cboris

Hello,

I want to thank all the regulars on this board for your wonderful information. I have hardly had to post any questions at all, since the answers to all my questions are available with a quick search!

The one thing I'm not sure of is how long to allot for a self-guided tour of the Uffizi & how long for the accademia. I have seen the threads listing the phone number to call, and also understand that my hotel would make the reservations for me. I'm just not sure if I should make the reservations for the same day or 2 separate days. If same day, how far apart? We will have about 3 1/2 days in Florence, if that influences the answer.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Christine

rkkwan

Accademia - About an hour.

Uffizi - As long as you wish. My limit for museums are about 3.5 hours, so that's how long I spent there. But there's a cafe/restaurant inside, so one can rest up and spend even more time.

Gekko

The Accademia is basically David .. so however long you'd like to linger looking at David.

Uffizi - 2-3 hours for most people.

ira

ditto RK

I suggest making the reservations before you leave home.

ekscrunchy

This issuch a matter of personal taste and interest that I do not think you can make assumptions based on other's advice. We spent about two hours in the Accademia a few months ago. About a half hour to look at the David; more to look at the other Michelangelo scupltures. The paintings took at least a half hour and there was a wonderful exhibit on muscial instruments where we could have happily spent an hour. I would not book these two sights in the same day in order to avoid art overload/Stendhal syndrome. Perhaps do Accademia early one morning and Uffizi the next...I would allow 3 hours for the Uffizi. And do not miss Santa Croce!

MaureenB

In general, people seem to agree on an hour, plus or minus, to see David at the Accademia; and three hours, plus or minus, to visit the Uffizi.

The Uffizi is amazing, and stuffed with art, so it helps to have information on the "important" pieces, so you don't get overwhelmed. Take time to enjoy the "Birth of Venus", my absolute favorite.

We visited the two museums on successive mornings, which worked well for us.
>-

ymmy

Whether you try to do both in one day will depend on your ability to withstand crowds and be on your feet all day, and also your level of interest in art. Personally, I would recommend only doing one per day as it is is very easy to gobble up an entire afternoon at Uffizi. Then, unless you jump in a cab or hijack a scooter, the Accademia could be a 25min walk from the Uffizi. Shoot for early morning and/or later afternoon for both.

j_999_9

We did both in the same day, in about the same time frames that other posts have mentioned.

Also, we did a leisurely walk from one to the other with no problems. If you're in reasonably good shape, you should be able to handle it.

The only other question is your own daily quota for museums.

annhig

Hi Choris - we have the same dilemma, which I have solved, thus: I decided that I wanted to book in advacne to avoid the queues, but didn't want to "waste" two days while we hung about waiting for our time slots. So i have booked to see the uffizi at 8.45, and the Accademia at 2.30 pm on the same day. I reckon that that it probably long enough in the uffizi [for my kids if not for me], lunch en route between the two, then an hour or so in the accademia.
We are going at teh end of October, and when I 'phoned last week I had my choice of dates and times.
Once you phone the number, you get a choice of languages [english or italian] then a series of menus - opening times, etc. some of it in italian, curiously, as you will already have picked english!
Finally, you will get a real person, who again asks what you want, in italian, but who speaks very good english. She will give you a reference no. for your booking.
THe whole process took 5 minutes, and you don't pay til you pick up your tickets.
Using the official phone line you pay only E3 euro extra per ticket; if you use ticketline for example, they charge almost double the face price.
Good luck!

LJ

I would definitely do one gallery per day to permit what you are seeing to "settle" before seeing more...but thats just me...

I think you have been given very good advice on times and it all seems pretty consistent.

I was very curious about the reference to Stendhalism or the syndrome of the same name. I thought this was not museum overdose so much as an artistic version of "the raptures", a sort of fainting at the beauty or magnficence of something? Whichever is correct, there is no likelier place to get this "disease" than Florence, for my money! Go, enjoy!

nini

If you want a good preview of the Uffizi, rent the movie Tea With Musselini.

JaneRebecca

cboris:
You can easily do this in one day; I did and will do it again in a few weeks. Schedule Ufizzi for the morning when you are fresh and then have a long lunch and Accademia in the later afternoon. It's not like the British Museum or The Louvre which require days, if not, weeks and months; and I was an Art History major and am a great lover of painting and sculture. (Just wanted you to know that I'm not a person who runs through and then saysquot;phew, I've gotten that over with"!!)

But don't forget all the hidden treasures of Florence that are so frequently overlooked. Actually they are not so "hidden" more like forgotten by tourists.

Have a wonderful journey!