
Visiting Florence for the First Time? Here's What to See and Do
Our must-do's to help first-time visitors experience the best of the Tuscan capital.
To avoid spending hours in line at the Accademia Gallery, snag skip-the-line tickets in advance or opt for a private guided tour. David is unsurprisingly popular and set in one of the most crowded parts of the gallery—for the best photo ops, book a coveted, exclusive, early-access tour. To maximize your time in Florence, choose a half- or full-day tour that visits both the Accademia Gallery and the Uffizi Gallery or also includes a city sightseeing tour.
Art and history lovers, especially those who admire Michelangelo, must not miss the Accademia Gallery.
To be assured entry on the day you want to visit, book tickets or a tour in advance.
Photography is not allowed inside the gallery.
The gallery is closed on Mondays.
Students from the EU and children under 18 years of age are eligible for reduced or free tickets.
The Accademia Gallery is located beside Piazza San Marco and is about a 15-minute walk from the Santa Maria Novella train station. It’s not far from the Uffizi Gallery, which many tours visit in combination with the Accademia.
The Accademia Gallery is busy year-round, but especially in the summer. It’s slightly less crowded in the late afternoon, but can still be impossible to visit without a reservation. Note that the gallery is closed on Mondays.
The scale of Michelangelo’s David (carved from a single block of Carrara marble) is enough to impress, but its fine details and lifelike features make it a true masterpiece. Travelers spend most of their time admiring David, but those interested in Michelangelo’s life and other works should also see his unfinished San Matteo or Prigioni that adorn the main hallway. The plaster model of Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabine Women also shouldn’t be missed.