tasiburo

My husband and I are going to be in Florence December 1st and we'd like to just show up for the Accademia and Uffizi Gallery without buying the advance tickets, do you think it's possible to get in? Thanks so much!

knickerbocker

Possible? Likely. But why wouldn't you take the unknown out of you equation?

tasiburo

thanks so much for your reply. I would do it because of the € 56 that the site wants me to pay for 2 tickets for each museum...it's only letting me to buy the full price in conjunction with the exhibit “Robert Mapplethorpe " full ticket price € 10.00 + 4 reservation fee: 14 x2: 28 (that's for the Accademia) and same thing for the Uffizi gallery, so total is €56. We would pay the €6,50 + the reservation fee, but I can't see an option for that...

kfusto

No one can predict but for such a nominal fee, I personally would book ahead and have a confirmed entry time. It is not worth wasting my time on the chance that there is a line.

Narnya

Why don't you see if your hotel can arrange for the admission reservation for a better price? I missed the Uffizi on my first trip to Florence because the line was too long for me to even get in before the doors closed! Second trip -- with advance reservations -- worked like a charm.

JudyC

I spent one week in Florence last December, there was no line at uffizi or Accademia, unlike many other tiems I have visited.

stepsbeyond

How badly do you want to go? Many people actually don't want to go all that badly. There is a chance that on Dec 1st you won't have a problem. There is also a chance you will. If you'll feel like an idiot leaving Florence having spent a fortune to get there and missed getting inside these museums, then of course you should nail it down. If you really don't enjoy museums and art gawking, and would rather be doing something else spontaneously than being chained to an expensive appointment to see the original of a Michaelangelo you can see for free in a very good reproduction in a public piazza, then go your own way.

annhig

hi tasiburo,

we stayed in an apartment around the corner from the accademia in October, and i reckon that you can probably wing it there - just turn up about an hour before closing. then catch a bus up to Fiesole from the square and have supper watching the twinkling lights of florence below.

or buy a frozen octopus from the supermarket opposite!

as for the uffizi, you might or might not get lucky. chances are you'll get stuck behind a japanese tour group!

have a great trip,

regards, ann

kybourbon

The only thing you will save is the 4€ reservation fee. If there is a special exhibit, you have to pay for it whether you want to see it or not. You can not choose to eliminate the exhibit fee even if you don't reserve in advance.

MKE

Annhig's reply made me chuckle. I wnet to Florence in September, albeit a couple of year ago. My hotel was just a couple of blocks from the Accademia and I was able to walk over late in the afternoon and got in after waiting only a few minutes in a short line. (You won't miss much if you skip it.)

My hotel made reservations at the Uffizi for the following afternoon without any problems. Besides visual, auditory, mental and physical overload after several hours at the Uffizi, the thing I remember best was going to the men's room and finding it full of Japanese young ladies, apparently, the overflow from the ladies' room of a large college-age tour group.

bouradly

Are you staying at a hotel? Have them make the reservation for you and they will send a reservation number to you. You won't need to pay the tickets in advance. Then when you get to the museums, you can check out the line and decide to hop in the regular line so you won't have to pay the 'skip the line' fee or if the line is too long, then you can use your reservation number.

tasiburo

I just came back home and I'm so happy to see that many people responded to my post (my first one!). Yes, I would die if I can't get to those 2 sites. We are staying at the Westin Excelsior Hotel, using starwood points (my husband travels for work all the time, at least we can get something good from it!)We arrive in Florence (by train from Rome)on Sunday, November 29 and we leave Florence to Venice on Wednesday, December 2. I figured that the best day to go was that Tuesday, December 1 (since both museums are closed on Monday)Ok, here is my question, if I do the reservation through the Hotel, do I do it by phone? I'm sorry, but I'm so new on this...BTW, so you can have a sense of whom you are "talking" to, I'm 35, my husband is 38 and we have 2 boys (1 and 2 years old, who are going to stay with their grandparents while we're in Italy. We live in Chicago

ellenem

You can just email your hotel with your request for reservations for each museum. State the specific dates you need for each one. They will send you a confirmation.

bouradly

Yes, what ellenem said. Send an email to the hotel with your preferred time and day. They will provide you with a reservation number for both places. Then if you find you do want to skip the line because the regular line is too long, take the number to the ticket booth and they will pull up your reservation number to confirm the time and day. Otherwise, just hop in the line and save a few euros.

kfusto

The concierges at the Westin are excellent and will handle everything for you.

As for the comment: "You won't miss much if you skip it", I very much disagree. I have been to say the David at least ten times so for me, I would very much miss the David as well as the wonderful sculptures in this small museum.

As for booking and then not using the reservation if there is no line, we have always paid the hotel for the reservation and are given a receipt. I also think it is tacky to book and then decide not to use it to save a few euro.

stepsbeyond

I think it is abusive to use up free services organized for your convenience, deprive others of what might be their ideal ticket time, and then "hop in the line and save a few euros" at the expense of the Uffizi Gallery. The gallery is perpetually underfunded, and all arts institutions compete for what little money they can scrounge from patrons and taxpayers to preserve an extremely important heritage. If you ask your hotel to get the Uffizi to commit to letting you in when you are in Florence, the least you can do is pay for the guarantee and for using up their time.

InFlorence

You can also make a reservation in the early morning (at the res. office in the museum) for the same day at the Uffizi - a friend was just here visiting and did this.

2010

You can also phone directly to the museum booking line: +39 055 294 4883. It is open from Tuesday to Sunday and from 8:15am to 5:50pm (Italy time). Follow the prompts & an English-speaking agent will come on the line. You will be given a confirmation number. You will be charged for the tickets plus the small reservation fee when you pick them up.

It's a simple process. Before we left for Italy, I called and reserved entry times for both the Uffizi & Accademia.

Good luck!

2010

tasiburo

Thanks to everybody again and hear (or read..) what happened...:

I emailed our hotel in Florence (Westin Excelsior) as some fodorites suggested I asked them to make the reservation for us and please read below the horrible prices we are going to have to pay now..(my husband doesn't want to cancel the reservation (it's made already..) because the fee for cancellation is 4 euro per person per gallery) ok,here it's a copy of the response.

"Further to your kind e-mail, we are glad to confirm:

Dec. 1st reservation at ACADEMY for two people at 09:30.

Cost € 18,°° p.p.


Dec. 1st reservation at UFFIZI for two people at 14:30.

Cost € 18,°° p.p.


The reservation vouchers have to be picked up at our concierge desk and please paid in cash directly to us at the price of € 18.00 per person per Museum (penalty fee of € 04.00 per person per Museum applied by the main Museum reservation office for any change or cancellation).

We would like to inform you that we are able to organize a walking tour with a professional English speaking Art/Professor (always to give the best to our guests), who will meet you in the hotel and be at your entire disposal. The Art/Professor has a huge knowledge of art and history of this unique town, and we do guarantee you an unforgettable service.

Cost € 80,°° per hour, not per person, minimum service three hours.


For further information, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Looking forward to welcoming you at the Westin Excelsior, we will remain at your entire disposal"

In other words, instead of paying the initial total of €56 (for both galleries) we're now paying €72, "very nice deal" I made...

Anyway, I'm just updating you with this so you know that happened, I should have first asked them about prices, instead of just telling them that I wanted a reservation, I just never thought it was going to be more than booking it myself online...

I'm mad at the hotel but it's done and DH says not to complain about it and just enjoy the museums...

tasiburo

BTW, I did complain and ask them to clarify the charges and they responded this:

"We are in receipt of your kind request and would like to clarify about the cost of museums’ tickets.

The entrance to the Uffizi and/or Accademia Gallery is of € 10.00 per person per museum; this is the cost for the regular entrance with no advance reservation (in case of long lines outside the entrance, which are of course difficult to predict, you would need to stand on line).

Advance reservation with specific date and time in order to avoid lines has an extra fee of € 4.00 per person per museum.

In order to get these reservations through the main museums booking office, we need to make a pre-payment on your favor (that is the only way they accept bookings from us); the additional fee of € 4.00 is for this service of pre sale of the tickets.

As per our last correspondence of yesterday, tickets are confirmed and already purchased for you. If we cancel those, the museum’ booking office will charge us a € 4.00 penalty fee as we mentioned.

Please advise whether we keep the tickets for you or not"

After that was that my husband said to just keep the reservation..