Florence in 2 days
Two days by the hour: the dome in the first slot, the Uffizi after four at the lower price, the Accademia at opening, and the Oltrarno up to the Piazzale.
- How long
- 2 days for the city
- Getting around
- All on foot
- Tickets
- Brunelleschi Pass €30
A two-day plan for Florence hangs on three times: the dome in the first slot at 8.15, the Uffizi after 4 p.m., when the ticket is cheaper, and the Accademia at opening on day two. It runs Tuesday to Saturday, because on Mondays the Uffizi, the Accademia and the Pitti Palace are shut, and on Sundays the dome opens only at 12.45.
Piazza del Duomo, then the Uffizi after four
Brunelleschi's dome, first slot, on the Brunelleschi Pass (€30). The slot is for an exact day and time and cannot be changed. 463 steps, a narrow passage between the two shells, and out onto the lantern — not for claustrophobia.
Giotto's campanile, same pass: 414 steps, and the dome close up, face on — the one shot the dome itself cannot give you.
The Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, same pass: the original Gates of Paradise by Ghiberti — the ones on the baptistery are copies — and Michelangelo's Bandini Pietà.
The Uffizi on the afternoon ticket, €16 instead of €25. Last entry is 17.30, closing 18.30 — a two-and-a-half-hour window, most of it on the second floor for Botticelli and Leonardo, then the first floor for Caravaggio, as far as time allows.
The Ponte Vecchio, round the corner from the Uffizi, along the Arno.
The Accademia, the Oltrarno, the Piazzale
The Accademia at opening, €20 plus the booking fee. Michelangelo's original David is here; the one on Piazza della Signoria is a copy. Entry is free on the month's first Sunday.
Across the Ponte Vecchio into the Oltrarno, to the Pitti Palace. The combined ticket with the Boboli Gardens is €22; for this plan the Palatine Gallery is enough of the palace.
Boboli, behind the palace and up the hill: the garden climbs, and from the upper terraces you see the city across the roofs.
Lunch on Piazza Santo Spirito, in front of Brunelleschi's church, whose facade was never finished.
Piazzale Michelangelo before sunset, uphill on foot from the San Niccolò gate.
What breaks a two-day plan
- Sunday as day one. The dome opens at 12.45, so day one flips: the Uffizi in the morning at full price, Piazza del Duomo in the afternoon.
- The baptistery. It is on the pass, but the vault mosaics are under restoration and cannot be seen — not a reason to queue.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
Which Duomo pass should I buy?
For the dome, only the Brunelleschi Pass, €30: dome, campanile, museum, baptistery and Santa Reparata. The Giotto Pass, €20, has everything but the dome; the Ghiberti, €15, only the museum, the baptistery and Santa Reparata.
Do I have to buy the Uffizi in advance?
No. On the day the ticket is €25, in advance with a timed booking €29; in the afternoon from 4 p.m. €16.
Is the David in the Uffizi?
No. The original is in the Accademia; what stands on Piazza della Signoria is a copy from 1910.
Ready for Florence?
Where to next
Day trips from Florence
→Siena on the 131R bus, Pisa and Lucca by train, San Gimignano with a change, Chianti by car — travel time for…
San Gimignano · 38 km
→Walls with fourteen surviving towers out of what was once seventy-two, seen from the road before you even reach the gate.
How well does Florence suit you?
→Six questions: a score for this place and others like it.
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