/san-miniato.html

We were there Sept 30-Oct 4. We did Uffizi (D2), Accademia (D1), Duomo Museum (D3).

I think your itinerary is probably too much.

We did not do the Duomo at all. The line was maybe 1.5 hours just to get in. And this was Oct. The only way to get in is to go to an early-morning mass. We did not do either climb, as we are 70 and 73.

Uffizi takes, minimum, 4 hours. There are hundreds of rooms. Accademia - 2 hours. Duomo museum - 2 hours. I don't know how long the climbs take.

In addition, there is museum fatigue - we call it "being museumed-out". You will be fatigued after the Uffizi, less so the Accademia.

As has been said, you might consider trying not to do so much. Especially with a 12 year old, though not all 12 year olds are the same I suppose. I would guess the Museo Galileo and Duomo climb would be most fun for him.

Day 1:
- Early train from Rome and drop off bags at hotel (if you can get to Florence by 9:00 AM would be best)
- Accademia (make sure this isn't a monday or tuesday)
- Lunch and Gelato break
- Museo Galileo
- Afternoon/Evening walk to San Miniato (very beautiful church with great views) and Piazzale Michelangelo on the way back down (you could do this in day 2 in the evening if you run out of time this day)
- Check into hotel and dinner

Day 2:
- Duomo Climb (first thing in the morning when it opens, easier with the lines, probably more interesting and fun than the bell tower as you get to see the inside of the church from high up and the inside of the dome which is a fun experience as it starts to curve inwards, especially for a kid I would guess)
- Baptistery
- Duomo Museum
- Central Market (lunch)
- Free afternoon to enjoy a walk/shopping around the city (Loggia dei Lanzi and Ponte Vecchio can explored here). It might be good to have an open slot like this that you can just play by ear depending on how everyone is feeling. There are plenty of sights you could add in if everyone is up for it, but in my opinion just being in the city is as awesome an experience as any individual sight.
- Dinner

Day 3:
- Uffizi first thing in the morning when it opens (don't miss the rooftop cafe for great views of the dome)
- Lunch and gelato
- Train back to Rome

My first thought - If you are not art enthusiasts, you could be art haters by the end of this trip.

With that said, I really like your itinerary - you managed to include most of my favorite places!

I think it's a good idea to visit the Uffizi and Accademia on different days. Those are the two most crowded museums in Florence, and I wouldn't want to do them both on the same day. The Galileo Museum is close to the Uffizi, and not crowded at all. It's also extremely interesting, and a break from all that art.

I would keep the the Pitti Palace and Boboli Gardens.

I second The Galileo Museum, especially with a 12 year old son. It's our favorite museum in Florence and as stated much less crowded and a definite break from all the art!

I second everything that Kathy from Minnesota said --- her choices of what to keep and what to skip on this brief visit is what I would also advise.

The two things I would add are to keep an eye out for Florence's street art, especially the altered traffic signs by Clet Abraham (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trafficking-in-art-clet-abraham-street-signs-in-florence/) and to be very selective about what to see in the Uffizi --- there is no law that you have to see even a fraction of it. I AM a major art enthusiast and have more museum stamina than anybody I know, and at the Uffizi I really had to concentrate on the rooms of art that interest me the most. if you try to start at the first room and plow through room by room, you will end up quitting at some random spot and maybe miss something you would enjoy seeing. I haven't looked at what Rick Steves says about what to see in the Uffizi lately, but that could be helpful.

Hello feiliao,

I will agree with other posters that you probably have too much in this schedule. It is not that you couldn't do everything listed but everyone is not into all the activities it just may not be enjoyable.

My first piece of advice is to allow some room to breathe. Remember that you need to eat and rest and explore the unexpected and get from place to place and get lost and then found again.
If I flesh out your first day:
Train from Rome to Florence
(Get to your hotel - figure out taxi, bus, tram, walking? Florence train station is a thing)
(Check-in, drop your bags, get ready to go out)
(Get to the Uffizi - bus/walk?)
Uffizi Gallery (reserved tickets at the Uffizi are timed you'll need to make this appointment)
(Lunch? Before Uffizi depending on time)
Museo Galileo
(Gelato)
Ponte Vecchio
(walk/climb to)
Piazzale Michelangelo
(Dinner)
(Get back to your hotel - collapse)

Honestly sunset at Piazzale Michelangelo is a cool thing but you'll probably share it with 3,000 other tourists like we did. If you manage to get everything else on your list I'd swap out for walking across Ponte Vecchio and wandering down towards Santo Spirito and having dinner instead. For the hike/taxi ride up and back to viewpoint I'd trade that for an easier night on everyone.

Depending on your interests - but especially with a 12 year old along - a string of Museums and places like the Pitti Palace can become a string of "a lot of the same art/old stuff" and it can quickly become less special. And there will be a lot of walking. A lot of walking and then dome/tower climbs on top of that. It is easy for group morale to drop when tired, hungry, bored and it's important to keep the level of interest up.

As others have pointed out unless you have a real interest in architecture you probably don't have to climb every feature in Florence. Or maybe you can split them up so you climb the Dome and the other has gelato with the 12 year old and then they climbs the tower while you do something of more interest on the ground.

I know it seems like a shame to miss anything but there is too much in Florence to see in five days let alone the 2.5 you're planning on. I'd make a list, make some hard choices and leave some things in the "if we're feeling up to it" category.

Reserve the date and time at Uffizi - the Passeporte ticket also gives you access to the Pitti Palace and Gardens - and at the Academia for David if those are the the top two on your list, Duomo tickets are untimed except for the Dome climb so you have some freedom for when you decide to go. I'd concentrate more on everyone enjoying their time in the city and knock a couple of things off your list.

As RS says "Assume you'll come back. You don't have to do everything right now."

My $.02, have a great trip,
=Tod

I have to agree that the Uffizi and Accademia are the most important. Florence is small and very walkable (although Piazzale Michelangelo would be quite a hike) but I agree that you might have a bit much planned. I agree with skipping the Pitti and Boboli Gardens; HOWEVER, a lesser known museum that is much less daunting than some of the big ones is the Corridoio Vasariano. It is a portrait gallery and it goes from the Palazzo Vecchio (ground floor of the Uffizi) over the top of the Ponte Vecchio and tips you out at the Pitti Palace. So, it's kind of a 2-fer.
Particularly since you have a 12 year old boy with you, I would highly recommend a stop at the Caffé Rivoire in Piazza della Signoria. Even though it will be June, order the hot chocolate. It is the most amazing thing you will ever get in a cup. Plus the caffé itself is a historic gem. Could be a great breakfast or morning break stop.

Suggestion: Try to do outdoor things, like the market, early in the morning; it's hot in June.
You're gonna love Florence.

Was just in Florence a little over a month ago. Wonderful city - could have easily retired on the spot there.....lol. Your plan is quite ambitious but doable. A few thoughts: 1 - EARLY train ride to and late train back - that will help you maximize your time and the train ride isn't that long to begin with. 2: Group your days by location. For example, the Duomo Museum is right behind the Duomo and both the Baptistry and the Bell Tower are right next to the Duomo - no need to split those over separate days. Accademia also isn't too far from the Duomo area and doesn't take long to go through - you could do all that in one day and have lunch in the Central Market area. 3: get the advance tickets for both the Accademia and the Uffizi and skip the lines. We breezed in and out of both. 4: Unless you intend to shop on it, visit the Ponte Vecchio at night. Also do it either on your way to or back from the Pitti Palace - it's on the way there. 5: find a nice place for the gigantic Florentine steak........you wont regret it!

Enjoy

Thank you so much everyone! I truly appreciate all the suggestions, tips and advice! I totally agree that I should be mindful to allow time to relax and not to try to do too much. I do hope to experience Florence as a city, not just a bunch of bulletin points to cross off on my to do list. And we definitely don't want to get museumed-out or even turn into art hater at the end of our trip 😂 I will definitely come back.

After reading through all the replies, I have decided that Uffizi, Accademia Gallery, Museum Galileo and Dome climbing are the must and for everything else we will just play by ear. Will make reservations once the tickets to Uffizi, Accademia and Dome are available. ---- If there is one thing that I am really good at, it must be booking tickets/trips well in advance.

I will also check out the street art, Corridoio Vasariano and San Miniato as some of the posts suggested. They sound fun! And Yes the gelato and bistecca alla Fiorentina. My son will make sure we get them!

ps:
My plan has set. I've booked the air tickets and hotels. We will arrive at Rome on Saturday evening, spend Sunday to Tuesday in Rome, move to Florence on Wednesday morning, and come back to Rome on Friday night. Then we leave for the airport on Saturday morning. Since we visit Florence from Wednesday to Friday, there is no worry about any closures.

Last I knew, the Vasari Corridor (Corridoio Vasariano) is still closed for renovation and with no firm date for re-opening. Been closed since 2016. Ticket/tour availability doesn't appear on the Uffizi website but maybe that will change come June. Still (and this is just IMHO) I don't think it will especially appeal to a tween. Even if open, I'd skip it if planning to scrap the Pitti and Boboli Gardens.

https://www.uffizi.it/en/corridoio-vasariano

Lots of good guidance here. I will just add two more thoughts:
1. Although I have never been there, I hear that the Da Vinci Museum is very different and exciting, especially for kids over 8 or so, even more for kids interested in science. I understand it includes interactive examples of Da Vinci’s many inventions, meaning these are NOT static displays but machines you actually touch, manipulate and operate. Maybe someone who has actually been there can comment.
2. I have visited the Uffizi Museum several times during my lengthy life, first time when I was 16 I think. Each time I have emerged with the comments OMG and why? Yes, it is a great museum filled with many great works of art, room after room after room after room of mostly older European paintings hanging on walls, which I found highly tedious and boring after a while. Sometimes renovation projects mean that some very famous works are not in their usual rooms making written guide books very confusing. Unless very into this genre of painting, I can’t imagine how a 12 year would respond. One idea for a visit, hire a guide, give them a time limit, maybe 60 minutes, or 90 or 120 with a bathroom/snack break, and tell them to focus on the most famous and their favorite paintings, not to just move from room to room to room. Obviously, that ‘s my individual opinion.
Enjoy Italy! Such a treat.

Hi Larry, those are two great points. My son would thank you for letting me know about Da Vinci museum. We will check it out as it seems to be a small place and I guess it won't take longer than 1 hour. As for getting a guide, it's a great idea, though my husband is not a big fan of it - he doesn't like being huddled. But I do see your point. I plan to only visit the second floor for those greatest masterpieces of the Renaissance. Uffizi has a map on their website and it labels out six must-see rooms. I will also do more research on their collections in the coming months -- half of the fun to travel for me is the planing!!

My son is a history lover. I will keep my fingers crossed that he could tolerate the historical art a little bit more than his peers.

FYI - great views of Ponte Vecchio from inside the Uffizi Gallery.

Indeed there are, and this is my shot from one of the windows (borrowed by the Strib for the article):

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:m9fmlkZ1_KoJ:https://www.startribune.com/family-of-five-takes-on-florence/260315691/&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=safari

Thanks for the tip. A great picture! and a fun article too 😂

Most people visiting Uffizi visited the second floor and done. But Caravaggio meduza and a few Rembrandts are in the first floor and I hardly saw a soul there 8-)

If you are not art enthusiasts and if you have already toured the Vatican in Rome, then I would skip the Uffizi. We felt we had too many art museums and the Uffizi was too much for us. Definitely see the Accademia and enjoy the lovely squares and the Duomo in Florence. Try the street waffles and the cannoli. They are sooo good.

wow. great point, organizer8. My plan is to go to Vatican Museum the day before we go to Florence -- It is said Tuesday may have less people than Monday. However, Uffizi is too famous for me to skip. I might regret to visit it but I know if I don't, I will have a bigger regret. 😂 That being said, I will put Uffizi trip to the second day or the last day at Florence then. Thanks!

I've only been to Florence twice (going again in a few weeks), so my opinions are from a more limited point of view, but I agree with Kathy that the walk up to San Miniato is well worth it. The view is even better than from Piazzale Michelangelo and if you're there on the right evening you can hear the monks chanting, which might be cool for a kid. You can stop at Piazzale Michelangelo on the way back down after sunset when the crowds have thinned out. When I was there earlier this year there was a man with a giant bubble machine. I played in the bubbles along with the children and a few other adults. One thing I did differently than what I'm seeing suggested here is I climbed the Duomo just before sunset and watched the sun go down from above the city the first evening I was there. The entrances are timed if you get tickets in advance, so the wait was not bad at all, maybe 10 minutes because I like to be early. The climb itself will probably interest a child because it's a bit creepy at times when the steps get super narrow and steep.

As far as museums, I like art well enough, but I'm not a fanatic and could never spend four hours in any museum no matter how amazing it is. Having said that, I'll just admit, while I was able to get a ticket into Accademia first thing in the morning and knew from researching here to go straight to David rather than working my way through the first few rooms like everyone else did, which meant I had him all to myself (a rather amazing feat) for several minutes, once was enough for me. Yes, he was beautiful, but nothing else in that museum was outstanding to me. I plan to go to Uffizi again, but will focus more on a few specific rooms. To be honest, one thing I loved about Uffizi was the view from the outdoor seating area of the little restaurant several floors up, so I'm planning to do that again.

One thing I enjoyed that I haven't seen mentioned here is the Piazza Della Republica, just watching the carousel and street musicians and the general hustle and bustle, although a 12 year old might find a carousel more suited for younger kids? Also, just across one of the bridges (not the direction closer to Piazzale Michelangelo, the other direction closer to Santo Spirito) there was a place I saw a bunch of kids climbing down to a small rocky looking beach like area where they were throwing things into the water and having some kid friendly fun. I'll admit I was tempted to follow them just to see Ponte Vecchio from a different perspective, but didn't want to creep them out. That might be a chance for a 12 year old to just be a kid for a few minutes.

How fortunate your son is to experience such an amazing place so early in life. Hopefully it will inspire him to always travel so he won't be starting later in life like some of us have done. Have a wonderful trip!

LOL! Lots of different viewpoints in this conversation, and none of them are wrong unless they're wrong for you and your family!

I am an art geek, and enjoyed the orderly crowd control at the Borghese in Rome 10 times more than the mob at the Vatican. I am also short of stature and had a difficult time seeing over the heads in front of me at that one yet somehow managed at the Uffizi. Feiliao, there's no way I could have skipped THAT one either, and would have chosen it over the Accademia if I'd had to make a choice. Not that there aren't some other impressive works at that one but my fave David is at the Borghese in Rome sooo... Fortunately, we had time for Mike's version plus other entirely worthwhile museums in Florence.

A suggestion for enjoying some of Florence's Renaissance treasures? You can find a fair amount of them outside of the Uffizi, Pitti, etc. in the churches and monasteries, where they're still in the same places as originally painted 500 + years ago! Seeing them in situ within the architecture of/accompanied by atmospheric elements of the era puts them in a different context than if viewing them in an organized museum collection. You're not seeing them in a vacuum, if that makes sense?

A few good examples are Domenico Ghirlandaio's frescoes in Santa Trinita's Sassetti Chapel, Fra Angelico's frescoes in the monk's cells at the Convent of San Marco, and those of a host of late 15th/early 16th century frescoes by Florentine masters in the Cloister of the Votivi at Basilica della Santissima Annunziata. Art appreciation can also be more easily enjoyed when taken in smaller bits than the many-course banquet at a humongous museum, especially if one is a beginner and/or have young folks along. Anyway, It's one of the reasons I suggested visiting a couple more churches in addition to the duomo.

But to be fair to the mighty Uffizi, part of that structure was already a private museum before the U.S. Jamestown settlement was established in Virginia so it's a venerable thing in age as well as its contents!

Edited to add: I am obviously a little effusive (!!!) about Firenze. Apologies for that.

To KRS: thanks for the great tips! I like your idea of going to the Dome just before sunset in the first day. Then we can see David the first thing in the second morning. I had planed in the reverse order, but was a bit hesitate to make David in his all naked glory as the first art lesson for my son in Florence. Now the plan seems perfect! We will definitely check out Piazza Della Republica, because we will stay at Hotel Pendini. 😂

To Kathy: Thank you!! Your joy and passion to the art and Florence is so infectious. I’m having a big smile on my face just reading your words. I wish I could stay at Italy for months to appreciate all the history, art, culinary, landscape and culture. Hey, maybe this trip is a start. :)

I have a contrarian view on Palazzo Pitti. - Uffizi has some of the most important works of art of the western world, and the scope of the visit is focused on the works - their setting is very fine but it is a museum setting.
Palazzo Pitti was for the longest time of its history a royal palace - mainly to Florence's Granduke but shortly even for the king of Italy. The Galleria Palatina has a monumental feel; the attention is not as much focused on art works (still of the highest quality) but on the setting as well - the halls, the unending marble objects, the furniture. So IMHO it is easier to understand to a kid.

The minor galleries at Pitti, like galleria degli argenti, are not probably worth the time of a hurried traveler, and Boboli needs good weather and an unhurried visit. But if I had to choose a single gallery to visit for a kid (in the past I had) I would prefer Galleria Palatina to Uffizi.

We did the check list of Accademia, Uffizi, Pitti, Vecchio, etc. Museo Galileo? I want to move in and live there! I’m not a science afficionado at all, but this museum was enchanting. Don’t miss it. Unless the weather is absolutely gorgeous, I would spend time on almost anything other than the tower and Duomo climbs. Piazzale Michelangelo has a fabulous view, plus San Miniato and Giardino Bardini also offer views in far more calm surroundings.
So much to see, so little time!