karen

I'm sure it is not optimum, but would it be total suicide and brain overload to do Uffizi in the morning and Accademia in the afternoon - or vice versa? <BR>Any ideas for a Monday afternoon in Florence when all the museums are closed? (Besides shopping)

jwagner

I think you could do the Accademia in a half-day but I'm not so sure that it's possible to do the Uffizi in that limited amount of time. I love art, but I think I'd want to split even the briefest of tours of the two great museums in separate days. Clean your palate.

elaine

Hi karen <BR>I'd start a day early with a reserved ticket for the Uffizi, a museum that I personally feel to be user-unfriendly, relatively speaking, and I am an avid museum-goer. Allow 2-3 hours, depending on your interests and your headache threshold. Then go for lunch or a stroll or shopping before tackling another museum in the afternoon. <BR>On a Monday you can visit the Duomo, the Campanile, the Baptistery. You can take a 20 minute bus ride (#13) up to Piazelle Michelangelo for a gorgeous view of Florence, especially at dusk. The Santa Croce church (where many notables have tombs, including Michelangelo and Machiavelli), as well as other churches, are usually open every day. The Palazzo Vecchio is open on Mondays, as is the Museo dell Opera del Duomo which is small,& has wonderful sculptures including a late Pieta by Michelangelo. The Bargello museum and the Museo di San Marco (both of which I loved) are open on two Mondays of the month; you'll have to check for the schedule for the time you will be there

Patrick

Having visited the Accademia twice, we have had the same experience both times. There were huge lines in the mid afternoon. Last time we just walked away and came back about 4:30 --to absolutely no line at all. This summer we went ahead and stood in the line for about an hour 3:00 to 4:00, but when we came out about 4:45 there was absolutely no line. And I think that still gives you enough time for that museum. Once you've seen David, nothing much else will interest you --although we love the "spare parts" room of busts, models, and pieces of sculpture.

nancy

You can book tickets for the two museums online...that may save you a lot of trouble...there seem to be people traveling all year around now. <BR> I did the two museums in one day...although I had been there before...so it wasn't such an "overload". <BR> If you enjoy walking around...the antique book and print stores can take up a whole afternoon...just looking.

Char

Karen, Hi <BR>The Accademia is pretty small. It doesn't take long and David is the main attraction as others have said. <BR>Get a book by Rick Steves called Mona Winks. It's a great guide to the worlds <BR>best museums. The best part about the book is it helps you prioritize your time in each museum (If you have only 2 hours see...,If you have 3 hours see..., <BR>etc. We found it enormously helpful when we took our teenagers to Italy two <BR>summers ago. <BR>Char

kam

Elaine has wonderful advice. Totally agree with what she suggests. Enjoy.

alan

Unless your at the Uffizi around dawn, you'll take half a day to get in. Visit Santa Croche on Monday, in my opinion one of the greatest places in Florence.

Joe

I'm just back from Italy, including a daytrip to Florence to visit friends. One of the high points was the recently restored cycle of frescoes by Ghirlandio showing the life of St. Francis at Santa Trinita. The frescoes are to the immediate right of the high altar, and you have to put coins in the meter to keep the lights on (if you can't find the meter, someone is sure to come along and drop a coin in).

wendy

NO NO NO, I must strongly disagree with the two posters who said the David was the main attraction at the Accademia. The real treasure there was Michaelangleo's Prisoners. Those are the most amazing works of art I have ever seen. When I saw them, I knew then why Michaelangelo is a genius. Forget the David, there's a copy in the square, you've seen a gazillion photos, it's not a big deal seeing it in person. The Prisoners are what you should see.

Paige

No offense, but I think the real David is amazing! It brings tears to my eyes every time I see it and I can't say the same about the copy in the Piazza della Signoria. It's just not the same. No copy can capture the feeling that the real thing exudes. I agree that the slaves are amazing as well.

Celia

I found a lot to savor in the Accademia in addition to the David. It, of course, is stunning, moving, incredible! But there are also wonderful paintings by Fra Angelico there, to mention just a single artist. And the organization of the museum gives you a real sense of the artistic differences in various periods. <BR> <BR>Personally, I think books like Mona Winks homogenize the experience of looking at art. If you follow someone else's opinion to go here for 2 hours, see this famous thing first and that famous thing next, then what you get is someone else's experience, not your own communication with the artist. And you miss discovering works by someone you never heard of, but may love. (I grant, however, that that may be a good way to introduce teenagers to some of the world's cultural treasurers, as Char describes above). <BR> <BR>I guess I would say to Karen, you know yourself best. If you can ingest all that artistic experience in one day, do it; but if you want to savor, take two days and include lots of time each day to sit at a cafe and contemplate what you've seen, and what you're seeing! <BR> <BR>Have a wonderful time! <BR> <BR>