FLORENCE in April - Overcrowded and a let-down

Yikes! Sorry about your experience.

And we had to keep dodging a tramp sleeping in the doorway near our hotel,

Which hotel did you stay at?

We stayed at the Mercure Firenze Centro, Via Nazionale 21/23 R. Nice hotel, nice room, conveniently situated a short walk from the Santa Maria Novello station and near most main attractions. Not quite the 4 star it claims to be in terms of breakfast, which was okay but the 'hot buffet' was not good, pretty basic offering. And they literally only supplied soap in the bathrooms, absolutely nothing else (no handcream, body lotion, conditioner, any extras you would expect in a 4 star hotel).

Florence officials really should look at cleaning up their city and limiting the number of tourists somehow - it is pretty grubby, dog dirt on pavements, and many homeless people around or tramps sleeping rough.
Oh - a final note - their shuttle service (PisaMover) taking airport passengers from Pisa airport to the main train station Pisa Centrale (you have to get here to catch a train to Florence) should be free, or a small nominal charge, not 7 euros each way. It's only about 1 kilometer away, and there is no other way to get to Pisa Centrale station (bar a v expensive taxi).

Sorry to hear that. I'm glad I saw Florence very thoroughly back in the 1980s and don't need to go back. But as Gandalf said to Frodo (paraphrased), we cannot pick the time we live in, all we can do is make the best of the time we are in. I think Florence is still worth visiting as the cradle of the Renaissance even if it is more of a hassle now than it was.

I'm sorry you had a less than good experience in Florence.
I'm glad I saw inside all the main attractions twenty years ago.
Now, when I'm there, I visit places off the tourist radar if possible.
However, sitting on the wall of the Loggia dei Lanzi in the shade, with a good gelato, provides some excellent people-watching and eavesdropping opportunities.

"Well, how would I know where we are?"
"You had the map".
"I gave it to you!"
"Who's that statue guy over there?"
"Why are these streets not paved properly?"

Returning to one of my favourite cities this fall for my 13th visit. :))

I hope you can return again and have a better time.

I visited Florence the last week of January 2023, my first time. I didn't have the bad museum experiences that you did (no issues with the Uffizi, the Accademia or the Bargello) but I thought the city was quite crowded for January and thought to myself that I couldn't imagine being there any later in the spring. The weather was cold but sunny the entire time and in the afternoon the streets and plazas were quite crowded. Most of the tourists appeared to be Italian or other Europeans; I didn't encounter many Americans at all. I think winter might be the new shoulder season for cities like Florence.

I had a bad experience in Florence too. We were there in November 2022. Because my husband is not into art, we decided to do it as a day trip from Lucca. My #1 goal was to see Michelangelo’s David. We got off the train, and it was a mad house. It was so crowded, It was hard to walk through the streets. We went through the Academia, which was not overly crowded, saw David and headed back to the train station. We couldn’t wait to leave. I was so disappointed.

This makes me so sad to read. And I feel so sorry for you not getting a good experience with amazing art in a beautiful city. I’ve been 3 times, Feb’05, Feb ‘16 and mid March ‘18. I spent 4 to 8 days each time and loved every minute. The heavily over-used tourist spot is becoming the norm it seems. I feel for the people who live in the city too. Imagine having your home overrun so much of the time. Horrible. I sure don’t know what the solution will be. I’m glad you had a good visit to Rome when you went. I think it is trending now much like your Florence experience.

I’m so sorry to hear this and that you had a bad experience. I love Florence and was there for my third visit in October 2022. I didn’t go to the Uffizi or to see David, but I can imagine they were quite crowded. While there were a lot of people walking around, it was still manageable for me. I stayed near the Duomo and it was definitely busy all day and into the night. Next time, I will stay a bit further out of the city.

Sorry you didn't enjoy your visit. We will be there in November so I hated to read this. Hopefully we will have a different experience.

Sorry your trip was not as you thought it should be. I will visit Florence for four nights in September. You have helped my manage my expectations. I can’t control the size of the crowds, so will “go with the flow” and allow time for standing in line and extra time to see the sights.

How awful. So sorry. One tip that worked in the past was to travel before Easter since a lot of tourism, school trips, and other organised travels begin right after Easter.

Well, we will be there last week in August, can’t change it. I will prebook what I can. We have come to the realization that whatever we see, we see and enjoy, and whatever we miss, oh Well.

Sorry to bring anyone down about Florence, but I just thought a reality check is always a good idea when going somewhere new. Then if things turn out better than expected it's a win-win situation! I had been wanting to see the Sistene Chapel for many many years, and eventually planned my first trip to Rome last November. My friend and others had warned me that walking through it is like being in the middle of a herd of cattle, and you have to keep moving forward (she even warned me that if I was claustrophobic or prone to anxiety that it might be a bad idea to visit it as you are so crushed in with the crowd and can only move forward in one direction). When we went there in November, I can tell you that it was honestly the most amazing experience of my life - it was not crowded, and we were able to spend over half an hour in the chapel looking around at our leisure, and marvelling at the miraculous paintings and the genius of Michelangelo. It was truly sublime and I will never forget it. So although it is good to know about the possibility of overcrowding, you may get lucky! We did enjoy some fantastic gelato in Florence, and got a fabulous view of the city by walking over the Arno to the Piazzale Michelangelo. Just leave loads of time to visit any of the main sites/galleries and expect to queue even with a pre-purchased reserved time slot/ticket. Oh and make sure to download maps of the Uffizi Gallery and the Galleria Academia onto your phone if you want to know where to go without spending two hours getting totally lost and having to ask where everything is several times, as neither provide a map of any kind to their galleries with the ticket.

I think the "no wasted paper, so we don't have paper maps" attitude of museums is a turn-off and we actually walked out of the very crowded museum in Melbourne, Australia because of this.

What time were your reservations for the Accademia and Uffizi? Since they don't tend to have time limits in museums (Borghese Gallery in Rome is one exception I can think of), each reserved time-slot adds more people to the building but doesn't usually subtract them, or at least not many of them.

Our Academia ticket was for 2pm on a Wednesday and the Uffizi was for 1.30pm on the Friday

In the future, try to be among the first to enter any museum. All over Europe, the well-known museums are horribly crowded by 11:00.

We spent a full day in the Vatican Museums in December, arriving at opening; it was fine until lunch. After lunch, I did feel panicked in one of the very small rooms and just wanted to escape outside. The next room was the Map room where we flowed along in a sea of people, same for the rest until we reached the Sistine Chapel.
It’s wonderful that you hit it right and were able to have a sublime experience in the Sistine Chapel. That’s why we travel.

I was there in 2021 right after things opened up and you needed proof of COVID vaccination and had to test to fly back to the USA. It was crowded even with those restrictions. I'd hate to see it now. Oh and to echo 10 am to 2 pm is the worse times to visit blockbuster hit museums.

so figured that Florence in April would be a safe enough 'low season' bet

Unfortunately, your expectation that April was low season is not accurate. April though October is generally considered high/busy season in Italy. Many visitors try to avoid Italy during the summer because of the heat and instead visit during what was considered shoulder season like April or October.

I was in Italy, including Florence during October 2023 (visited the Uffizi) and it was crowded and busy. But I was expecting it to be crowded and busy. The crowds did not spoil or deter me from enjoying my stay.

Yes - I am and was aware that it's best to get to the museums and 'big' sites first thing/early in the morning - however, not always possible or practical, esp. if you're only in a city for 2-3 days. Also these early slots get booked v quickly even booking 6 weeks ahead .I think probably that Florence doesn't actually have a 'low season', as it is very small/tiny compared to Rome or Milan, therefore will always be busy, and add the millions of tourists from all around the world who want to visit such amazing wonders of renaissance art and architecture crammed into a very small area, there will be an awful lot of overflow of people. I agree with the person who said they couldn't imagine having to live there and deal with the throngs of tourists every day.
It still amazed me however, that all those throngs of people clamouring to get in to see the statue of David, were not clamouring to get in to see Michelangelo's most personal, his final, and most meaningful sculpture, in the Opera del Duomo Museum - the Pieta/Deposition, which he carved intending it for his own resting place. Or Donatella's amazingly stark wood carving of the penitent Mary Magdelen. There were no queues at all here, very empty. Do people only want to see what they are told they 'should' see, one wonders?

My two visits to Florence were both in late November (2013 on a cruise and 2016 on Rick Steves' VFR tour). We had some crowds in the Uffizi and Accademia, but nowhere close to the point where it detracted from my enjoyment. However, for some reason, I just didn't vibe with Florence in general.

But I was expecting it to be crowded and busy. The crowds did not spoil or deter me from enjoying my stay.

This is the key, Mary. I'm pretty much always expecting crowds now and if there aren't, it feels like a bonus. With places like Italy I need to let go trying to find the 'best' time to go, and just go.

I'm glad you posted about your experience, sheilaryall. I'm just going to expect crowds in March next year, and that's ok.

It still amazed me however, that all those throngs of people clamouring to get in to see the statue of David, were not clamouring to get in to see Michelangelo's most personal, his final, and most meaningful sculpture, in the Opera del Duomo Museum - the Pieta/Deposition, which he carved intending it for his own resting place. Or Donatella's amazingly stark wood carving of the penitent Mary Magdelen. There were no queues at all here, very empty. Do people only want to see what they are told they 'should' see, one wonders?

I have a feeling you are absolutely right on this.

Do people only want to see what they are told they 'should' see, one wonders?

Two words: Mona Lisa

sheila,

I am so sorry about your experience, but I think you are providing good information.
We just were in Florence in October 2023 and I can verify the crowds. I still think Florence is magical and worthwhile, but you need to manage your visit and your expectations.

We have been to Florence twice before and seen most of the highlights, so we did a 3 hour history walking tour first thing in the morning.
We commented on the crowds and our guide pulled out a picture she took from the same spot in August, similar to this:
https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-florence-italy-crowds-of-tourists-outside-the-baptistery-in-front-104078937.html?imageid=5A4C91E1-B839-45C2-803F-A1CA8C45476E&p=34492&pn=1&searchId=4a01f4d3ea24d6e17ceca79547a6b983&searchtype=0&irclickid=UEg3JZ0RuxyKW7nV94V8qwsQUkHQleT9RyXcRE0&utm_source=269814&utm_campaign=The%20world%27s%20most%20diverse%20stock%20photo%20library&utm_medium=impact&irgwc=1

She said normally season is the first of March through the first of November, with a break before Christmas crowds. In 2023, it started in February, and she said she was booked through the entire year. And that with the record heat, made the season challenging

My advice:

-Stay in Oltrano, it is an easy 10 minute walk across the bridge where you can escape to some local's restaurants and shops and parks

-Make getting early tickets to the major attractions your job, find out when they are released and keep a calendar of the days to get up early and get online.

-Make reservations to any finer dining restaurants

Sadly, I do think some travel with a list of the "top hits" and I don't know if they take time to appreciate it, but they certainly get a selfie with it. And with due respect, I think experiences from a pre Covid visit are a thing of the past, the caged animals are out.

Interestingly we were there last June. I was expecting the crowds to be like the picture Sunny22 posted but was pleasantly surprised. Crowed by not an issue to walk. Only waited about 30 minutes to go in the Duomo. Did most of the museums first thing in the morning but had a very pleasant 2.5 hour walking tour in the late afternoon. The only place it thought was way too crowded was the bridge. It was hot though- 100 degrees!!

We spent some time in Florence about 5 years ago and had a wonderful time. One thing I will not do, though is stand in line for hours, so we didn't go in the Duomo. And we didn't go to Accademia to see the statue of David. But we still had a wonderful time.

We do this a lot, though. We went to Rome and never went to the Colosseum, and we went to Paris and never went to the Eiffel Tower. I don't see the value in standing in line for hours to see stuff like that. These cities are packed with interesting attractions that don't have long lines. For instance, we went to Venice and on a Saturday, the Rialto Bridge was so jammed with tourists that you couldn't move. But I got up at sunrise, and went to St. Mark's Square, and I was almost the only person there.

And in Florence, like I said, we didn't go into the Duomo, but we did go across the river to the Oltrarno district and went in Santo Spirito, which is one of my favorite churches anywhere. It was not crowded. We just walked right in.

Oh gosh —. We went in August and while it was crowded it was still gorgeous. I will say we had a tour guide and were able to jump lines .. so getting into museums was much easier. I would recommend booking a tour because they know exactly how to get to the places you want to see and they have “ins with the various museums and there is no waiting. We did not stay in Florence but parked in a public parking outside the ZTL and walked about 3/4 mile to the city center. We stayed out in Tuscany and it was only about a 35-40 min drive to Florence. Sorry you had a bad trip but I think staying outside of Florence and have it a guided tour would have made it better. It is very crowded— I agree.

I think we've lost "shoulder season" in Europe. We visited Portugal last April, after Easter, expected shoulder season and found LIsbon and Porto to be extremely crowded.

It used to be that one could count on main attractions/sites slowing down towards the end of the day. I don't see that happening much anymore. I really try to get the first ticket time for any busy museum or site.