It has been said that Florence houses 60 percent of the world’s greatest art treasures and as a result no visit to Florence is complete without visiting the Renaissance City’s world renown museums including, the Uffizi &  l’Accademia. The museums are open six days a week – they are closed on Mondays – and tend to be extremely crowded on weekends and Tuesdays – and nearly always the admittance lines are long – with waits of over an hour to gain admission. However by booking your guided tour with TuscanDream one can skip the lines altogether and experience the masterpieces without the mind numbing agony of waiting!

The Uffizi Gallery

Uffizi Florence

The Uffizi Gallery (Galleria degli Uffizi) is one of the finest museums in the world.  It is the home of world famous masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli, Giotto, Caravaggio and Rembrandt. To fully explore the Uffizi’s treasures one could easily spend a year browsing through the galleries; but because most tourists have just a few hours we have selected a “Uffizi must see highlights” tour which TuscanDream’s bilingual guides will be happy to show you. Halls 10 – 14 feature the works of Botticelli, including his sensational Birth of Venus. Hall 15 is the home to many of Leonardo da Vinci’s early masterpieces including his Annunciation and Adoration of the Magi. Hall 35 houses Michelangelo’s Holy Family with the Infant and St. John the Baptist. We also recommend Hall 66 devoted to Raffaello and Hall 90 the home to the works of Caravaggio.

Vasari Corridor

View of the Vasari Corridor in Florence, Tuscany, Italy

When many people do not know that the Vasarian Corridor was originally built in only five months(!) in 1560 by the Medici family as the offices for their magistrates. During the Renaissance Florence was the city of political intrigue. The Medici rulers never felt entirely safe amongst the people they ruled, so they had the Uffizi’s architect, Giorgio Vasari, construct a secret passage connecting their home in the Pitti Palace with the Uffizi. This passage now known as the Vasari Corridor, runs from the Uffizi across the Ponte Vecchio all the way to the Pitti Palace.’s Boboli Gardens. The Vasarian Corridor is lined with self-portraits by many of the famous masters, and was for centuries only seen by dignitaries. It was used to take you through these treasures, past the Medici’s private chapel, and you can see how the Medici’ could spy on the citizenry below without being seen. The Vasari has always been a highlight of any visit to Florence!

Reopening in 2024: Updates on the Vasari Corridor

Closed for renovation since 2016, the Vasari Corridor is set to reopen by the end of 2024. While an exact date has not yet been announced by the Uffizi, we will share updates here on TuscanDream as soon as they are available. Stay tuned!

Accademia and Beyond

L’Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, or ‘L’Accademia” is a major attraction for tourists as it houses Michelangelo’s famous ‘David’ as well as many of his other major sculptures. It also features major Renaissance paintings by Botticelli, Ghirlandaio and Uccello. Another lesser known museum, but impressive nonetheless is the Bargello. Once a prison, this museum was once the headquarters of the Florence police.

Today it houses works by Michelangelo, Donatello, Sansovino and Giambologna as well as some of Gothic and Renaissance era sculptures. TuscanDream is proud to offer fabulous private guided tours of the Accademia, Uffizi, Bargello and the Vasari corridor to our guests. Advance tickets are necessary and the museums are closed on Mondays. Contact us at info@tuscandream.com for details.

Sandro Botticelli, the Birth of Venus. Uffizi galleries.