Sandeak

We are taking the train from Venice to Manarola and it goes through Florence. My husband and I have been to Florence twice quite a long time ago, but this time will have our 18 yr old son with us who has not been. We would love to take him to see Michelangelos work, specifically the David (Accademia) and Pieta (Duomo?). How doable is this? What is the best way to book train tickets for that so we can hop off for an hour or two? Are the lockers secure at the train stations?

kybourbon

You will have to book a ticket to Florence and then book the rest of the trip on another ticket. Just buy the second half of your journey at the train station in Florence when you are ready to depart. It's mostly R trains on that part of your route which have no reserved seats and no discount tickets so no point in buying that ticket in advance.

There are no lockers. There will be a luggage storage room.

ellenem

Unless you are traveling on R (Regionale) trains all the way, you will have to book two different tickets, Venice to Florence and Florence to Manarola. All trains but R require reserved seats on a particular train (included in ticket purchase).

While you could probably buy your train tickets the same day or a day ahead, the only way this would work is to book tickets to the Galleria Accademia (David's location) ahead of time. Without a reservation, the lines can be hours long.

I would allow at least two hours for your time in Florence. It will take 10-15 minutes to get off the train and walk to the Accademia. You will probably want to check your bags in the Deposito Bagagli at the station (Firenze SMN) which will also add time. There might be a slight line at the gallery even for reserved ticket holders.

Personally I would add a little more time to this stopover and at least walk to the Duomo so you son can see this impressive piazza.

Official info for the Accademia here:
http://www.uffizi.firenze.it/english/musei/accademia/

mamcalice

I agree that you need more than an hour between trains to visit the Accademia alone and you should make reservations. If you want ot visit the Duomo, I would visit both sights and purchase tickets for the second leg of the journey when you arrive back at the station. Michelangelo's pieta is in the Museo del Opera del Duomo, a museum of art originally intended for the Duomo. The museum is behind the Duomo and is very much worth visiting.

Sandeak

Great information! Thanks. I think we will plan to do that then as he would really like to see the David and possibly the Pieta at the Duomo museum.