I don't have reservations and my husband and I decided to go at it on our own....

We will be in Florence on April 2nd-5th. any suggestions.

I have read that going at the end of the day- an hour of two before it closes is a slow time... is it worth the chance?

Yes, in my opinion Uffizi is must.

http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=8

The hour or two before closing is a slower time, but it took me two days before I could get into the Uffizi the last time I was in Florence. The lines were just too long on the first day I tried. Luckily, you are going the week before Easter instead of the week after, so it might be nominally less busy.

Making reservations at Uffizi by calling them directly
http://tinyurl.com/y8q8u7

does not require any payment until you show up there. So it would be to your advantage to do so, since you do not lose anything if you do not show up, and it most likely will save you from waiting in line with everyone else who did not make reservations.

Long Island, given the times you will be there, and the Uffizi IS a must-see, IMO, you really do need to make a reservation in advance-because you cannot believe how long the lines are otherwise-I loved it this past August, because I got to bypass that snail line that went on forever (and remember, August is supposedly low season) and go right in. As Jed points out, you don't have to pay until you get there, so it is distinctly to your advantage to make the reservation in advance.

Hi LIG,

Uffizi and Academia Museum Reservations
The easiest and cheapest way is to call Florence 1016868 (dial around number), 011 (U.S. international access code) 39 (Italy's country code) then 055-294-883 8:30-18:30 M-F and 8:30-12:00 Sat. Florence time. You will get an English speaking operator and in 2-3 minutes YOU CAN RESERVE FOR BOTH. This is through the reservation service at the Uffizi and costs beyond the normal entry fee only about 3 euro for the service. This is MUCH cheaper than the commercial booking services.

You will not be charged for the reservations unless you use them.

My sister and I didn't need reservations for the Academia (and I don't remember the lines being outrageous), but the Uffizi definitely.

Call now... they speak English there, so you don't have to worry. (we just started with the "non parlo italiano... parle inglese?" and it was easy)

We were at the end of February, I had made a reservation just in case. And guess what I needed it lines were long...very.

LongIslandGirl,

My first trip many years ago, before the days of reservations, we stood in line 2 1/2 hours for the Ufizi the week before Easter. Florence was mobbed with kids of all ages out on school field trips, plus all the usual tourists.

Watch out for the vespas!

I wanted to let everyone know that I just booked my reservations for the Uffizi and Accademia this morning and the process could not have been simpler, using the phone number provided by Ira. We are leaving in September and had a choice of times for the days we wanted to visit. Thanks, Ira.

You are welcome, Lufty.

Just returned from Italy and we booked Uffizi before our trip and Academia the day we arrived and went the next day. We were very glad we booked. The Uffizi line would have easily taken an hour and Academia probably 30 minutes.

You can also have your hotel concierge make a reservation for you in advance.

Definitely book the Uffizi in advance through their booking service (not through a commercial one). I was just in Florence last week and was so glad that we had reservations (we went the last 2 hours before closing and the line was still long at that time). We had also booked the Accademia, but lo and behold, daylight savings time happened the night (or early morning, I suppose) before our reservation, so we woke up too late and missed it! When we went there to try and get in anyway, the line was even longer than the Uffizi. Oh well, 9.50 Euro just to see the David - I'm actually not too disappointed that I missed it! Pay the extra money to get an audio guide at the Uffizi - unless you are well-educated in medieval and Renaissance art, as it's a little overwhelming.

We were extremely lucky because when we went in early May 2004 we did not book for either and managed to get in easily. In fact, there were only two people ahead of us for Accademia and about six for the Uffizi! Maybe we missed out on something else happening at the same time...

I asked the owner/operator of the hotel we're staying in Florence to make the bookings for us in both the Uffizi and the Accademia. I think they often do that for guests. It was quite easy!