Museums
Florence museums
Start with the Florence museums guide for booking, free days and the order to see things in, then pick the collections that fit your interests.
Collections and galleries
8 museums
Uffizi Gallery
The great collection of Italian painting: Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera, Leonardo, Michelangelo's Doni Tondo, Caravaggio. Book a timed ticket, arrive at the first slot or late in the afternoon, and give it at least three hours. Closed on Mondays.
Galleria dell'Accademia
Home of Michelangelo's David, and of his unfinished Prisoners lining the corridor towards it. The museum is small; most visits take about an hour. The queue is the problem, so book a time slot. Closed on Mondays.
Bargello Museum
The national sculpture museum, in a fortress-like medieval palace. Donatello's bronze David, early Michelangelo and the two competition panels for the Baptistery doors are here, usually without a crowd. The best-value museum in Florence for anyone who cares about sculpture.
Palazzo Pitti
The Medici's later palace on the south bank, now several museums: the Palatine Gallery's Raphaels and Titians hung frame to frame, the royal apartments and the modern art gallery. Part of the Uffizi Galleries, with combined tickets that include the Boboli Gardens behind it.
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
The cathedral's own museum, and one of the best in the city: Ghiberti's original Gates of Paradise, Donatello's Mary Magdalene, Michelangelo's late Pietà and a reconstruction of the cathedral's original facade. Included in every Opera del Duomo pass and often half empty.
Museo di San Marco
A Dominican convent where Fra Angelico painted a fresco in each friar's cell, including the Annunciation at the top of the stairs. Quiet, contemplative and a few minutes' walk from the Accademia queue. Opening days are irregular; check before you go.
Medici Chapels
The Medici mausoleum behind San Lorenzo: the marble-encrusted Chapel of the Princes and Michelangelo's New Sacristy, with his tombs and the figures of Night, Day, Dawn and Dusk. Part of the Bargello Museums.
Palazzo Strozzi
A Renaissance palace used for the city's major temporary exhibitions, usually modern or contemporary. The courtyard is free to walk into. Worth checking what is on; quality is high and it opens later than most museums.
Museum guides
3 guidesMuseums
Uffizi Gallery: Tickets, Timing and What to See
How to book the Uffizi, when to go, how long to allow, and the rooms worth your energy, from Giotto and Botticelli to Leonardo, Michelangelo and Caravaggio.
Museums
Accademia and Michelangelo's David: How to Visit Without the Queue
Seeing the David in Florence: booking, how long the Accademia takes, what else is inside, and why the copy in Piazza della Signoria is not the same experience.
Museums
Florence Museums: Which to See, Which to Skip, and How to Book
A practical guide to Florence's museums: the big two, the quieter ones that are just as good, combined tickets, free days, and how to fit them into a short trip.
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Two hours in the Uffizi with someone who knows the collection beats four hours alone with an audio guide.
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