Uffizi Gallery

The Uffizi is the reason many people plan a trip to Florence in the first place. The long U-shaped building between Piazza della Signoria and the Arno was begun by Giorgio Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de' Medici, who wanted the city's administrative offices (uffizi) under one roof. The Medici gradually turned the upper floor into a gallery for their collections, it opened to visitors in 1769, and today it is one of the most visited museums in Italy, with more than five million visitors in 2024.

The collection is a walk through Italian painting from the late Middle Ages to the Baroque. Early rooms hold large altarpieces of the Madonna by Cimabue, Duccio and Giotto, then come the Botticelli rooms with The Birth of Venus and Primavera, which most visitors head for first. Look out too for Piero della Francesca's portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino, Leonardo da Vinci's Annunciation, Michelangelo's Doni Tondo, Raphael's portraits, Titian's Venus of Urbino and paintings by Caravaggio. Buontalenti's octagonal Tribuna, completed in 1584 to display the Medici treasures, is one of the most famous rooms in any museum, and the corridors are lined with ancient Roman sculpture.

Allow at least three hours, and more if you want to see the later rooms properly rather than racing through them. The gallery is closed on Mondays. Queues for walk-up tickets can be very long, so book a timed entry on the official ticket site, or use a Firenzecard, especially between spring and autumn. Early morning and late afternoon are calmer than the middle of the day. Lifts serve the main floors, and there is a café with a terrace that looks out towards the Palazzo Vecchio and the cathedral dome.

The gallery suits anyone with an interest in art, though children usually do best with a short, planned route focused on a few famous works, or with a family guided tour. A good audio guide or a guided tour helps a great deal, because the collection is large and the labelling assumes some background knowledge.

The entrance is on the Piazzale degli Uffizi, the narrow courtyard running from Piazza della Signoria to the river. The Palazzo Vecchio, the Loggia dei Lanzi and the Ponte Vecchio are all within a couple of minutes' walk, and the cathedral is about ten minutes away on foot.