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Time at Florence's Accademia, Uffizi, and walking between the two

Posted by (Denver area) on

What is a reasonable amount of time to allow for
1) Seeing the main items of interest at the Accademia
2) Walking from the Accademia to the Uffizi
3) Seeing the main items of interest at the Uffizi

Before reserving museum tickets for a Sunday in November, I need to have a general idea of how to schedule the above. Unfortunately our schedule requires seeing both on the afternoon of the same day. We will be arriving at the SMN train station and probably going first to the Accademia.

I realize that the amounts of time depends on the level of interest in the artists, the age of those joining me (including teenagers), etc. However, a range of times for each of the three items above would be appreciated. Thank you.

Posted by
81 posts

The main thing at the Accademia is the Michelangelos, especially the famous David, so I would see that first, maybe an hour or less, then walk twenty minutes or so slightly downhill to the Uffizi (waving at the Duomo and Baptistery as you walk by; no time for them) and spend until closing there (take a great picture of the Ponte Vecchio from the big windows at the far end of the main gallery; no time to see that, either). Maybe a half-hour, slightly uphill walk back to the station, filled with sadness at what you missed! You MUST make time for gelato, however.

Posted by
6898 posts

The Accademia is a 15-minute walk from the SMN train station. Expect to be in there from 1-2 hours depending on your interest and depending on how rushed your schedule is. I will tell you that the world kind of stops when you're standing within feet of David. Read the literature and things. Lots of other art but you can breeze through a bit if you're rushed. The Ufizzi is a 20-minute walk from the Accademia. A tour there takes 2-2.5 hours. But again, if you are not on a tour, you can accelerate through the building as you need. However, most of the enjoyment is understanding the art, reading descriptions and listening to the audio. You decide what you need. It will take you about 20-25 minutes to walk back to the train station.

Posted by
1589 posts

" waving at the Duomo "

Please don't miss one of the most amazing structures ever built.

Posted by
9 posts

I love art, but my husband is only mildly interested and into the obvious biggies, like David. So we compromised, and between the two of us we did the Uffizi it 1.5 hours and Accademia a couple of hours. I think you can definitely visit both in a day, especially if you make reservations and get to speed through the lines. I also think you have time for the Duomo if you go early in the morning or line up before close, it's worth it.

Posted by
32 posts

My family (4 young adults and 2 older adults) had a totally different experience in both. Accademia took about 45 minutes and most of that was at David. Uffizi took us about 35 minutes. We do not appreciate Renassaince art, so we breezed through it. My husband has studied Art History and is an artist, and it only took him 45 minutes (probably 'cause he knew we were waiting for him). We are glad we did both, but will never go back. We thoroughly enjoyed Florence other than the Uffizi. I know, we've got wierd tastes!!! Speaking of, please don't miss the gelato!!

Posted by
1174 posts

Yes, you must visit Vivoli for their amazing gelato! The flavors are unlike ANY that we found in all of Italy! One note - we made reservations for the Accademia and the Uffizi, but arrived at both way before the time frame ( 15 minute intervals ) that we had (we called directly to the museums and got a reservation number in a matter of minutes). Even though we were an hour early for both, all they wanted to know was if we had a reservation number,we stood in the Reserve line,and they waved us through. No one told us that we were "early" for our "appointment time".

So, make reservations, but don't get too bogged down with your time frame. Go to the next reservation, even if you are early or late for it. If you have a reservation number, you should be able to skip the regular line. We had definitely overanalyzed our time schedule !

Posted by
25 posts

Yes, we had more time but actually saw them both in one day, though I would have liked to spend more time at the Uffizi. But as someone said, the David mesmerized me - it is really hard to believe, in person, that someone hammered that into what it is, from one marble slab.

Before leaving from the U.S., I phoned the number (I think it's the same for Uffizi and Accademia but can't remember) using the low-cost prefix of 1016868 before the country code and number, which costs about 10c a minute. They speak English too.

So, we were able to just walk in. I had not known I could do this, earlier, and used an online place for the Uffizi but then called on my own for the Accademia. Half the cost that way.

And, yes, please don't walk past the Duomo too fast.

And the Ghiberti East Doors of the Baptistery in front of it are a real delight, but then so is the interior with ceilings of biblical scenes in colorful mosaic tile against
gold leaf. It's amazing. You can get a preview at my site, if you don't know about this. One can just walk right in, and it's not highlighted much in tourist guides.

  • Andrys

http://www.pbase.com/andrys/italy

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