Uffizi Gallery Tickets and Tours in Florence: how to buy, prices and schedules

With 1,500 works of art and 45 rooms tracing the history of classical art, the Uffizi Gallery is one of the oldest and most important collections in the world.

The Uffizi Gallery is one of those museums with endless queues with 2 million visitors a year, so getting a ticket or a guided tour in advance is a must. Here are the best options:

If you are one of those who prefer to visit the tourist attractions on your own and at your own pace, getting a fast-track ticket like this one to the Uffizi Gallery is really advisable. As I said, the queues that can form at the ticket offices of this museum can be endless, and entering the Gallery already tired can spoil your visit.

With this ticket you are guaranteed to skip the queues and have time to visit the interior collection at your own pace, without following any guided tour (at the museum entrance you can find maps and audio guides to help you orient your visit).

If you are one of those travellers who start your day of sightseeing early in the morning and don't want to get lost among the immense collection of the Uffizi Gallery, take advantage of this ticket, which offers you this guided group tour to get to know the ins and outs of its main masterpieces with preferential access to the less crowded part of the museum.

This is, for me, the best option. Personally, I think that a museum with so much art can be overwhelming and visiting it without a specialised guide can make your visit to the museum less interesting. With this professionally guided tour, you are guaranteed to see and understand the essential aspects of one of the most important museums in the world. In addition, the small group size makes the atmosphere more personal and intimate.

What's included in this ticket

If, on the other hand, you don't want to get up early and prefer to visit the Uffizi Gallery in the afternoon, this group tour with fast-track access is the same as the previous one and won't force you to get up as early.

Vicky's Traveller Tip

Tours of the Uffizi Gallery will guide you to its most important works. If you prefer to visit on your own and without spending too much time, do it around 4.30pm when there are fewer queues.

If you are determined to visit both the Uffizi Gallery and the Accademia Gallery with its 'David' by Michelangelo, (which I recommend 100%, I wouldn't be able to choose between the two) choose a guided tour of the two most important museums in Florence.

This seemed to me a very good option to save time (you'll skip the queues) and money, as it's cheaper than hiring a guided tour for each museum separately. It also includes a walking tour of the historic centre of Florence, where your guide will explain the history of this beautiful city and some of the most important monuments you will see along the way, such as the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio and the Piazza della Signoria.

About the Accademia Gallery

The "Galleria dell'Accademia" is the other must-see museum in Florence, housing no less than the original 5.2-metre sculpture of Michelangelo's 'David'. It was built in 1784 to be used as a sculptural study space for Fine Arts students and includes other sculptures by Michelangelo, such as the 'Prigioni' and 'San Matteo', and religious works by other Renaissance masters, such as Andrea Orcagna, Fra Filippo Lippi and Botticelli.

What's included

Itinerary of the Guided Tour of Florence, the Uffizi Gallery and Accademia Gallery

This guided tour of Florence with fast-track entry to the Uffizi Gallery is really good value, as for an affordable price it adds a walking tour of the city of Florence and some of its highlights, such as the exterior of the Basilica of Santa Croce, the Convent of San Domenico and the Piazza della Signoria.

What's included

this tour

Itinerary

Opening hours

The Uffizi Gallery in Florence is open from Tuesday to Sunday. Closed on Mondays, 25 December and 1 January. Opening hours are from 8.15 am to 6.50 pm. In summer it is open in special opening hours on certain evenings.

How to get to the Uffizi Gallery

The Uffizi Gallery of Florence is located in Piazzale degli Uffizi, 6. You can reach the Uffizi Gallery on foot from any point in the city centre, by tourist bus or by bus lines 23 and C1.

First of all, because it is one of the most important museums not only in Florence but in the whole world and, finally, because, even if you are not a great art lover, seeing works like Botticelli's 'The Birth of Venus' or Da Vinci's 'The Annunciation' is one of those things you must do once in a lifetime.

In the Uffizi Gallery you will also travel through the history of classical art, from Greece to the 18th century, through other gems by artists such as Caravaggio, Masaccio, Michelangelo, Fra Angelico, Raphael, Titian, Giotto and Greek and Roman statues, drawings and prints.

A bit of history

The vast collection of this museum is due to the fact that it was used as a storage place for the entire collection of works assembled by the most famous and powerful dynasty of patrons in history, the Medici. Designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 by order of Cosimo I de' Medici, the Galleria delle Uffizi owes its name to the fact that it was originally intended to house the offices of the Florentine magistrates.

After the fall of the Medici from power in the 18th century, the palace was transformed into a museum, one with 1,500 works of art distributed in 45 rooms arranged in chronological order.

A visit to the Uffizi Gallery is a must in Florence, but so is a visit to Michelangelo's David in the Accademia Gallery and Florence's Duomo, so check out my other articles on the Uffizi Gallery and the Duomo. Accademia Gallery Tickets and Tours in Florence: how to buy, prices and discounts y Florence Duomo Tickets and Tours: how to buy, prices and schedules discover the best ways to visit them and get to them on a Florence sightseeing bus: Florence Hop on Hop off Bus Tours.