When to go to Uffizi - morning or afternoon?

Have been researching this for our own trip next year. Appears that the early morning (from doors opening at 8:15 till around 10:00) are the least crowded. After 10 it appears to stay pretty crushed until about an hour before closing at 6:50 PM. So unless someone else chimes in with more recent experience to the contrary we plan to be there when the doors open in the morning.

Considering cost , convenience , and flexibility of your visit , This is the most appropriate solution , not timed tickets - http://www.amicidegliuffizi.it/diventa_socio.php?pg=8&ln=en

Steven, I'll kindly disagree. The Amici degli Uffizi pass used to be a GREAT deal for visitors staying more than a couple of days in Florence. We bought one once for a 5-day stay and intended to again. Sadly, it now only covers the Uffizi and Pitti complex versus the host of other Florentine museums/attractions it used to, including the Accademia. Rats!

So the cost of that pass would be more than the combo ticket for the Pitti and (timed) Uffizi entry. If not interested in the Pitti, then it would be significantly more than just the Uffizi ticket.

(Edited to fix previous error. OOPS!)

Can't really give you an answer on the crowds. We did a looooong visit there and it was pretty much busy the entire time. The reason I'd personally choose 1st thing in the morning is to be fresh: that particular museum takes some fortitude so I wouldn't want to take it on hot and tired from other prior activities.

Thanks guys! Kathy, the part you quoted wasn't actually my post - it was someone else's - and I'm not considering buying the pass as we only plan to go to the Uffizi and Accademia one time. We decided to go to the Accademia the late afternoon before, and go to the Uffizi the next day. My question is just when is the best time to go to the Uffizi - in the morning or afternoon. I read in the one post that if you go in the morning, you get crushed my tour groups(?)

Oh, wait! You wouldn't happen to be in Florence on a Tuesday or Wednesday, would you? The museum is open until 10:00 on those days until 26th September (except 14th and 15th August). If either of those days would work for you, I'm pretty sure the crowds will be noticeably lighter at night. An option? Would allow for a rest-up and some food between the day's activities and the museum.

https://www.uffizi.it/en/notices/uffizi-open-during-summer-evenings-too

Hi Heather,

I don’t know about the afternoon traffic, but my family and friends (6 adults) went to the Uffizi in early June and we bought timed tickets for the first entry. We had to stand in line to collect the tickets and then went right in (we were probably one of the first 50 people in the Uffizi). We followed the Rick Steve’s audio guide and it was packed when we left at 10:00.

I would recommend that you stop at the cafe midway through the visit (recommendation on the audio guide). The rooftop has a nice view and it is a great way to take a break midway in the tour.

Have a great trip.
Sandy

Thanks Sandy - we were planning to use the RS audio guide too! How much time do you need to allow before your timed entrance to be there?
Kathy, sadly, no - we'll be there on a Saturday and a Sunday. Planning on going to the Uffizi on Sunday.

Kathy , quite right about the pricing and reduction in venues . Re - reading the OP , it seems she is set on a single visit , and my evidently mistaken assumption was that she might be interested in several shorter visits rather than one marathon blitz , which can be tiring . In any event , while I purchased timed entries on my first visit in 2012 , I am buying the Amici pass for my wife and myself in September ( twelve days ) so we can make several visits to the Uffizi in more manageable two to three hour slots .

Thanks for your input, Steven. Yes, we can only go to each museum/site once, and 2-3 hours is as much as my kids will likely last in any one museum of art, no matter how amazing it is! I've been before and know how incredible it is, but with kids, there's only so much art they can appreciate and only so much money we can spend on a vacation - we're just trying to do our best to give them a taste of Italian culture :)

We went first thing in the morning to the Uffizi in December a few years ago (i.e. in the LOW season). It was fine for the first hour, and then pretty darn nuts around every famous painting. People were five or six deep taking selfies or posing for photos with the art or taking photos or videos of the art. It was possible to wait them out and get up closer to see a painting because the crowds would come and go in waves, but it was still difficult to really look the way we wanted to.

Luckily, we are actually interested in medieval and Renaissance art, not just in seeing famous things for a few seconds each and proving it with photos, so we discovered that in the same room with each of the biggies were plenty of paintings that we wanted to see. Other rooms had no mob at all. Also, we had all the time in the world and had a leisurely lunch at the Uffizi's cafe before seeing the remaining rooms in the afternoon.

I'm having a hard time imagining what it would be like to visit the Uffizi in the high season with three kids and perhaps with plans for the rest of the day. Would it be worth it to you to find a private, after-hours tour of the Uffizi? Last September, we went on a few night-time tours of other museums and art galleries in Florence, organized by the Italian language school my husband was attending. The Accademia, for instance, was almost empty the night we went.

I wish I could recommend a particular tour for you and your family, but maybe someone else on the Italy Forum can. The night tours I just looked up quickly were about $120 for the group plus the cost of tickets, and come with a tour guide (which we did not have or want --- the language school just let everybody wander freely).

Otherwise, just go very early, know which paintings you and your kids most want to see and which room they are in, see those first, and then see the rest of the artworks (as much as you have stamina for, that is) later in the morning. Take photos of people taking photos --- it's very funny, especially the people who pose like (decades out-of-date!) fashion models or who imitate the poses of the people in the paintings.

I was at the Uffizi two days ago. I would definitely go early in the morning... be there for opening if you can.

We walked up at 750 to the reserved ticket line (we had the Firenze Card, same as if you have reservations) and were within the first couple in line. You could probably arrive by 8-810 and be just fine. There was probably a line of 20-30 people behind us by the time the doors opened.

Had the Botticellis essentially to ourselves for a few minutes and it was obvious the big tour groups were generally about 30 minutes behind our pace. Got out in 3 hours and never felt rushed or that I couldn’t see what I wanted. Both the reserved and unreserved ticket lines were quite long when we walked out.

I feel like going in the afternoon might be a crapshoot in terms of crowds. Might still be busy, might not.

Hi Heather,

We got there 20 minutes before the ticket office and there were about 35 people ahead of us. The good news is that for ticket pick up, they only let one of your party pick up the ticket. I sent everyone else to the entry line to line up.

On a note on the crowds, not too bad if you are there first thing. Also on the audio guide, there is a transcript. I actually used the transcript and acted as the docent for my group. It might be easier for you as well. It allowed me to keep the pace up and hit the highlights.

Sandy

Get there first thing in the morning to beat the crowd and the heat. You can say that about virtually every big tourist attraction anywhere. Tourists are on vacation and don't want to get up early and tour buses show up after opening.

I was there for an early afternoon experience, about 2 o'clock in the afternoon. While there were definitely other people there, I didn't find the museum crowded in the general sense. Some paintings did have larger crowds than others, but I find that to be the case in any art museum.

I did that on my own, though. If I were doing it with kids, I'd go earlier in the day.