Description
This Uffizi Gallery small group tour, limited to nine guests, keeps the experience close and personal. Reserved priority entry gets you inside quickly, and radio headsets keep the commentary clear even in busy rooms.
The palace was built for the Medici from plans by Giorgio Vasari, and took shape between 1560 and 1581. Your licensed art guide starts there, with the story of how it grew into one of the first modern museums, before moving to the paintings that made it famous.
- Botticelli: Primavera and The Birth of Venus
- Leonardo da Vinci: The Annunciation
- Michelangelo: the Doni Tondo
- Raphael: the Madonna of the Goldfinch
The collection also holds Giotto, Cimabue and Caravaggio, and the guided part of about 90 minutes is built around the stories behind these works rather than a list of names. Between rooms you notice the long courtyard lined with statues of great Italian figures, the architectural details and the views towards the Arno and the Vasari Corridor.
When the guide finishes, you are free to stay. Go back to the painting that caught you, or wander into rooms the group did not enter, at your own speed. The tour is not suitable for people with mobility impairments, and every visitor should carry an ID and pass the museum's security check.