Florence tickets: museums & sights

What to book before you go

The hardest ticket in Florence is Brunelleschi's Dome. You can only climb it on the Brunelleschi Pass, with a named, timed slot, and the cathedral authority is blunt about it: what you see online is all there is, and the ticket office has nothing extra. If the Dome is the reason for your trip, book it first and plan everything else around it.

The same goes for the Vasari Corridor, which is by booking only, and the Arnolfo Tower at Palazzo Vecchio. The Uffizi and the Accademia don't require a booking, but from spring to autumn the good slots go and the line of people without tickets gets long. One quirk: at the Uffizi, booking ahead costs more, €29 against €25 for a ticket bought on the day.

What you can do without booking

The Pitti Palace, the Boboli Gardens and the Medici Chapels are usually fine to buy on the spot, and at Pitti and Boboli a same-day ticket is actually cheaper. Florence Cathedral is free, no ticket at all, Monday to Saturday. Bring covered shoulders and knees.

Mondays and first Sundays

On Mondays the Uffizi, the Accademia, the Pitti Palace and the Medici Chapels are closed. Use the day for Palazzo Vecchio, which opens every day, the Duomo monuments, and Boboli, which only closes on the first and last Monday of the month.

On the first Sunday of every month state museums are free for everyone, with no bookings, so expect queues. The Duomo and Palazzo Vecchio don't take part. On a short trip, skip the free Sunday for the big names.

Passes: when they pay off

The Uffizi's PassePartout 5 Days costs €40 and covers the Uffizi, the Pitti Palace and Boboli once each over five days; if you're seeing all three, it saves money. The Accademia's 72-hour combined ticket (€38) adds the Bargello, the Medici Chapels, Palazzo Davanzati and Orsanmichele. The Firenzecard costs €85 for 72 hours and only makes sense with a packed museum schedule; you still have to book an Uffizi time slot. The Duomo has its own passes, separate from all of these.

Note for non-EU visitors: the €2 youth tickets at state museums are for EU citizens aged 18–25. Under-18s of any nationality are free at state museums with ID.

How to split your days

Day one: the Duomo and the Dome in the morning, the Accademia and the Medici Chapels in the afternoon, all within a short walk of each other. Day two: the Uffizi in the morning, Palazzo Vecchio next door in the afternoon. Day three: across the Ponte Vecchio for the Pitti Palace and Boboli, checking the garden's seasonal closing time.