Reservations for The David

Ellen, By all means make a reservation. To come up from Rome for the day and be disappointed would be a shame. We were in Florence the second week of November last year. We had reservations for 9 am for the Accademia, and we sailed right in. On the other hand, the length of the non-reservation line at that hour was jaw-dropping. Enjoy!

Ellen,

I've been to the David dozens of times at that time of year (Sept to March), many times in Nov. and rarely found it busy. Summetime, yes. The "off" season has gotten busier in the last few years but still, if you pick you time of day, we have rarely found more than a few people. Thinking over about what time of day we usually go I would say late afternoon, ocassionally around lunch.

Ask the ticket sellers for the busiest times.

cml

I visited the Accademia (The David)in April 2006 and yes there was a long line. My hotel had made reservations for me a couple of days before and so I walked right in ahead of that whole line.

Rick Steves' guides are pretty good in giving you an email address to any facility he recommends but his Florence guide has none for reservations to the Accademia. He suggests you make reservations by telephone. Quoting from his guide "To make the booking yourself, dial 055-294-833 8:30AM-6:30Pm Mon-Fri. An English speaking operator walks you through the process, and two minutes later you say grazie with appointments."

Even if the long distance call costs you $1.50 per minute, $3 is pretty cheap for the comfort of knowing you HAVE a selected time to enter without spending long, valuable travel time in a line.

Ellen, given that you will be in Florence for one day, you really should have the advance reservations. We were there six days and it was easy to arrive, book and wait a couple of days. The Duomo also has long lines and opens at 10:00am. The climb to the top of the dome opens at 8:00am or 8:30am and also has a line. In my opinion, the duomo was a big disappointment. It's big and beautiful and has a rich history but there's nothing inside. It's mostly empty except for the religious services area which you can't enter unless you are attending a mass. The dome itself is over the pulpit and you can't get a good full picture because you are behind a tourist rope. My recommendation for the BEST place to visit is the Duomo museum (Opera del Duomo Museum) which is behind the Duomo and across the street. It has the treasures of the Duomo and the baptistery. It also has the original "Gates to Paradise" from the baptistery as well as works by Michelangelo and Donatello.

Ditto to most of what Larry said, but the pics and video I thave from the top of the Dome made the climb the most rewarding thing I did in Florence. You MUST get advance reservations. We were there last month and went to the Ufizzi in the morning to get reservations there at 6 PM. Then stood in line at Academmia for 2+ hours after being told we could call for reservations for the next day. Sorry, but you CANNOT do Florence in one day. You need a minimum of 3 days to absorb it all. While the Duomo is big and to some degree empty, ponder the 24 hour clock inside that runs backwards, or that the cornerstone was laid in 1296 and it was completed in 1436, or that the dome was the model for St. Peter's in Rome and the US capitol in Washington. Don't miss Michaelangelo's only surviving easel painting at the Ufizzi, The Holy Family. By the way, walking across the Ponte Vecchio to look at all the gold shops takes five minutes. Take the first bridge to the west and get a REAL view of it.

I agree make a reservation, don't take a chance. We were there in September a busy time, don't know about November, but a chance to see the David is well worth a reservation. One day well only make you wish you had more time as there is so much to see. A guide was worth the money for us as long as it is with a very small group. Tours by Roberto are expensive, but were worth it for. Take time to enjoy and absorb the experience.