# Firenze Card vs Buying tickets individually



## Damith Samarakoon (Jul 6, 2016)

Hi everyone,

Was hoping someone might be able to offer some advice on a decision I am trying to make

We are a group of 7 - 6 adults, 1 2-year old travelling to Florence in September for the first time.

13-17th to be exact. In all we have roughly 3 and half days as we arrive around midday by train from Rome on the 13th. We are also planning a half day trip to Pisa at some point. So it leaves a total of 3 days to spend in Firenze!

We want to see the following places

Definite
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-Duomo and the other stuff on site - Baptistery, Bell Tower, Museum.

-Uffizi

-Palazzo Pitti

-Baboli Gardens

-Palazzo Vecchio
https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-monuments/palazzo-vecchio.html

-Academia
http://www.accademia.org/buy-tickets/

Maybe*
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-Basilica santa croce
-Basilica of Santa Maria Novella

*(We will be going to the Piazza's but might not necessarily want to go in aka buy a ticket)

I am looking at buying tickets for the rest individually vs Firenze card vs Amici degli Uffizi card.

Individually
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I tried to price these individually for 6 adults and our daughter and it came up to around 680 odd Euros. About 113 Euros per person. Unless my 2-year old figures out a way to chip in.

1) Would this be accurate?
I used the links I've added to price them. Hopefully they are the right places to book the tickets.

The Firenze card
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This seems to cover all of these for 72 Euros ahead. But we are tied to 72 hour restriction


The Amicii card
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Gave up on this after your comments about it and also after reading some comments about people who bought it being left in the cold when the rules changed.


In conclusion
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The Firenze ticket seems quite reasonable for what we want to do. Saves us about 40 Euros per head.
It just means we need to pack in most of the sites on our list into a 72 hour period. Not impossible from what I read because Florence is small enough to hit them up by just walking around.

2) My only issue with it is would this make us rush through things to tick them off ? Or can they all be enjoyed in 72 hours in a leisurely pace?

3) From what I read Firenze card gives you Skip the lines access to all of these places - and we don't need to book timed-entries ? Would that be the same for things like climbing the Duomo ?

4) What about my daughter, she won't even be 2 when we are there so I was hoping she would just get in free to most places but seems like this is not the case. Are we better off getting her a full priced FC as well or should we get individual tickets just for her from the official ticket sellers online?


5) Anything else to consider?

Any help deciding on this will be greatly appreciated.


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## Damith Samarakoon (Jul 6, 2016)

Just as some added info, we are staying near the Duomo which I can tell is quite central to all the places we'd like to see.

My initial thoughts are to knock off the Duomo sites after lunch on the day we arrive.
IF we get the FC then it would seem like we are better off doing Pisa on the last day of our trip and see Florence in the 72 hours first.

Does that seem reasonable?


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## Lourdes (Jul 6, 2016)

Some considerations when trying to price your museum tickets to make comparisons on whether to get the Firenze Card or not:

1. consider the period of the year -- Sept is still busy so yes, the Firenze Card is useful to skip the lines. Yes, you skip lines at all museums

2. consider whether there are temporary exhibits going on -- in Sept, I wasn't able to find any listed for Uffizi or Accademia so that knocks price down to base cost + booking fee of 4 euro per ticket.

3. for large families, i understand the need to keep costs as low as possible.
- first, all kids under 18 enter free. 
- to pay the least, book all state museums by phone at +39-055-294-883 - this includes the Uffizi, Accademia, Pitti Palace museums (including Boboli)
- took out links you had above as most were for 3rd party sellers that add extra commissions, so your baseline ticket costs were higher than actual cost.

4. Pitti Palace -- there are 6 museums plus the gardens, you won't be able to see everything. But there is a combined ticket to everything that lasts 3 days and includes the gardens for 11.50 euro. Otherwise, separate tickets for the gardens and some museums and not others, so price could be just 7 per person if you were interested in Boboli and the other museums included with Boboli (silver, porcelain, costume).

Keeping all these things in mind, I was able to price all of your *MUST museums to a total of 60,50 euros, *including prebooked tickets for just the Uffizi and Accademia, much lower than the over 100 euro per person you had come to. 
If you add Santa Croce and SMN, that is an extra 11 euros and therefore you come right to around the 72 euros per person which equals the cost of the Firenze Card.

So considering you are borderline and have priority access and have the 3 days to spend in Florence, I would suggest you *DO GET THE FIRENZE CARD!* Cost is more or less the same and you won't have to worry about getting tickets for one museum and not the other. Do Pisa on the last day! No need for any tickets for your 2 year old, she will get in free with you to all museums, no need for any extra tickets (you only pay the prebooking fee at Uffizi and Accademia once they are over 5 years old).

As far as the Amici degli Uffizi card, it only lets you in into Uffizi and Pitti Palace -- so I no longer recommend it as alternative to the FC for visiting museums in Florence.


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## Damith Samarakoon (Jul 6, 2016)

Thanks for the detailed response Laurdes.

Wow a huge difference between what I got and your per/person cost. But Yes, I think the FC card makes sense for us. We won't need to think too much about reserving times etc for the main attractions with this.

With the Pitti Palace I only cared to see the Palantine Muesuem and the Royal Apartments. This is included in FC from what I can tell? And then head into Boboli.

In addition, could I pick your brain about a potential plan for our days to make the best use of our time, so that we are not criss-crossing too much.

My plan so far is

Day 1, Arrive mid day, check in, have lunch,  and Go to see the Duomo and it's sites.
Day 2, Uffizi in the morning + What do you recommend I add to this day
Day 3, Academia in the morn + ??
Day 4, Half Day morning trip to Pisa, hope to be back around after lunch, say, and just enjoy the last day in Florence

FYI I've read your 3-day itenerary on the site; maybe I should just take cues from that?

Also - I can see most sites are open upto around 6pm etc. Is there daylight around that time of day in Sept? When does it get dark around Sept?

Sept is at the back end of the tourist season - is it super crowded or a bit less in Sept?


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## Lourdes (Jul 6, 2016)

Definitely dividing Uffizi and Accademia into different days makes the most sense.
As far as the others, I would concentrate on keeping things in the area you're in ---

Uffizi + Pitti/Boboli (yes, all are included in the FC)

Accademia + Palazzo Vecchio + either Santa Croce or SMN could fit in

Once you have the Firenze Card, you might fit in other museums you hadn't considered --- take a look at the 3 day itinerary I created with the goal of getting the "most" out of the card. It is pretty packed so I wouldn't suggest doing everything with a 2 year old in tow, but you could fit in maybe the Bargello OR Medici Chapels.

https://www.visitflorence.com/itineraries-in-florence/3-days-in-florence.html

I would do Pisa late afternoon if you still have things in Florence you want to see as your pass will still be valid for that last morning -- the 72 hours starts from the time you enter the first museum and "activate" it.

Do not buy the FC ahead of time, just go buy it once you get in Florence. Buying online you get a voucher you need to go and exchange anyways, so it makes no difference to get it ahead of time!!


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## Damith Samarakoon (Jul 6, 2016)

Ok that sounds great. I will take a look at the itenerary again.

Where do you pick up and/or buy the tickets if you do book ahead? We arrive at the SM Novella station. Can you get it there?


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## Lourdes (Jul 6, 2016)

To buy or to just pick up, you can do so right across from the SMN train station -- cross the piazza to head to the tourist info office and you can get it there. 
Piazza Stazione 4
Open Mondays to Saturdays 9.00-18.30; Sunday and holidays 9.00-13.30.


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## Damith Samarakoon (Jul 13, 2016)

Thanks for all your help Lourdes.

Happy to report that we went ahead and booked our Firenze cards online !! 

Regarding sunset hours. Is it still decent daylight around 630-7pm around September?

When does the Sun usually set around that time of year?


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## Lourdes (Jul 13, 2016)

We're close enough to Rome for this to be a good indicator:
http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/italy/rome?month=9
 around 7.45pm at the beginning of the month, around 6.50pm by the end of the month.


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## Damith Samarakoon (Oct 12, 2016)

Hi Laurdes and everyone on the site. 

We just got back from our trip to Italy and I can safely say Florence was my favorite city for sure. 

For anyone considering getting the Firenze Card I would highly recommend getting it if you are going to see a number of museums as outlined in the great article on this site on the FC.

We actually ended up using it a heck of a lot more than I had originally planned.

In the end we saw - in order
Duomo + Climb + Church
Uffizi Gallery
Pallazo Vechio
Academia 
Medici Chappel/Church
Medici-Ricardi Palace
Pallazo Pitti
Boboli Gardens

It was so easy to use the card and we skipped the line at every single place which was great as we had a 2-year old in tow. 

One thing I should mention is that you still need to get your card scanned at all the sites and get  an entrance voucher. A couple of times I did not think we needed to get one my daughter because she got in "free" but we still needed to get this "free ticket" so that she had some sort of entrance recepit. So I ended up having to double back to the counters to get one for her.

Apart from that when you pick up the card you get a nice lanyard and a great map with all the sites that the FC gives you access to. 

It was all smooth sailing for us and the FC entrance lines (which were a seperate (small) queue most of the time was all easy to spot).

Anywho, thanks for all the great tips and advice on this site guys. I hope to return to this wonderful city one day in the future and see more of it.


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## Lourdes (Oct 12, 2016)

Ciao Damith,

So glad to hear Florence was your favorite city, what other cities did you get a chance to visit in Tuscany or Italy? Did you make it to Pisa?

Thank you for coming back and letting us know how all your visits went with the Firenze Card!! 

It is great to get feedback of anyone following the itineraries we suggest and finding confirmation that the queues can be skipped  The tip of getting the "free" ticket for your child will be noted on the article, it is definitely something to highlight.

I hope you do get to return soon and enjoy more of Florence as well as the region


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## Damith Samarakoon (Oct 12, 2016)

Ciao!

We were in Italy for 17 days.

Started in Rome (4 days) >> Florence (4 Days) >> Venice(3 Days) >> Napoli (3 Days) >> Salerno (3 Days)

And yes, we did make it out to Pisa on our last day in Florence but it was an absolutely terrible day in terms of weather as it rained heavily pretty much ALL DAY. So we sort of camped out in the Baptistery while I went to try and do my Tower Climb. 

The security people tried to make a fuss because my climb was for 11.15  in the morning and I had been in the queue in the RAIN for about 25 mins and it had passed 11.30. So I told that to them firmly and they let me through 

We tried to make the best of the terrible weather but Pisa was pretty amazing even with all that rain.

Another thing to note about the Firenze Card and the Duomo site. If I understood the people there correctly,  even with the FC card, those sites are only valid for 48 hours so you need to do the Duomo, Church, Bell Tower, Baptistery within 48 hours of entering one of those sites. Would that be accurate? 

For eg, I don't think you can do the Duomo on Day 1 and Baptistery after 48 hours...but maybe I misterpreted the person at the counter.

(FYI we did the Duomo climb and Church on Day 1 and Baptistery the next day)

Otherwise, the FC card was everything it said it would be and it was pretty nice to just breeze past everyone in those long queues 

We had a minor hiccup when we ended up queing in the wrong place thinking its the entrance to the Church when it was the Duomo climb 

In anycase, this site and your suggested itineraries were a great source when planning out my trip. Me and my wife certainly want to come back and see the wine country and other places in Tuscany. It was all pretty amazing!


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## Lourdes (Oct 14, 2016)

You did well in firmly asserting your right to climb the tower, you were in line waiting your turn!! Glad you did it, I think the tower climb is a once in a lifetime must-do 

You're right about the Duomo monuments -- even with the Firenze Card, they make you take a pass and that is valid for 48 hours. I will note that in the article too ;-)

I do hope you get a chance to come back and explore the rest of the region, as it is in many aspects quite different from Florence but just as spectacular!


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## bpatel (Jan 28, 2017)

*Firenze Card validity on first Sunday of the month*

Hi,

New to the forum and also just a day old into planning our trip , so pl bear with me if these are often repeated/answered questions.

We have a limited time to spend in Florence and because of our dates, we can only stay in Florence the nights of July 2 (Sunday) & July 3 (Monday).  We plan to arrive by the first train from Venice which I think should be in Florence around 9:30AM.

My questions:

1) Since the only effective day we will have to see Academia Gallery and Uffizi is on July 2 (closed on July 3 which a Monday), can we save time by purchasing a Firenze card?  *Can one use a Firenze card on a free Sunday and still skip the lines on that free admission day?*

2) *If we purchase Firenze cards when we arrive, can we activate them on that day, a Sunday?*

3) *How long a wait time, roughly,should we expect at Academia & Uffizi in July on a Free admission Sunday?
*
Thanks you in advance for all your pointers.

Bhavin


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## Lourdes (Feb 1, 2017)

Ciao Bhavin,

Yes, if you get the Firenze Card for that free Sunday, it is the only way to try to skip any lines.

You can activate it the card that same day - but still expect some wait. Because the reason there are lines is for capacity limits of people inside the museum. When it gets full, you have to wait for people to exit to be able to enter. Then you also have to go through the xray security machines... I can't tell you with any certainty but even if you cut lines, be patient and expect wait from 30-60 min to get in. 

You really can't come on Saturday down to Florence and have an extra day in the city? It has more things to see than Venice 
Then you'll take better advantage of the cost of the Firenze Card -- I generally suggest avoid the Uffizi and Accademia on first Sundays, they can get quite crazy and crowded so that enjoyment of the museum itself is not quite what it should be.


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## bpatel (Feb 2, 2017)

Ciao Lourdes,

Thank you so much for your response.  We have a pretty tight schedule for this trip so we can't come in on Saturday 

But that ensures that we will be back to Tuscany fairly soon 

Will have to try and use our time as best as we can this time around.  

*Would it be easier to activate the card at a different museum which is possibly less crowded and then go to Accademia/Uffizi?*

Bhavin


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