We will visit Florence late March. Should I expect long lines to visit Uffizi and Academia? I can reserve tickets online but prefer to visit without commitment to certain time.
Thank you for you input.

travfirst,

If you don't mind waiting in a line for 2 hours, or possibly more! I would never go without a reservation for the Uffizi.

With the Academia, you can often just pop in - IF you are there before opening, or just before closing. Otherwise there will be lines there too.

Buon viaggio!

Agree with Dayle about Uffizi. Although, we used VIATOR for both Uffizi and Academia. The guide at Uffizi was somewhat interesting and the tour got us in quickly. The guide at Academia was useless and the place is so small....We probably didn;t need the tour there to cut the lines as long as you arrive before opening.

Dayle and redc, thank you for your posts.
I hoped it will be less touristy in March. Will try to reserve my tickets this weekend.

hi travfirst,

ditto what said above re the uffizi. re the accademia, we stayed just round the corner so we were able to monitor the queue - in March you'd probably find it easy to get it towards the end of the day. not sure about other times, it might depend on what groups were booked.

we don't like being tied down eother, but rather than just wing it, we booked an early morning slot at the uffizi, which took about 2 hours of picture viewing, plus 30 mins having a late breakfast in the cafe [very nice] and an hour seeing the specail leonardo exhibition that was on at the time. then we grabbed some lunch food, which we ate back in our apartment, and we were round at the accademia for our 2pm booking. we spent quite a long time looking at the exhibition of musical instruments and some pictures of VERY ugly babies [my kids made a study of them] as well, of course, as David, but even if you string it out, it's difficult t opsnd more than an hour in there.

so we had most of the afternoon left. we had already been, but you could then walk round the corner to the piazza san marco, and catch a bus up to Fiesole, and spend the afternoon up there, which would make a very nice end to a day. as an alternative lunch or snack spot, there is a very up-marrket cafe on the corner of the square and via cavour which has waitresses with some of the fanciest uniforms you will ever see. and vey nice food too.

regards, ann

We'll also be there the end of March. Ann, do you think it's a mistake to wait till we arrive to make the reservations? We'll have Fri, Sat and Sun as options?

annhig, thank you for your input and lunch spots recommendation.

I was in Florence in January a few years ago. There were short lines for both the Uffizi and the Accademia.

At the end of March there will be plenty of tourists in Florence, especially on a weekend.

http://www.tickitaly.com

You can get Uffizi and David here.

i simply wouldn't risk either without a reservation. it's easy enough to get one.

we've been three times (all in june), and while florence wasn't very crowded, the lines at both were very long. you never know the schedule of huge tour groups and school groups.

giftnurse - frankly, yes. we were there for the last week in October, and when we arrived at the uffizi for our 8.30 visit, the queue without tickets was already back to the Two hours from here" spot. do you really want to spend your time like that?

I really do suggest that you get your tickets in advance, especially the uffizi. book the beginning of the day, and you have the rest of your time to yourselves. you might just wing the accademia by going towards the end of the afternoon, but why take the risk? what else have you got to do in Florence that is so compelling that you'd rather do that than see michelangelo's david? without a queue?

regards, ann

PS -here's the link for the official website of the florentine museums.
http://www.firenzemusei.it/

you can book the uffizi and accademia on line or by phone. the advantage of the latter is that you only pay when you pick up the tickets- so if by any chance you did get in at another time, you don't have to pick them up.

if you book by phone, they will ask you if you want the english operator, and when you say yes, they wil keep asking you some of the questions in italian - well, that's what they did with me. LOL. just keep going and eventually, you'll get to someone who will take your booking. it pays to have an idea of when you want to go, before you phone. and don't forget to make allowance for any time lag.

regards, ann

I would fly to Pisa not La Spezia. Sorry for the mistake.

I called Firenze museum reservation by phone as mentioned by Annhig. There are not many places where one can reserave a spot and yet not have to pay the reservation fee. This was one of them. Of course, there was a cost to call Italy from the U.S.

Even if one makes an online reservation, one is talking about 4EU reservation fee per person per site. Whether this amount is worth saving in case there is no queue is up to each individual. One of my friends never makes reservations. Sometimes he gets away with it, and sometimes, he had to give up visiting due to a long queue. Uffizi was one of those places he had to give up due to a long queue even in November.

It is too much to ask whether one can forgo a reservation and still assured a prompt entry.
No one has that much foresight.

Thanks to all of you, esp Ann, for your help. I went ahead and booked the Uffizi, but not the Academia yet. You're right, time in Italy is too precious to stand in line.

hi giftnurse - my pleasure.

two tips for you to use or disregard as you wish:

we found the uffuzi rather heavy on the feet so spent some time relaxing in the cafe having a 2nd breakfast half way round - you have to walk all the way round to the other side [it's a U shape] before tackling the second "arm" of the museum. it was very nice and not that expensive, considering the location.

right opposite the accademia is a supermarket, where as well as the usual fare, they sell frozen octopus. so if you fancy cephelopod for supper, you will have your chance. I didn't look for a sell-by date! [they are probably the same ones!]

regards, ann

Thanks, Ann, I'll pass on the octopus. When we were in Rome, I made the mistake of ordering a seafood salad, and the only seafood in it was octopus. Rubbery and not my favorite. I picked it all out and ate a very expensive lettuce salad!

hi giftnurse,

i actually quite like squid and octopus - we had a great seafood antipasti in Rome which turned out to be baby octopus cooked 6 different ways.

but I agree that it can be rubbery if not cooked well.

have a great trip,

regards, ann

I was in Florence in late March 2 years ago. It was spring break and crowded, even at the Academia. We had a reservation and still waited about 20 minutes.

Thanks to all who convinced me to make reservation to Uffizi. At 9:30 lines were long and even with reservation it took us 20-30 min to get in. We took the audio guide – I did not like the commentaries (the guides at Uffizi only for one person but you can bring your own headset and use it for two). Print Frommer’s room by room guide that is easier to follow http://www.frommers.com/destinations...051020029.html

There was a long line to Academia in the morning but we returned at 5 pm and got in without waiting.