Florence – Firenze Card
For anyone who wants to visit a lot of attractions within Florence, which are nearly all historical sites or galleries, then the Firenze Card is likely to be worth it. It’s not cheap, costing €85, but it gives entry into more museums and galleries that it’s possible to visit in the three-day validity period of the card, with over 75 sites taking part in the scheme. I visited in February when Florence was relatively quiet, but the card also gives fast track into many of the sites, which can save plenty of time in queueing.
Although the card period is set at 72 hours, there is a way of extending it by 48 hours by paying an extra fee and there’s also the option of paying €7 more and getting free public transport. The card includes entrance into the Cathedral and its museums, with the handy benefit that this lasts 72 hours in itself, which can be used after the card itself has expired, as long as the ticket is purchased within the validity period of the Firenze Card. So, in my case, my Firenze Card lasted from Friday to Sunday and I collected the Cathedral ticket on Sunday evening, meaning that I could visit the museum on the Monday morning and complete the Dome climb on Tuesday morning.
I purchased by ticket at the Uffizi as this made it easier, with this museum requiring advance reservations, as does the Galleria dell’Accademia. By purchasing my ticket here, the helpful member of staff was able to make my reservations for both sites free of charge, saving time and hassle working out how else to do it. I was also given a map of where all the museums were and a thing to put round my neck, I forget what they’re called, although I decided against this frivolity.
There’s a list of all the sites which are included with the pass available at http://www.firenzecard.it/.
I visited the below, and I’ll add links to them when I’ve finished writing about them. I don’t think that I’ve forgotten any that I visited, but I likely have….
SITES I VISITED (and their usual individual entrance prices)
Grande Museo del Duomo-Battistero (€18 including all five Cathedral sites)
Grande Museo del Duomo-Campanile
Grande Museo del Duomo-Museo dell’Opera del Duomo
Grande Museo del Duomo-Cripta di Santa Reparata
Palazzo Pitti-Galleria Palatina e Appartamenti Monumentali (€10 including six Pitti Palace sites)
Palazzo Pitti-Galleria d’arte moderna
Palazzo Pitti-Tesoro dei Granduchi
Palazzo Pitti-Museo delle Porcellane
Palazzo Pitti-Museo della Moda e del Costume
Palazzo Pitti-Museo Giardino di Boboli (€6)
Museo di Palazzo Vecchio (€19.50)
Palazzo Medici Riccardi (€10)
Horne Museum (€7)
Museo Marino Marini (€9.50)
Franco Zeffirelli Museum (€10)
Gallerie degli Uffizi (€12)
Galleria dell’Accademia (€12)
Museo Galileo (€10)
Museo della Misericordia di Firenze (€5)
Basilica San Lorenzo (€8.50)
I think that’s €137.50 worth of admissions that I got for my €85, so I’m entirely content that I got my money’s worth. Ideally, I’d have visited a few more museums to get even better value for money, but some of the above locations are of international importance and it would be a shame to rush them, so I didn’t.
