My family and I will be visiting Rome, Montalcino, Florence and Pisa (with day trips to Siena, Chianti and San G.) in mid-September. We have an appreciation for art, but are not planning our entire trip around visits to museums. We do have plans to visit the Borghese Museum, the Vatican Museums and the Accademia Gallery. Are there any other "not to be missed" museums? <BR><BR>This board has been full of great information and I appreciate your feedback in advance!

Your selection of museums is right on target. The only other museums which come to mind are the Uffizi and the Bargello, both in Florence.<BR><BR>However, I found that everywhere you go in Italy, there are ruins and ancient buildings and churches with magnificent art...history, art and architecture will surround you.<BR><BR>Have a great time.<BR><BR>

I just got back from Rome and Florence. In Florence, definitly see the Uffizi Gallery and the statue of David. In Rome, the Coliseum was my favorite.

get advanced tickets for the museums in flornce! Your hotel should be able to do this for you.

I liked the Capitoline Museum in Rome on the Campidoglio. (Just up the hill form the Roman Forum.)

I really also liked the Doria-Pamphilli<BR>(forgive my spelling) collection in Rome. It is housed in a former private mansion, and includes a couple of gems by Caravaggio. Don't forget as mentioned that a great deal of wonderful art is housed in churches as well as in museums.<BR><BR>In Florence I loved the wall frescoes by Fra Angelico in the former San Marco monastery (gorgeous!), and I strongly agree with the recommendation for the Bargello. Personally I'd pick the Bargello over the Uffizi, but that's a minority opinion. <BR><BR>The Medici Chapels in the San Lorenzo church have striking tomb sculptures by Michelangelo. And there's so mcu more.<BR><BR>You will want to reserve in advance your tickets for the Uffizi and Accademia museums in Florence to avoid the long lines, and reservations for the Borghese Gallery in Rome are required, although you can do them same day there if you are willing to stroll around and wait.

Don't miss the Fra Angelico museum in Florence and try to get there very early in the morning. It's the monastery where he and his apprentices painted frescos in each monk's cell and they are each remarkably beautiful. I'm not a Christian, but I was deeply moved by the paintings and the early morning tranquillity before many other tourists had arrived. The Bargello is an absolute don't miss in Florence-- it's filled with the most beautiful examples of Renaissance sculpture--bronzes and marble. It's small and not as famous as the Uffizi, so I suspect you won't have a long wait and could probably do it justice in an hour or so.

Well, not sure I would recommend anything over the Uffizi since the Bottichelli room is earth shattering. <BR><BR>Just so you know, we just walked in to the Bargello after waiting 4 hours on line at the biggies, so no need for advanced tickets.<BR><BR>Have fun!

Thanks to everyone for the great feedback!

There is so much to see in Rome, on my 4th trip there I finally saw the bone collection. This is one of the strangest things that I have ever seen. It is the basement of a church called Santa Maria Della Concezione. You enter and there is artwork made out of human bones (from 4000 priests and monks) all over the walls and ceilings. Really weird. You pay a small donation to see this stuff.

I didn't have to wait at the Uffizzi and Academia last week, but that was because we got to both museums before 9 am. Just get an 8 am wake-up call, grab a roll and coffee on the way and you are all set.

Get tickets, your hotel can do this for you no problem. I stood on line in Aug '97 at the Uffizi from 7:00 am until 10:45.

Go to Selectitaly.com. You can get reservations online so you don't have to wait in line for tickets at the museums. We had such a great time in Rome and Florence last year that we're going again in 2 weeks to Venice and Tuscany. Have a great time!!!

The Vatican and Uffizi will make your head spin if you're not careful...so much incredible art to see in a relatively short time. It's best to map out the things you want to see...then see other works as time permits.<BR><BR>Watch out for pickpockets and other con artists who sometimes work the outside lines at the Uffizi.

This page should help you - you can book yourself, use your hotel or use an agency(most expensive):<BR>http://www.italywithus.biz/main_page...vorites_a.html

If you plan on visiting the Borghese Gallery which I hightly recommend. Get a reservation time in advance.. Perhaps it was because we were there in 2000 - the year of Jubilee but it was recommended to us so we did get reservations. We used www.ticketeria.it. If you don't have a reservation you have to get on a waiting list and who knows how long you will have to wait. If you are late for your the time that is given to you, then you are considered a no-show and your time slot is given away. This service might also have advance tickets for other museums as well. Remember most museums are closed on Monday. Shar