Booking Accademia & other Florence Museums

[Susan-M]

If you are booking tickets on your own, phoning seems to be the most economical way.

The price for Accademia tickets (including 3E reservation fee) by phone via the museum office http://www.firenzemusei.it/00_english/home1.html is 11E pp, and on-line through a ticket agency - 17.50E /pp http://www.tickitaly.com/

 

The phone call cost 17 cents as it was a 3 minute call (on an A T & T International Phone Card). The service reps at the museum office speak English and will give you a reservation #.

The phone # is 011 39 055 294883.

[Susan-M]

I should have added to the above.....if you phone for reservations, you don't pay for your tickets until you pick them up, whereas if you book on line through an agency, you pay by CC at the time of booking.

[cavou]

Susan - Thanks for the tip...we just booked through tickitaly.com for 17.50 pp...I think I may call the museum directly and see if I can cancel the online tickets...a small savings but a savings nontheless. Thanks for the info!

[Susan-M]

Cavou - I booked Doge's Palace in Venice through Tickitaly - and on my confirmation form, it say's "No refunds are possible. Please check our cancellation policy ONLINE: http://www.tickitaly.com/tickets/reservation-terms.php". I could not find an alternate source for those tickets (although I probably didn't look hard enough.)

That's one of the reasons I like the phone reservation system where you pay when you arrive at the museum....if for some reason you don't make it, at least you don't have to pay. The individual Vatican tours are done this way as well (i.e. reserve ahead, but pay when you arrive.)

[cavou]

Susan - Again thanks for the heads up. I did indeed just read their no refund policy. We booked a few days ago and still haven't been charged, although we did recieve the voucher vis-a-vis e-mail. I am not sure if I will charge it back or just keep the tickets. Now I know for next time!

[goldenprincess53]

If you are booking tickets on your own, phoning seems to be the most economical way.

The price for Accademia tickets (including 3E reservation fee) by phone via the museum office http://www.firenzemusei.it/00_english/home1.html is 11E pp, and on-line through a ticket agency - 17.50E /pp http://www.tickitaly.com/

 

The phone call cost 17 cents as it was a 3 minute call (on an A T & T International Phone Card). The service reps at the museum office speak English and will give you a reservation #.

The phone # is 011

39 055 294883.

 

I just got off the phone (it is 6:50 am E.S.T.) and it took all of 45 seconds to book tickets and get my reservation number. Thanks for the great info!

[Susie]

Yes, thanks for the information! I was about to use a site charging $17!!! Plus, I posted that site as an FYI for another poster. I'm copying this site in that posting to update them. Thanks again for the great info!

 

Susie

[lagbunch8]

If you are booking tickets on your own, phoning seems to be the most economical way.

The price for Accademia tickets (including 3E reservation fee) by phone via the museum office http://www.firenzemusei.it/00_english/home1.html is 11E pp, and on-line through a ticket agency - 17.50E /pp http://www.tickitaly.com/

 

The phone call cost 17 cents as it was a 3 minute call (on an A T & T International Phone Card). The service reps at the museum office speak English and will give you a reservation #.

The phone # is 011 39 055 294883.

 

 

Susan,

 

Do you know how far in advance you can make these reservations? I will not be going until June 2006. Thanks.

 

Mary

[Susan-M]

Mary, on their website I don't think it says how far in advance you can book - I booked 30 days in advance for Sept.

When I was started gathering info for our trip back in Jan., I put together a binder with dividers for each port, and sections for travel docs. My first page was a checklist of things to do as our cruise date got closer, such as booking tickets for Accademia, Vatican, Doges, re-confirming private drivers, etc. The checklist has kept me from waking up in the middle of the night wondering what I've forgotten to do :)

 

Thanks Susie & Golden for the feedback - glad you had such an easy time with booking! I have to give credit for this tip to Ron (Superagentnyc) - his review has been very helpful to me!

[lagbunch8]

Mary, on their website I don't think it says how far in advance you can book - I booked 30 days in advance for Sept.

When I was started gathering info for our trip back in Jan., I put together a binder with dividers for each port, and sections for travel docs. My first page was a checklist of things to do as our cruise date got closer, such as booking tickets for Accademia, Vatican, Doges, re-confirming private drivers, etc. The checklist has kept me from waking up in the middle of the night wondering what I've forgotten to do :)

 

QUOTE]

 

 

That's a great idea Susan. I will have to steal that. ;) I was reading a review(it may have been Ron's) that said they couldn't get reservations to Uffizi because it was booked so I started to get nervous. I will have to find out how far out you can book. I bet it is only a month or two. Can you imagine going over there and not knowing all of this stuff??? :eek: Thank goodness for CC and Rick Steves.

 

Mary

[gert]

Does anyone know if these reservations are for a specific time of day? Will we still have to stand in line? We will be traveling with my dad who is in a wheelchair and I do not want to make reservations unless I know I will be able to go right in, our time in Florence is short enough and maneuvering through the streets of Florence with my dad will not be easy.

 

Thanks.

[goldenprincess53]

Does anyone know if these reservations are for a specific time of day? Will we still have to stand in line? We will be traveling with my dad who is in a wheelchair and I do not want to make reservations unless I know I will be able to go right in, our time in Florence is short enough and maneuvering through the streets of Florence with my dad will not be easy.

 

Thanks.

 

My understanding is that you make reservations for a specific time and you show up at the museum approx. 15 before your allotted time. When I called this morning, I booked it for a specific date and time and I had no problems; they gave me a reservation no. to give when I arrive and I will pay then.

 

If I stand corrected, please let me know too!

[pcur]

I just went out to the web site and read their instructions and information. Yes, the tickets are for a specific time, and it looks like the phone tickets and the online vouchers work the same: you go to a "will-call" type window and get the "real" tickets, and then get in the "short" line to get in. The web site says it takes about 15 minutes, but be there 15 minutes before your entrance time, because they are strict about admission times.

[gert]

great news, thank you for such a quick response

[Juliadlf]

Cavou - I booked Doge's Palace in Venice through Tickitaly - and on my confirmation form, it say's "No refunds are possible. Please check our cancellation policy ONLINE: http://www.tickitaly.com/tickets/reservation-terms.php". I could not find an alternate source for those tickets (although I probably didn't look hard enough.)

That's one of the reasons I like the phone reservation system where you pay when you arrive at the museum....if for some reason you don't make it, at least you don't have to pay. The individual Vatican tours are done this way as well (i.e. reserve ahead, but pay when you arrive.)

 

I did find an old post for Doge's palace that Francine posted last year on this forum which included a phone number.

I've posted this question under the Doge's Palace post but hoping someone on this thread might know the answer:

If we book only the Secret Itinerary tour does this still allow us to go into the palace afterwards? We don't anticipate visiting the other museums listed on the Museum card since the time is short in Venice.

Thanks.

[Susan-M]

Julia - from what I've read on other posts, after the Secret Tour is finished, you can go back and wander around on your own in the areas open to regular visitors.

[Juliadlf]

Thanks Susan. I had heard the same rumor but haven't actually heard from anyone who was there. Most people have been buying the Museum cards and also booking the Secret tour. For us, we just want the Doge's and the rest can wait till we come back again. Want to spend more time walking around and just exploring.

[libertygirl05]

Took the secret tour. After you can visit the whole area. Museum card is ticket overlaping expense.

[Juliadlf]

Took the secret tour. After you can visit the whole area. Museum card is ticket overlaping expense.

 

Thanks for the confirmation. Booked our tickets via phone this morning. Did you prebook your tickets via phone? Any problems with the reservation once you got there?

[Browezilla]

I had some luck on this site. It seems to have tickets when others are sold out, inclusive of the phone number above and web sites above. You pay approximately 5 Euro more than you would if you book via the phone. FYI, for Uffizi, I booked 5 weeks ahead on the site below for our trip in late October. The phone number and web sites above were already sold out.

 

http://www.florenceart.it/cgi-bin/book.pl?act=open&museum=uffizi

[pcur]

Or, try this site:

 

http://www.museiciviciveneziani.it/main.asp?lin=EN

 

It's the Venice museum site and I booked our tour directly with them online. No additional fee. Got my confirmation in my email, which I take to pick up the ticket at the Doge's Palace.

 

For two people in US $ it was $37.81, and that includes the exchange rate from Euros to $$, and my bank's (BofA) 3% service charge for using my Visa for out of country purchases.

[Jeepsterchick]

Thanks for the tip - I was just about to book our "time" to see DAVID.

Perfect!

[Emmie]

Hey, everyone! I'm so glad to see all this information, I wil have to make a few phone calls!

 

Our cruise is in a tad over a month, and we have Florence as a stop on 10/28. We will be taking HAL transportation to Florence and viewing the city on our own. If we book tickets in advance and miss our time slot, can we still get into the museum, or are we sunk? I would love to book to see David for first thing in the AM, but I am afraid that if anything goes wrong in getting off the ship or into Florence from Livorno, we will miss our opportunity.:eek: If anyone has ideas or opionons on a good time to try and get tickets, please feel free to let me know!

 

Thanks,

Emmie

[SuzieSmith]

when you call, talk to the person about the times available and that you are on cruise ship, etc. They are very helpful in helping you choose a 'best' time. I did this and the lady was very helpful in helping me with selecting times for the 2 museums. Good luck and happy cruising

[pcur]

Hey, everyone! I'm so glad to see all this information, I wil have to make a few phone calls!

 

Our cruise is in a tad over a month, and we have Florence as a stop on 10/28. We will be taking HAL transportation to Florence and viewing the city on our own. If we book tickets in advance and miss our time slot, can we still get into the museum, or are we sunk? I would love to book to see David for first thing in the AM, but I am afraid that if anything goes wrong in getting off the ship or into Florence from Livorno, we will miss our opportunity.:eek: If anyone has ideas or opionons on a good time to try and get tickets, please feel free to let me know!

 

Thanks,

Emmie

 

Yes, unfortunately, you'll be sunk if you can't make your time. The web site I posted above to buy tickets directly for each museum was REALLY specific about the Doge's Palace and tour times.

 

Also, the site I posted above is for VENICE museums only.