Help with Florence Galleries/Museums
 

We will only be passing through Florence for an afternoon, so I need advice on the feasiblity of visiting the Uffizi, Accademia and Medici galleries. <BR> <BR>We plan to make reservations for any that we choose, but wonder how much time we should allow for an abbreviated visit to each or if we should rule one out. <BR> <BR>I'd very much appreciate your opinions and suggestions. <BR> <BR>We will likely have about 4 hours to spend in Florence at most. <BR> <BR>(I know it sounds crazy, but we will likely make a return trip for a more leisurely experience at a later date. This is our "antipasto" of Florence.)

Well, I don't want to sound negative, but... We just got back from Italy, and we spent a good 3 hours at the Uffizi (not including time spent getting into the Gallery) -- and we skipped the second half because we were losing steam. I think trying to get there, rush through, and get back to your train would be a bit stressful. <BR> <BR>It's a bit hard to do a "highlights" tour of the Uffizi, because the crowd flow is designed to move everyone through along the same path. Many of the rooms are "railroaded," i.e, you have to go through a chain of rooms to get to certain things. If you really just want to see one or two specific pieces (the Botticellis, for example), it might work. <BR> <BR>We didn't do the Accademia or Medici - they might work better for this.

I agree with the above poster about the Uffizi. However, the Accademia is doable in one-two hours. What time of day will these 4 free hours in Florence occur? The crowd at the Accademia is lighter in the late afternoon hours.

Daniel <BR>Personally, if I had to pick one, I'd have to choose the Accademia. It is a small museum, "David" is magnificent, and a sight you will never forget. <BR>Get advance tickets. Spend the other 2-3 hours strolling and seeing the Duomo and the Baptistry which are magnificent as well, or go to the Medici chapel to see more sculptures by Michelangelo.

This may sound like blasphemy, but my wife and I simply opted to skip all of the museums and chose to walk around Florence, eat, shop , tke pictures etc. We could not see waiting 2-3 hours in line in the sun during our vacation with a bunch of other tourists. You can make reservations for them so if you want o go do that. I wouldn't try to go to more than one in four hours though.

Thanks to all for your comments. I think I will go with the idea of sticking to the Accademia and the Medici galleries with advance reservations. (My travel companion is less a museum/art nut than I am, so this sounds like a good compromise.) <BR> <BR>We will be there mid-afternoon, around 2:00 or so. My hope is that with reservations, we can take in the museums and the Duomo, even if at a hurried pace. Uffizi next trip, I suppose.