Booking museum tickets in advance

L

Lee73

New member
Hello all.

Just joined this forum. I'm visiting Florence between Christmas and new year for the first time. Really looking forward to it too!

Just a little question. What is the most reliable site to pre book museum tickets? Or is it better to phone the museums directly to book? There seems to be many, many sites offering tickets. I read that if you don't pre book, you'll be waiting in lines for hours?

Apologies if this has been covered on here before (I guess it has), I had a quick look but couldn't find anything.

Thanks in advance for any replies..

Lee😊
 
Dear Lee,
welcome to the forum :-) You don't need to apologise, anyone has questions when visiting a new place and...there's no harm in asking!!
There are many museums to visit in Florence, so I suggest you first have a look at this page:
http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/
there you'll find a list of articles about Florence museum, including a complete list of all state and city museum of the city:
http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/city-museums.html
http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/list-state-museums-in-florence.html

Then read this article about the Florence Museum Card, a pass that allows you to enter in the major museums of the city and jump all normal lines with no need of reservation. Read the article to understand if it's the right solution for you, since it's a bit expensive (about 72 euro) and is valid 72 hours. So it's up to you, to what you want to see in Florence.
http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/is-firenze-card-worth-it.html

You may decide to book on internet, each museum has its own website where you may purchase your tickets in advance (yes, it's definitely better booking tickets in advance to skip the long lines you'll surely find. Museum official webisites are reliable and safe; for example if you read the first article of the list about Uffizi, you'll find the direct link to the official website for buying tickets
http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/uffizi-gallery.html
Reading these articles, you'll also find useful information and suggestions about the MUST SEE, targets and tours to prefer if you don't have much time at your disposal.

You may decide to book your visits once you get there, choosing which museum you prefer and then reserving your tickets. Florence is so beautiful and surprising that you need to remain a bit flexible to last minute changes!

Have a nice stay in Florence

Chiara
 
Chiara said:
Dear Lee,
welcome to the forum :-) You don't need to apologise, anyone has questions when visiting a new place and...there's no harm in asking!!
There are many museums to visit in Florence, so I suggest you first have a look at this page:
http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/
there you'll find a list of articles about Florence museum, including a complete list of all state and city museum of the city:
http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/city-museums.html
http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/list-state-museums-in-florence.html

Then read this article about the Florence Museum Card, a pass that allows you to enter in the major museums of the city and jump all normal lines with no need of reservation. Read the article to understand if it's the right solution for you, since it's a bit expensive (about 72 euro) and is valid 72 hours. So it's up to you, to what you want to see in Florence.
http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/is-firenze-card-worth-it.html

You may decide to book on internet, each museum has its own website where you may purchase your tickets in advance (yes, it's definitely better booking tickets in advance to skip the long lines you'll surely find. Museum official webisites are reliable and safe; for example if you read the first article of the list about Uffizi, you'll find the direct link to the official website for buying tickets
http://www.visitflorence.com/florence-museums/uffizi-gallery.html
Reading these articles, you'll also find useful information and suggestions about the MUST SEE, targets and tours to prefer if you don't have much time at your disposal.

You may decide to book your visits once you get there, choosing which museum you prefer and then reserving your tickets. Florence is so beautiful and surprising that you need to remain a bit flexible to last minute changes!

Have a nice stay in Florence

Chiara
Click to expand...

Hi Chiara.

Thank you for such a detailed reply. I'll get reading the links right away!
I have an idea of museums I want to visit, but will have to miss some as I'm only there for three full days(four nights) Looks like it would be much better to book in advance for what I've read so far. Plus I don't want to spend all my time in museums. I'm looking forward to wandering the streets just taking it all in. And the food of course!

Thanks once again for taking the time to reply Chiara, much appreciated 👍
 
You can book tickets online for the Uffizi or Accademia on http://www.uffizi.org (disclaimer: it is a partner site).
While tickets might not be the cheapest, they do allow for cancellations and changes whereas others don't at all.
keep in mind at the end of the year that the city is busy, even if it's winter.... and that Mondays both those museums are closed, plus December 25 and January 1. So check the calendar to see what day or days work best.
 
Lourdes said:
You can book tickets online for the Uffizi or Accademia on http://www.uffizi.org (disclaimer:partner site).
While tickets might not be the cheapest, they do allow for cancellations and changes whereas others don't at all.
keep in mind at the end of the year that the city is busy, even if it's winter.... and that Mondays both those museums are closed, plus December 25 and January 1. So check the calendar to see what day or days work best.
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for the info Lourdes, much appreciated 👍
 
Prices for museums in Florence

Hi Lourdes and Chiara,
Thank you for the very helpful information you both have provided on this forum. I was hoping you could clarify some things about museum ticket prices, specifically for the Uffizi and the Accademia. For the Uffizi, it says a full ticket price is €6,50. But if there is a temporary exhibit, the price seems higher. My main question is, do you have to buy admission to the temporary exhibit and the general admission, or can you buy just the general admission? When I look at prices online, they add a booking fee, an online fee, a temporary exhibit fee and the general ticket fee. The prices I've seen on 2 different websites (for the Uffizi) are €25 and €28. That's seems a lot higher than €6,50. How does one get the €6,50 price? Thanks again for your help
Magdy
 
Dear Magdy,
for the moment, when the museum hosts a temporary exhibit, you CAN'T buy just the general admission ticket, you need to buy both, as explained there:
http://www.uffizi.org/museum/admission-tickets/

You'll see that you can't avoid temporary exhibitions once you visit the museum, at least for the moment: it seems things are going to change in the future, so that visitors won't be forced to buy both tickets, but we need to wait...
Moreover, the advanced booking services fees are requires by the museum, while the online commissions are due for the advanced ticket reservation service, so both are fees you need to pay for reserving your museum tickets.
Have a look at this page for more information:
http://www.uffizi.org/museum/frequently-asked-questions/

I know the ticket is a bit high, but it's actually worth a visit, believe me.

I hope it helps clarifying your doubts :-)

Chiara
 
Chiara,
Thank you so much for your very helpful answer and also for the links to the websites. Your message really helped me a lot. Thank you
Magdy



Chiara said:
Dear Magdy,
for the moment, when the museum hosts a temporary exhibit, you CAN'T buy just the general admission ticket, you need to buy both, as explained there:
http://www.uffizi.org/museum/admission-tickets/

You'll see that you can't avoid temporary exhibitions once you visit the museum, at least for the moment: it seems things are going to change in the future, so that visitors won't be forced to buy both tickets, but we need to wait...
Moreover, the advanced booking services fees are requires by the museum, while the online commissions are due for the advanced ticket reservation service, so both are fees you need to pay for reserving your museum tickets.
Have a look at this page for more information:
http://www.uffizi.org/museum/frequently-asked-questions/

I know the ticket is a bit high, but it's actually worth a visit, believe me.

I hope it helps clarifying your doubts :-)

Chiara
Click to expand...
 
Magdy - in all honesty, I see there is a temporary exhibit twice a year with only about a month or a month a half between the two... so the period when the base ticket is really just 6.50 euro is very limited (and in November of this year, base cost is going up to 8 euro). In that way, you pretty much always have to pay the higher cost with exhibition included. There are renovation works going on at the Uffizi to update the space (it is a building from the Renaissance, after all), so maybe they'll manage to organize the temporary exhibitions in a separate space... but considering how they add on to the ticket as they do now, I really imagine it won't be a priority.
 
Cappelle Medicee

Ciao Lourdes,

Is necessary to buy the tickets online for the Cappelle Medicee in december?


Grazie


João
 
When in December? The Medici Chapels generally don't have super long lines, so personally I wouldn't buy tickets ahead of time. If you visit around the festivities (Dec.22- Jan.7), you might find a bit of a wait but I'd also just say to go ahead and head directly to the museum without booking ahead of advance.
 
Booking in advance

Lourdes said:
You can book tickets online for the Uffizi or Accademia on http://www.uffizi.org (disclaimer: it is a partner site).
While tickets might not be the cheapest, they do allow for cancellations and changes whereas others don't at all.
keep in mind at the end of the year that the city is busy, even if it's winter.... and that Mondays both those museums are closed, plus December 25 and January 1. So check the calendar to see what day or days work best.
Click to expand...

Hello,

Thank you for all the advice about booking tickets for Florence museums. We've just come back from a very enjoyable holiday in Pisa and Florence. I wanted to add my few comments on the booking question. I agree with a number of other comments that the whole business is over-complicated when booking online and when you get to the museum. I feel we had to pay way over the odds for advance booking for the Uffizi and the Accademia, and when we got to the museums we had to ask people which queues to join. It all worked but it's a poor system. I guess it does limit the number of people in the museums. We are accustomed to galleries in London where there are often far more people. We waited about 15 minutes to get into the Uffizi, with our pre-booked tickets and nearly an hour to get into the Accademia. I asked someone in the regular queue for the Accademia and he said he'd queued for 90 minutes to get in, on a Tuesday in September at about 10:45 - he'd queued from about 9:15. We didn't buy the 3-day 72 euro card because we had planned to go elsewhere for the day on Monday, right in the middle of our time there, but, if we had reckoned on three whole days in Florence, it seems to me that the card is worthwhile. Another point: I also noted at the Orsanmichele church, where you can buy the card without queuing, it seemed, that advance tickets for the Bargello were on sale at a 3 euro premium. You could walk round the corner and get straight in for the standard price. Finally, we enjoyed very much the Palazzo Vecchio and the Bargello, which were full of interest and not busy.

Thanks again for all the information. David
 
Ciao David, thanks for the wonderful feedback on your time in Florence!

I agree, the process is over-complicated but I highly recommend advance booking for the Uffizi and Accademia in the high season. I've seen the long lines that form. A 15 min is standard wait time, as entrance times are set every 15 minutes. I just cant' believe you had advance tickets for the Accademia and still waited almost an hour to get in!

September is also an in between month - I've seen long lines at certain times and then at others hardly any... it is really hard to know ahead of time whether to get the advance tickets or not. I also don't usually recommend advance booking to the other museums - the lines are generally much more acceptable in terms of wait time... the Bargello is one where I've never seen a line to get in, aside from once when I was following a group in.

The Firenze Card is definitely a good deal if you're planning on visiting lots of museums during HIGH season because it also lets you have priority access. If you're visiting in fall or winter, and not visiting lots of museums, you could just come straight and pay standard ticket price at most without waiting too long in line. This is the reason experiences vary so much - and around Christmas and Easter it is very similar, as so many people travel during those times as well.
 
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