Wednesday 30 March 2016

Florence Museum Cards :: Florence Museum Passes

Visitors to Florence might want to consider buying a Florence museum pass if they're planning an intensive immersion in Florentine art during their stay. The idea is partly to save money but, more importantly, to not have to join the sometimes long queues outside popular museums. A pass allows you to bypass these queues. There are now two museum passes available - see below.

 Amici degli Uffizi

As of 15 June 2015, the Amici degli Uffizi card gets you into the Uffizi Galleries only. It is valid until the end of the year in which you buy it. You can pick up your Amici degli Uffizi pass at the welcome desk at the Uffizi - don't forget to bring a passport-sized photo for each person to be included. This is a distinct downgrade from the previous rules which allowed entry into numerous other museums and, in my opinion, makes this card useful only for individuals who plan to visit the Uffizi intensively, perhaps throughout the year.

Individual: valid for one adult cost 60 euro.
Family: two adults and two children up to 18 years of age costs 100 euros.
Young people: up to 26 years of age costs 40 euros.

Firenze Card

The Florentine mayor's office announced a new type of museum card, the Florence Museum Card, known as the Firenze Card, that is now available. National and Florentine municipal museums are all included and the pass costs 72 euros for 3 days (72 hours) (tourist pass).

The Firenze Card is valid for 72 hours from the moment of its first use in a museum or on city public transportation. So, for example, if you use it for the first time at 3pm on a Tuesday, you'll be able to enter the museums until 3pm of the following Friday.

The Florence Museum Card provides entry into at least 33 museums, reservations included. The museums are the Palazzo Vecchio, the Uffizi, the Accademia, the Pitti Palace - Boboli Gardens, Opificio delle Pietre Dure, Museo Archeologico, Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Stibbert, Horne, Bardini, Cappella Brancacci, Alinari Photo Museum and others. Private and other museums are still in negotiation.

However, although 33 is a lot of museums, not all are included. Note that the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, for example, does NOT participate in this programme.

The Firenze Card allows you to enter the Uffizi even when there are no time slots left on the official booking site. Waiting time at the "reserved" queue of the Uffizi will probably be not more than 10 min and sometimes no waiting at all, compared with an hour or more on the open queue at popular times of day. That means the card is essentially as good as having reserved a particular timespot on-line - better, actually, since you don't have to show up at a particular time.

IMPORTANT NOTE: you must obtain separate tickets (free, of course) to climb the cupola of the Duomo (Cathedral), to enter the Baptistry and to enter the associated Museum. You do this by presenting your Firenze card at the appropriate ticket counters BEFORE lining up to enter any of these three venues. Tickets for the Baptistry and Museum can be obtained inside the museum.

The Firenze card allows you to use public ATAF city buses free. There seems to be some confusion on this issue, even among some drivers, Nevertheless, the Firenze card is good for ATAF city buses during its period of validity. It CANNOT be used on the Hop-on Hop-off (HoHo) tourist buses which are run by a private company.

Note that children who under 18 enter free when accompanied by an adult cardholder ONLY if they are citizens of the EU. IMPORTANT STOP PRESS: ask about this if you are non-EU. There has been a confusing news release stating that all STATE-OWNED museums now have free entry to all under 18's. This will sooner or later become law and it seems to apply now to many STATE-OWNED museums. Bring passports to establish age.

Note also that an ordinary ticket and a Firenze card allow you to enter any given museum once only. With the Amici degli Uffizi card you can enter as often as you wish.

The Firenze Card can be bought online - click the link Firenze Card. Some local sales points do not accept credit cards, but the information opposite SMN railway station, for example, does accept credit cards.

It will be important for you to do your arithmetic. For example, for a family of four, the Amici degli Uffizi pass costs 100 euros and is good until 31 December of the year you buy it. The Museum Card, good for three days, will cost 288 euros for the same family but gets you into a great many more museums and galleries. And of course it can save you hours because you skip the queues at ticket offices.

By the way, the OFFICIAL website for the Bargello, the Uffizi and other museums in Florence is: http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/en/

And the OFFICIAL website for buying tickets is: www.b-ticket.com/b-ticket/Uffizi/default.aspx

There are a number of other websites with official-sounding names and domain names that are agencies charging exorbitant prices for tickets, reservations and other services.

Firenze Card can be purchased in the following sales points in Florence:
  • Tourist Info Point, Piazza Stazione 4 - From Monday to Saturday 8.30 am - 7.00 pm; Sunday 9.00 am - 2.00 pm. Closed on 1 January, 1 May, 25 December.
  • Tourist Info Point, Via Cavour 1 red - From Monday to Saturday 8.30 am - 6.30 pm. Closed Sundays and holidays.
  • Museo di Palazzo Vecchio Info Point, Piazza della Signoria - From Monday to Sunday 9.00 am - 11.00 pm - Thursday and midweek holidays 9.00 am - 1.00 pm
  • Palazzo Pitti, Piazza Pitti 1 - From Tuesday to Sunday 8.15 am - 6.20 pm - Closed on Monday; 1 January, 1 May, 25 December.
  • Museo del Bargello, Via del Proconsolo 4 - Every day  8.15 am - 4.20 pm - Closed on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday and 2nd and 4th Monday of each month
  • Uffizi Gallery, Piazzale degli Uffizi - Tel. +39 (0)55 290249 - From Wednesday to Sunday 8.15am - 6.20pm; on Tuesday 8.15 am - 9.30 pm - Closed Monday, 1 January, 1 May, 25 December.

And, finally, many museums offer free entry for everyone on the last Tuesday of the month.



Vacation accommodation in Tuscany
www.bella-toscana.com
  Vacation villas, houses and B&Bs in Chianti  

All about Chianti, Italy

The sights of Tuscany, Italy


Tuscany Toscana
Don't forget to visit Elena Spolaor's
Travel Guide!

Up-to-date news on what to see and where to stay in Chianti and all of Tuscany & Umbria.

Chianti Travel Guide


All content copyright © ammonet Infotech 2011 - 2016. All rights reserved.

Wednesday 16 March 2016

Giro d'Italia 2016 - News and Updates for Giro d'Italia 2016

The stages for this year's big cycling race, the Giro d'Italia 2016 are shown on the map below. This bicycle race generates huge excitement in Italy and if you'll be spending your vacation near any of the stages it will be well worth watching.

For those of you who are coming specifically to enjoy Giro d'Italia 2016, I've put some links below for accommodation near Stage 9, Radda in Chianti to Greve in Chianti. That's one of the most scenic stages and also a hilly one which promises plenty of exciting position changes in the pack. It will be important to book your lodgings early.

Giro d'Italia 2016
The stages for Giro d'Italia 2016.
1    Friday, May 6    9.8 km
    Apeldoorn (NL) → Apeldoorn (NL)

2    Saturday, May 7    190 km
    Arnhem (NL) → Nijmegen (NL)

3    Sunday, May 8    189 km
    Nijmegen (NL) → Arnhem (NL)

R    Monday, May 9   
    Rest day

4    Tuesday, May 10    191 km
    Catanzaro → Praia a Mare

5    Wednesday, May 11    233 km
    Praia a Mare → Benevento

6    Thursday, May 12    165 km
    Ponte → Roccaraso

7    Friday, May 13    210 km
    Sulmona → Foligno

8    Saturday, May 14    169 km
    Foligno → Arezzo

9    Sunday, May 15    40.4 km
    Radda in Chianti → Greve in Chianti


R    Monday, May 16   
    Rest day

10    Tuesday, May 17    216 km
    Campi Bisenzio → Sestola

11    Wednesday, May 18    212 km
    Modena → Asolo

12    Thursday, May 19    168 km
    Noale → Bibione

13    Friday, May 20    161 km
    Palmanova → Cividale del Friuli

14    Saturday, May 21    210 km
    Alpago → Corvara

15    Sunday, May 22    10.8 km
    Castelrotto → Alpe di Siusi

R    Monday, May 23   
    Rest day

16    Tuesday, May 24    133 km
    Bressanone Brixen → Andalo

17    Wednesday, May 25    196 km
    Molveno → Cassano d'Adda

18    Thursday, May 26    234 km
    Muggiò → Pinerolo

19    Friday, May 27    161 km
    Pinerolo → Risoul

20    Saturday, May 28    134 km
    Guillestre → Sant'Anna di Vinadio

21    Sunday, May 29    150 km
    Cuneo → Torino

Total Distance    3383

cyclists giro d'italia 2016

Inexpensive accommodation along route 9 of the Giro d'Italia 2016:










Tuscany Toscana
Don't forget to visit my Tuscany
Travel Guide!

Up-to-date news on what to see and where to stay in Chianti and all of Tuscany.

Tuscany Travel Guide


vacation accommodations in Tuscany

Author: Anna Maria Baldini

All content copyright © ammonet Infotech website promotion 2016 - 2020. All rights reserved.