I need help trying to blend the top museums without overloading on art? . Our first day is arriving Friday around lunch, the Hotel is in Santa Maria Novella. I revised somewhat another's itinerary I found on TA....is there any recommendations you can give (substitutes or order/vicinity)?

9/27 Saturday

Uffizi Gallery – Hours: 8:15am - 6:50pm. Price: 6.50€ (Prebook)

Sant’Ambrogio Market – Hours: 7am – 2pm

Piazza del Duomo and Baptistery, Cathedral of Santa Maria dei Fiore (Duomo) – Hours: 1:30pm – 4:45pm. Price: 10€

9/28 Sunday

Accademia Gallery – Hours: 8:15am – 6). Price: 6.50€ (Prebook)

Basilica di Santa Croce – Hours: 9:30am – 4:30pm. Price: 6€ (Prebook)

Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio – Hours: 9am – Midnight. Price: 10€

Ponte Vecchio

Giardino Bardini (gardens)

Thank you!

Unless you need to buy fruit there is no need to go all the way to S. Ambrogio market. By the way, Mercato centrale is much closer to SMN and and better for photo opportunities (for fruit shopping S. Ambrogio is better). The main market closes at 2pm but the above floor is open for eating till midnight.

There's a charge to enter the cathedral now?

Thanks for mentioning the Giardino Bardini. I was unfamiliar with these gardens but when I looked them up I see they only recently opened to the public.

Take time for a good look at the baptistry doors as they are amazing, particularly the level of detail with a shallow relief.

Try to spend a few minutes in Santa Maria Novella church since you're staying in the area.

>>>There's a charge to enter the cathedral now?<<<

I don't think so. I think the OP has jumbled some info for the museum with the cathedral.

>>>Cathedral of Santa Maria dei Fiore (Duomo) – Hours: 1:30pm – 4:45pm.<<<

I believe those are Sunday hours. It opens at 10 most days. Closing time varies by season.

>>>Uffizi Gallery – Hours: 8:15am - 6:50pm. Price: 6.50€ (Prebook)<<<
>>>Accademia Gallery – Hours: 8:15am – 6). Price: 6.50€ (Prebook)<<<

If you prebook these on the official museum website, there is a 4€ booking fee (still cheaper, even with the fee, than all the other resellers).

>>>Basilica di Santa Croce – Hours: 9:30am – 4:30pm. Price: 6€ (Prebook)<<<

Santa Croce will not be open those hours on a Sunday (Sunday hours are listed as 2-5:30). I've never stood in line to get tickets more than a few minutes for Santa Croce, but don't think I've visited on a Sunday.

You have done a good job of hitting many of the highlights in two days. You have selected the things I would want to see if I had only two days. Florence is a wonderful city. Enjoy!

I'm hampered by very poor internet connections, so I can't look things up. I apologize if any of the following is wrong.

I'm almost certain the is an entrance fee for the Duomo, as there is for most of the churches with artistic value in Florence. However, there is not much to see inside, and the lines are usually long. The Duomo is much more beautful on the outside than on the inside. There are other churches in Florence with great artistic treasures on display.

I would really recommend going inside the Baptistery, which also has an entrance fee, to see the beautiful medieval golden mosaics. The bronze doors are copies, by the way. The originals are in the museum.

The museum of the Duomo, known as L'Opera del Duomo, is definitely worth a visit. It has a fine collection of art masterpieces that used to be in the Duomo, as well as interesting exhibits about the history of the Duomo and the construction of its great dome. This museum has been undergoing a major reconstruction, and I don't know if all of the collection is on display. I also seem to remember that on reopening there would be a joint ticket to visit the Duomo and the museum.

Since you're staying near Santa Maria Novella, I recommend that you visit the Basilica of S. Maria Novella, which has some spectacular art, including the Tornabuoni Chapel, with beautiful frescoes by Il Ghirlandaio and his workshop, where the adolescent Michelangelo was an apprentice. One of the figures is thought to have been painted by him. There are also works by Giotto, Massiccio, and other worl-famous artists. The basilica also has a nice cloister.

I should add that if you're going to mass at the Duomo, you don't have to pay to enter. However the mass is in a little roped-off chapel, reached by a side entrance, so you don't get to see much of the church. When I say that there's a fee to enter, I mean that it was so both times I visited the church, but these visits were more than five years ago. I also once attended mass there.