Leilei

Hi!
I need advice from those who have spent time in Florence. We have signed up for the Vasarian Corridor tour- but it has not yet been confirmed and may not be until two weeks prior( we will be in Florence May 22-23). I am having second thoughts about the tour and am wondering if it is really worth the $93/person cost. We can cancel prior to confirmation- so we should do it now if we are going to. The other plan that sounds even more fun/interesting is taking the train to Lucca and biking the walls.
Opinions on those two activities, please! We can do one or the other (or possibly squeeze in both?) before we take the train back to our rental near Assisi.
Thanks,
L

gameson

Hi. You know I think that the tour would be fascinating. A very unique way to see the Ponte Vecchio, the river, Pitti palace, etc. We have always wanted to take the tour but it has never been open when we have been in Florence. The walls in Lucca are very interesting but really just walls with walkways on top. You can walk them in a matter of a couple of hours or rent a bike and zip around. If I only had a couple of days in that neck of the woods I do not think I would use one on a train trip to Lucca for the wall walk. Take the tour of the corridor, see a part of Florence few others have, then take the walking path up the hill on the Pitti Palace side to Piazza Michaelangelo and grab some gelato and a cafe. That's a pretty nice Florence day with some beautiful sights!

Leilei

Thanks gameson,
That does sound like a great way to spend the day!
L

LoveItaly

Hello Leilei, the tour of the Vasarian Corridor is something I would love to do but haven't so far. I know it is frustrating to have to wait to see if the tour will take place though. I agree with gameson's good thoughts. Enjoy!!

Pvoyageuse

I took the tour of the Vasarian Corridor in 2001 and found it exhausting (after a morning spent at the Uffizi) It seemed to be miles long. You can't really stop where you want, you have to follow the guide and admire his/her choice of paintings. In the end I was overwhelmed and dizzy and could not remember a single painting out of the hundreds I walked by. The nice thing is that it ends up in the Boboli Garden. IMO the cost was excessive

Jean

I've been trying to get into the Vasari Corridor during four trips to Florence over nearly 10 years.

Over the years, it's been one of the most frustrating things I've attempted to do in Italy. I've had no response to email inquiries. I've had tour reservations confirmed and then cancelled. I've had tour requests denied without explanation. For our trip in October 2006, I asked a friend in Florence to call to get us reservations. She was told the Corridor would not be open for tours during the time of our visit. She asked for dates when it would be open (she's Florence-born and never been through it) and was told it was very rarely open to the public because there are no security staff assigned to the Corridor and no one goes through without security personnel (even though the tours are guided by Uffizi staff).

If you can get in, do it!

georged

we took the tour last year,i was disappointed, we had to take a tour of the uffizi first and then the guide took us to the corridor, which to me was a disappointment the corridor is lined with pictures done by minor artists, the guide only stops at a few of the hundreds of pictures. it was nice to look out of the few small windows down at the ponte vecchio, i am glad we did it because it was one of the few things we had not done in florence after about 10 trips there, so if this is going to be your only trip don't go there are many better things to see and do over 2 days