I am looking to book for entrance to the Vatican in Rome, the Uffizi and Accademia Museums in Florence. Is there a place I can go online to book these at those sites. The booking places seem to add about 6 Euro per ticket, which adds up when 5 people are going. I couldn't seems to find any way to bypass the markups on the internet. Any advice?

I paid 3E each for the Uffizi and Accademia reservations. My Florence landlord made the arrangements, I am not sure what method she used however. (The line at the Accademia is in full sun in the afternoon- it is really hellish!)
I hope somebody can tell you wehre to get these 3E ressies!

I paid 23E to go into the Vatican Museums at 8:15AM with Tuscany All. Our "tour group" disbanded upon entry and we were free to wander or make a beeline to the Sistine Chapel. Well worth the money to skip the queue in my opinion. The Vatican never responded to fax requests to join their tour which was my original plan.

Can you tell me where to find information on Tuscany All? I'm looking for an early tour. Thanks!

With apologizes to poster Ira, whose directions I have cut and pasted below:

Uffizi and Academia Museum Reservations

The easiest and cheapest way is to call Florence 1016868 (dial around number), 011 (U.S. international access code) 39 (Italy's country code) then 055-294-883 8:30-18:30 M-F and 8:30-12:00 Sat. Florence time. There is a long listing of press 1 for this and 2 for that--press 4 for bookings. You will get an English speaking operator and in 2-3 minutes YOU CAN RESERVE FOR BOTH. This is through the reservation service at the Uffizi and costs beyond the normal entry fee only about 3 euro for the service. This is MUCH cheaper than the commercial booking services.

You will not be charged for the reservations unless you use them.

We followed Ira's directions in making our reservations, by calling the reservation line direct. My sister made the call- she said it was a piece of cake.

I recommend reserving the Uffizi for first thing in the morning, at 8:30am, if that fits with your plans.

Also, once you've toured the first corridor, walk through to the end of the second corridor, directly to the cafe. Have an early lunch on the rooftop outside, before the real lunchtime rush. Then walk back to the begining of the second corridor and resume your tour.

We did it that way it turned out really well. The Uffizi is an amazing museum.

www.rome-museum.com

Look at this website for early entry to the Vatican Museums, this is the outfit I used about 3 weeks ago and it worked very well. I went in at 8:15AM, it is very easy to follow the meeting directions.

I have been trying to make areservation for the accadamia and can't seem to catch them open. What is the time difference for Central time? I have been trying around noon my time.

kimmidwife - Noon Central Time would be 7 pm Florence time. Try between 7-11 am CDT which will be 2-6pm in Florence.

Thanks. I got in and got my reservation for the Accademia, but the Uffizi(sp?) was unavailable. Do they take walk-ins? Do booking places have access to tickets that the general public doesn"t. I'm OK with not seeing it, but my art teacher husband wants to.

hi, kimmidwife,

hard luck about the uffizi. yes they do take "walk-ins" but there's usually a huge queue.

the best bet might be to turn up about 1 hour before closing and hope that everyone else has given up.

there is loads of other art in florence for your husband to enjoy.

regards, ann

My husband is not one to stand in line. We'll try the hour before closing. Thanks.

E-mail your hotel and see if they can get you a reservation.

We had early morning reservations to the Uffizi Gallery, and still had to wait in line to get our tickets (they had delayed opening for a 'staff meeting'). Our hotel made the reservations for us.

We had to laugh while waiting to get into the gallery. There is a sign outside of the door explaining the entrance fees. There was a Full Fare ticket (9,50 Euros), a Reduced Fare ticket (6,25 Euros), a Free ticket and Reservation fees.

The 'Free' ticket cost 3 Euros.

Other options for Uffizi Tickets: The Museum of San Marco and the Museum of Precious Stones are both near the Accademia. I believe you can get tickets for the Uffizi at both places, perhaps for the same day; if not, for the next day. For an art teacher, the Uffizi is a top sight. It is one of the top five museums in the world. It is worth it just for the Botticellis and Michelangel's Holy Family.

There is another company called Walking Tours of Florence that does Uffizi tours: Don't know the cost and haven't been on a tour, but saw it recommended. www.artviva.com

The Art teacher husband might also really enjoy the Bargello, containing sculpture by Michelangelo, Donatello, etc. or the Pitti Palace. If you can't see the Uffizi, these would also be great choices.

Apres, thanks for your suggestion for lunch at the Uffizi. Even a snack would be nice. This is going into my list of good tips for Florence.

Thanks, Sassafrass. I should make a small correction to my post, though- the Uffizi is actually made up of *three* corriders, because the building is the shape of a "U".

There is the long First Corridor, the short little Second Corridor, and then the long Third Corridor. This how they are labeled in the official guides.

When I said "walk to the cafe at the end of the Second Corridor", I should have said "walk to the cafe at the end of the *Third* Corridor.

This would be fairly obvious in the museum, anyways.

The cafe's rooftop patio is gorgeous- stunning view with the Palazzo Vecchio looming in closely on the right, and of course the Duomo a little farther away. The patio has potted trees and flowers and birds flitting about. Food is average - perfectly fine for a simple bite and a drink- but the view is extraordinary and the experience memorable.

I think if you join "Friends of the Uffizi" (Amici degli Uffizi) you will be able to get in. You're supposed to get free visits to the Gallery and State museums of Florence with membership and "exclusive guided visits". 60E for one or 100E for a family of four.
http://www.amicidegliuffizi.com/member.htm

Here's a list of the state museums.
http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/english/musei/

hi, sassafrass,

like apree londee, we enjoyed the uffizi cafe - we had early tickets, and after about an hour wandering along the first corridor, bypassed all the rest of the rooms on the opposite arm, and treated ourselves to a 2nd breakfast. [freshly squeezed orange juice, croissants, coffee]

It wasn't cheap, but given how cheap the tickets to the museum are, and the standard of the food which was very fresh, and the view, I didn't begrudge the cost at all.

I was very glad we'd stopped, because as well as the other rooms to see, there was a leonardo exhibition downstairs at the time, which took another hour or so to enjoy fully. [in fact, it was only because i had been over-ambitious and booked tickets for the accademia that pm that caused us to leave when we did.]

so the refreshments were very well worth-while.

regards, ann

Bookmarking.
Thanks for the info

bookmarking

bookmarking. thx!