I was going to call a number I found on another thread (thanks due to Ira, I think) to make reservations for the museums in Florence -- that is, until I just got a $13 phone bill for a 2 minute call to Italy. Does anyone know if you can book these via email without going through a booking agency that charges a fortune? (I saw one that charges a fee of 12 euros for a 9.50 ticket).

Also, I plan to get reservations for Uffizi and Accademia. Can someone please remind me what museums I should get reservations for in Rome?

Thanks.

I do not believe you can make these reservations by e-mail. However, if you are calling from USA, can you not access one of those 10-10 numbers for international dialing? Or, better yet, if you are staying in a hotel, ask them to make the reservations for you; you can contact your hotel via e-mail with your request.

Maire, I recently booked my reservations for the Accademia over the phone using an international phone card that I had purchased at Costco for $30.00. We plan to take the card with us on our trip to France and Italy next month. Booking museum reservations over the internet sites that I saw cost over 20 euros per person, so making the phone call using the phone card worked great. We will be charged a small reservation fee and the usual cost for museum entrance at the time of our reservation.

In Rome, reservations are required for the Galleria Borghese. Remember to arrive 30 minutes early.

I just came back from Italy this past week, in Florence my husband and I woke up at 7:30 had breakfast and at 8:30 walked to the Accademia we stood in line for less than 10 minutes it was on a friday we did not make a reservation and had no problem. You can also buy a prepaid card for eather 5.oo or 10.00 dollars and call the hotels and they can make reservations for you.

Our little hotel in Florence, the Relais Cavalcanti, made our reservations for us at both the Uffizi and the Accademia. The museums charged a very small reservation fee, only a couple of euro extra as I recall.

Also, we used the Costco MCI card when calling home from Italy. It worked, but I have to say it's a pain to dial all the numbers, and sometimes you have to repeat the process for whatever reason. With the MCI card, calling from the States to a land-line (i.e. not a cell phone) in Italy is only 7 cents per minute.

Thank you, everyone. I'm going to email my hotel and see if they'll do it for me.

The Accademia "might" be open and free on Tuesday night. Does anyone know if they will take reservations for this time?

And, how would we get from Accademia to il Duomo -- foot, bus? Do you know how long it takes by those methods?

Thanks.

Maire,
The historical center of Florence is itsy bitsy. Much smaller than it looks on a map. Unless you have mobility difficulties, I'd say you could easily walk from the Accademia to the Duomo in 15-20 minutes. And that's being generous. Of course, if you stop to eat or drink some wine...

Thanks, Leely! Yes, I imagine we'll be stopping for wine...or food...or gelato...or shopping.

Maire, even with my arthritic knees, it would not be a problem to walk from the Accademia to the Duomo. Have a great time!

Thanks Susan; that's good news! Sorry about your knees, though.

I just heard back from my Venice hotel. They said they could make reservations for me for Doge's Palace (for August 16), but they said they couldn't do it until August 1. Does that sound right?

My Florence hotel booked the Uffizi and Accademia for me! That is such a nice service for them to provide. Thanks for all your help above.