Uffizi Gallery Tickets, Florence

The Uffizi is the world's oldest gallery and the most popular museum in Italy. In 1560, Cosimo I de' Medici commissioned Giorgio Vasari to design a building to house the Florentine State's administrative and judicial offices (known as the "Uffizi"). Much of the Uffizi's collection originally belonged to the Medici family, known as much for their patronage of the arts as for their role in the city government of Florence. The Uffizi houses the largest collection of Italy's artistic heritage consisting of thousands of works of art ranging from Greek and Roman sculptures to Renaissance and Baroque paintings. Its treasures include Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Titian's Venus of Urbino. Also available at Select Italy:Vasari Corridor & Uffizi Gallery: Group Guided Visit with Guaranteed Departure

Accademia Gallery Tickets, Florence

In 1873, Michelangelo's famous statue of David was moved to a specially designed room in the Galleria dell'Accademia from his position out in front of Palazzo Vecchio, where he had stood since Michelangelo's time. Preparations were underway for an 1875 exhibition on Michelangelo to celebrate the great master's 400th birthday, after which the Accademia would become a museum dedicated to Michelangelo. Though the collection has since expanded to include works ranging from Florentine Gothic painting to Russian icons, as well as Italian Renaissance and Baroque works by Jacopo da Pontormo, Ghirlandaio, and others, it is still primarily known for Michelangelo's "White Giant." Come admire this incomparable masterpiece and see the four unfinished Slaves that Michelangelo started carving for the tomb of Pope Julius II.

Pitti Palace Galleries Tickets, Florence

The Galleria Palatina is located in the front rooms of the Pitti Palace in Florence's Oltrarno quarter. The more than 500 paintings in this gallery's vast collection stem mostly from the private collections of the Medici family. The Galleria Palatina has one of the most important collections of Raphael's works, including his celebrated Donna Velata. The works in the Palatine Gallery are arranged in accordance with the aesthetic criteria typical of 17th-century picture galleries, so today's visitor steps into the past upon entering this gallery. The Gallery of Modern Art holds over two thousand works providing a panorama of Tuscan art from the 18th to 20th century. Highlights of the collection include Antonio Canova's Neoclassical sculpture Head of Napoleon, an important collection of works by the Tuscan Macchiaioli painters (similar in style to the French Impressionists), and works by Italian Futurist Gino Severini. The paintings and sculptures are complimented by lavishly decorated rooms where generations of Medici, Lorraine and Savoy rulers dined, slept, entertained and received guests.

Palazzo Vecchio Tours, Florence

The Palazzo Vecchio is one of Florence's most famous buildings. Its clock tower is dramatically silhouetted against the sky as a symbol of the power of the Florentine Republic first, and the domination of the ruling Medici family in later centuries. More than 700 years after it was built, it still serves as Florence's City Hall. A visit to the Palazzo Vecchio is a must for any trip to Florence. Choose from one of our three interactive palace tours: Guided Tour This tour gives you an overview of the Palazzo Vecchio, which has undergone many alterations, expansions and reconstructions over the centuries, resulting in the final 'look' it has today. Highlight of this tour is a stroll around the guard walk – an external walkway at the top of the palace from which guards were able to oversee happenings in the palace's vicinity; the unobstructed, 360-degree views from up here are marvelous! Secret Itineraries Looking for intrigue and mystery? This tour takes you through secret staircases, hidden rooms and into the roof trusses of the palace's attic. A visit to the tiny Studiolo of Francesco I where he carried out alchemical experiments to turn base metals into gold is a special treat. Painting a Fresco Workshop Not a museum type? This workshop teaches you how to make your own fresco. Roll up your sleeves and start working on your next masterpiece in the midst of some of Florence's most famous fresco paintings, and then explore the palace to compare your work with the masters.

Boboli Gardens Tickets, Florence

Eleonora di Toledo, the Spanish-born wife of Cosimo I de' Medici, initiated the landscaping of the Boboli Gardens in 1549. Niccolo' Pericoli, called "il Tribolo," laid out the first axial development of the gardens, and Bartolomeo Ammanati and Giorgio Vasari took over upon his death. They extend over a vast area, forming an open-air museum filled with antique and Renaissance statues, grottoes, and large fountains. Entrance to the Boboli Gardens includes entrance to the Silver, Porcelain and Costume Galleries in the Pitti Palace. These galleries, a portion of which are housed in the former summer apartments of the Medici dukes, are now used to display period furniture, costumes, silverware, carved vases, amber, gems, cameos, Chinese and Japanese porcelain, and enamels. The ticket also includes entrance to the panoramic Giardino Bardini with access from both Via de' Bardi 1 (Piazza dei Mozzi) and Costa San Giorgio 2.

Archeological Museum Tickets, Florence

The Archaeological Museum is one of Florence's hidden gems, housing a large and impressive collection of Egyptian and Etruscan, as well as Greek and Roman artifacts and art. The collection originally began with the Medici who were fascinated by Italy's early inhabitants, the Etruscans. As archaeology reached its heyday in the 1800's, the collection was added to by Italy's wealthiest families. Most notable among the collection is the Roman statue, Idolino, and the Francois Vase, considered by many to be the equivalent of a genealogy of Greek mythology. Also, visit the museum's collection of Egyptian mummies and the reconstruction of a 2nd century Etruscan tomb.

Bargello Museum Tickets, Florence

After serving for many centuries as a prison and police station, the fortress-like Bargello was transformed into the National Museum of Sculpture in 1886 - on Donatello's five-hundredth birthday. The Bargello's courtyard, loggia and frescoed rooms are filled with marble and bronze masterpieces by Donatello, Michelangelo, Cellini, Bernini and others. Particularly important to the history of Florence are two bronze panels of the Sacrifice of Isaac by Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi for the competition to decorate the doors of the Baptistry. Had Brunelleschi won this contest, he might not have gone on to design the great dome of the Duomo of Florence.

Brancacci Chapel Tickets, Florence

The Brancacci Chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine is a landmark in the history of Renaissance art. Commissioned by a wealthy Florentine silk merchant in the 1420s, the chapel was painted with frescoes by Masaccio and Masolino depicting the life of St. Peter and the theme of redemption. In later years, the chapel suffered at the hands of the Florentine government when its patron, Felice Brancacci, was exiled and declared an enemy of the state. The "Damnatio Memoriae" was executed, and the faces of the chapel's patrons were destroyed, only to be restored by Filippino Lippi fifty years later. A disastrous fire in the late 1700's blackened the frescoes until they could hardly be seen; they were restored in 1981-90. Masaccio's works, including the painfully expressive Expulsion from the Garden of Eden, have inspired the great artists of the High Renaissance, including Michelangelo. Your visit not only includes a chance to view these famous frescoes, but your own personal tablet to explain their history and restoration.

Medici Chapels Tickets, Florence

The Medici Chapels, attached to the apse of the church of San Lorenzo but accessed from the Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini, consist of three separate parts: the Crypt containing the tombs of about 50 lesser members of the Medici family; The Chapel of the Princes where the Medici Grand Dukes are buried in over-life-sized sarcophagi; and the so-called "New Sacristy," Michelangelo's unfinished Mannerist masterpiece that he worked on from 1520-1534. The ground floor Crypt serves as an anteroom to the other two burial chambers above. First comes the grandiose but gloomy Chapel of the Princes, begun in 1604 and encrusted with the semi-precious stone and marble inlay known as pietre dure. Rare and costly stones like coral, jasper, onyx, amethyst and tiger's eye adorn the interior, however, the Medici ran out of money before enough lapis lazuli could be purchased to cover the vast, octagonal dome and it was finally frescoed in 1824. Michelangelo's New Sacristy is much more restful: the color scheme is predominately gray and white because the colorful wall paintings that the great artist had planned were never executed. Neither was the double tomb for Lorenzo the Magnificent and his slain brother, Giuliano. Contemplative statues of another Lorenzo (duke of Urbino) and Giuliano (duke of Nemours) sit in niches on the side walls. Below them stretch Dawn (female) and Dusk (male), Day (male) and Night (female). These six statues are among Michelangelo's most famous works. In them he uses both high polish and rough cutting to impart strength, texture and psychological intensity.

Monastery of San Marco Tickets, Florence

Over 50 fresco paintings by Fra Angelico decorate the walls of San Marco. Angelico, who resided at this Dominican monastery between 1438 and 1445, painted scenes of the Annunciation and stories from the life of Christ, offering a sense of timelessness and tranquility to guide his fellow friars in their private meditations. Walk through the beautiful monastery designed by Michelozzo to discover a world of Florentine history and art. A portrait of the hawk-nosed Savonarola by Fra Bartolomeo marks the suite of rooms where the prior and sponsor of the Bonfire of the Vanities once lived, while Ghirlandaio's Last Supper graces the wall of the refectory.