Museums in Florence
 

Is 2-3 hrs enough time to get to see everything in Uffizi Galleria? And same with Accademia galleria in Florence? <BR> <BR>Where can I reserve tickets in advance? <BR> <BR>I only have one day in Florence to see both museums starting from 12:30pm on, is it possible to get to see both? <BR> <BR>

That would be enough time to see the Accademia, and you probably won't have to queue. <BR> <BR>However, the Uffizi is vast, one of the world's great art galleries (akin to the Louvre in Paris or the National Gallery in London) and also attracts HUGE queues. When I was there last March I queued 2 hours to get in, and it can get much worse in high season. You can prebook tickets tho (directly with the museum, I presume - help anybody?), so if you did this you might be able to squeeze it in, but it all might be a bit of a blur! <BR> <BR>As time is short, perhaps you could visit the Accademia and one of the great churches, such as the Santa Croce, instead.

Trina: I’m going to Florence in May and plan to go again to the Uffizi. I will use the same proven procedure to get in. I call the Uffizi reservation office directly at — and here is the entire number, country and city codes included — 011-39-055-294-883. A reservation clerk who speaks English will take your name, ask you what day and time you want to enter the Uffizi, and will give you a reservation number. There is no charge for taking your reservation, only the obvious phone charge, which isn’t much since the process is expeditious. Each ticket is 12,000 lire (possibly it’s gone up slightly). I enter the museum as soon as it opens. I go directly to the reservation, bypassing the growing crowd on the long line, give my reservation number, pay, get my ticket, and go in. Last time I waited a bit after entering, letting the first wave of tourist groups go by me so I could enjoy the individual rooms more. If you decide to go to the Uffizi but only have a few hours to spend there, you might want to do some research and focus on some particular rooms (Botticelli, Caravaggio, for instance). Some other posters may show you ways of getting tickets on line — I happen to be a bit old-fashioned and prefer to speak to a human voice. Hope this helps. Have a great trip!

2-3 hrs will surely not be enough time to "see everything" - - but it is quite a good length of time to totally saturate your brain and leave with you memories of a wonderful art museum. <BR> <BR>And to follow that with ONE hour at the Accademia will similarly provide a nice dessert. <BR> <BR>Follow "HopetoHelp"'s adviceto the letter. I think you can fit both in, and have a wonderful glimpse at Florence. And I dare say even that it might be worth it to to cut the Uffizi to 90 minutes to make some time for Santa Croce. You CAN do all three - - and your eyes will be poppin'- - in a marvelous way. <BR>

I tend to burn out after about 3 hours in a museum anyway. I spent that or less in the Uffizi and left satisfied. The Accademia is much smaller and for me the main attraction was David and the slaves. The rest of the stuff in there didn't do much for me.

I agree with Paige and would recommend that you do the Accademia first--the David and the Slaves is all that's really interesting--and setting aside an hour will be more than sufficient. If you can manage it, try to visit the Bargello which is the museum of Renaissance sculpture and is simply breathtaking. It's much smaller than the Uffizi and could be done in an hour or so. While that's not an ideal amount of time, you will get to see some of the most wonderful sculpture anywhere. I'd also recommend getting the Blue Guide to Florence, which describes everything that's in the Uffizi and will give you an opportunity to set priorities among the works you want to see.

Thanks all! I have made reservation to both museums in one day...which is 12:45pm to Uffizi, then 4:30pm to Accademia. I hope I will have enough time for each of the museums to see most of the famous artwork. I have one more question?! How far away is the distance from Uffizi to Accademia? Is it walkable? Or do I need to take a bus? <BR>Thanks so much!

Tina <BR> <BR>Sounds like you'll have a great day. Unfortunately I can't point you to an online map, but the distance between the two is an easy 20 minutes walk north: it always looks longer on the map. You should go via the Piazza della Signoria with all its statues and the Town Hall, then along the main street north to the Duomo (10mins), take (I think) the street leading north from the east end (back) of the Duomo for another 5 mins. I'm sure someone will have better directions, but just to say it is easy and will let you do some sightseeing.