Starting January 17, the Vasari Corridor will once again be open for special visits. This is a wonderful opportunity to get into and view the special art collection along the corridor, as well as experience the view of Florence as the Medici saw it! The special visits are offered directly by the Superintendance of the Florence State museums several times a week up until April 27 at a very low rate of € 10,50 per person.

The visits are for small groups of less than 5 and are perfect for couples. They are, unfortunately, only in Italian, but if you don’t mind this or know a bit of Italian, this is the best way to get into the Corridor as it isn’t open all of the time nor to everyone. The only way to generally see the inside of the Corridor is with tour groups that cost from € 80-100 per person, so this opportunity is really good for this reason.

To reserve your spot (better do so quickly as they often get booked quickly), you need to call +39-055-294-883. Days for the visits are: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9am and 11:30am; Wednesdays and Fridays at 2pm and 4:30pm.

Learn a little more about the Vasari Corridor here.

The Cavalcata dei Magi – Cavalcade of the Magi
from Palazzo Pitti to the Duomo
Parade starts at 14.30 from Piazza Pitti

This Friday, January 6, Florence celebrates the Epiphany with the great cavalcade of the Magi! The Three Kings bringing their gifts to a baby Jesus in the manger where he was born is set up in front of the Duomo and their symbolic arrival into Bethlehem is accompanied with a large parade in historical costume paying tribute, with over 500 participants from all over Tuscany and Italy. There are ladies and lords, knights, country folk, soldiers and much more! The Sbandieratori or flag-throwing company of the Uffizi enchants the public with their skills in throwing and waving their flags along the way and in Piazza della Signoria.

We’d like to share some of our pictures from last year’s Cavalcade… the day had started with some rain but luckily had stopped in time for the parade!

If you’re in Florence – or in Tuscany, then head to Florence – to see the Cavalcade. Let us hope for a bit of clear skies!

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year’s Eve and that 2012 is off to a great start!

Here are some of our pictures from some of the piazzas and musical concerts in downtown Florence. It was a bit chaotic – it was fun and great to see so many people out on the streets celebrating!

So once again this weekend we have another holiday coming up: New Year’s Day! Practically everything will be closed on Sunday, even those museums usually open on that day.

Like last weekend, on New Year’s Eve most everything will be open but closing about an hour earlier than usual. This includes the Uffizi and Accademia.

So after your late-night celebration on New Year’s Eve (see our post from yesterday offering suggestions of what to do), you might want to sleep in a bit on Sunday. No problem at all! But eventually you’ll get hungry and then after a meal you might want to do something in the afternoon, like see a little more of Florence .

Don’t despair – not everything is closed!

In particular, you’ll find the Capella Brancacci open in the afternoon, from 13-16.30 and Palazzo Vecchio from 14-19. If you’ve never seen the Palazzo Medici Riccardi, we highly recommend to go just so you can see the beautiful frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli (open from 11-19). What else is open? Here is a quick list: Casa Dante, the churches of San Miniato, Santa Maria Novella, Santa Trinità and Santo Spirito. If you’re in for a little trek to Fiesole, we highly recommend visiting the archeological area there which will be open .

On Monday, January 2, most museums that are usually closed on Mondays will remain closed, including the Medici Chapels and the Pitti Palace museums. However, very important since it is a last minute news: the Uffizi and Accademia Gallery will be open!!

January 6 – Epiphany

Yep, right on the heels of Christmas and New Year’s, we have another national holiday on January 6 when we celebrate the Epiphany. In Florence, there is a beautiful Cavalcade of the Three Magi with parade in 16th century costume in the afternoon that crosses the historical center, from Piazza Pitti to the Duomo. The magi deliver their gifts to the baby Jesus, part of the living crèche (nativity scene) set up in the Duomo. The procession starts around 2.30pm – don’t miss this spectacular procession if you’re in Florence!

As for what is open, on January 6 the Duomo will be closed since there will services throughout the day. The same goes for many other churches, such as San Lorenzo and Santa Felicita. The cupola will be closed, but the bell tower and baptistery will be open in morning. The Uffizi and Accademia and other main state museums will be open following their regular hours, including the Bargello, the Pitti museums and the Medici Chapels. Here is a complete list of museum hours: notice that the Uffizi and Accademia are marked as being closed on January 2, but a very recent notice by the museums say they will be having a special opening. Remember to buy your tickets to the Uffizi online to avoid any lines!

We wish you have a spectacular start to 2012!!

Many of you will be celebrating Christmas in Florence and seeing your questions on our forum, we know you want to know what to do – and what you can do – particularly on December 25 when all museums will be closed. Did you know that December 26 is also a national Italian holiday?

If your time is limited in Florence and you were set to visit some museums, definitely fit those in on Christmas Eve.  All museums will be open, although most of the state museums will be closing about an hour earlier than usual, including the Uffizi and Accademia.

All museums will be closed on Christmas Day except for the Palazzo Medici Riccardi – if you’ve never been inside the small Chapel of the Magi to see the frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli, we highly recommend a visit – its a beauty!

Just because the museums and shops are closed doesn’t mean there is nothing to do – Florence is truly an open-air museum! Take advantage of this day to stroll around the entire historical center. Here is a suggested itinerary: start from the north from Piazza San Marco heading down to Piazza San Lorenzo, then to Piazza del Duomo, down Via Calzaiuoli to Piazza della Signoria. Continue down past the Uffizi Gallery to Ponte Vecchio and to Palazzo Pitti. If you still have energy, climb up to Piazzale Michelangelo to enjoy the extraordinary view of Florence you can have from here.

What else will be open on Christmas day? A few churches will be open for visits for a few hours in the afternoon (since most of the day will consist of religious services): you can head to San Miniato al Monte, Santa Maria Novella, Santa Trinità and Santo Spirito. Of course, you can go into any of the churches during the day but only if you want to stay and listen to the service, they won’t allow anyone interested in visiting to roam about (this particularly applies for the cathedral which is closed for visits).

Monday December 26 is Boxing Day, or Santo Stefano as it is known in Italy. State museums that are usually open on Mondays will be open on this day, including the Accademia and Uffizi, the Medici Chapels, Palazzo Vecchio and Santa Maria Novella museum. Also open: the Opera del Duomo museum, San Lorenzo church and museum and all of the monuments in Piazza Duomo (tower, cupola, baptistery, cathedral).

Here is the PDF from the Florence tourism board with a table that clearly shows what is open and their times that you can use to decide where to go and when this upcoming Christmas weekend. Happy holidays to everyone!

The next few days will see Florence under some very special lighting! The Firenze Light Festival, or F-LIGHT for short, will run from December 8-11 and will see the monuments in Piazza Signoria, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza Pitti, Ponte Santa Trinita’, the Santa Maria Novella Piazza and Piazza della Repubblica all lit up in various ways. From highlighting their geometric shapes to artistic installations, make sure to walk around after dark and take the city in a whole different light! We’ll try to go out and take some pictures to share with you in the next few days

Additionally, tomorrow December 8 the Christmas tree in Piazza Duomo will be officially lit up by Florence’s major, Matteo Renzi. It will be a magical night to walk around the city and enjoy your holiday shopping or just the season!

If you’ve walked anywhere in downtown Florence over the last few days, you’ve seen the Christmas lights appearing all over the city while shop displays have put up their Christmas decorations a few weeks ago. Tomorrow is December 1st: the holiday season is definitely here! If you’re looking for a special gift to take back home with you or just take in the holiday atmosphere, head to one of the following events dedicated to the holiday season.

Christmas Market – Piazza Santa Croce

November 30 – December 18 Every day, 10am-8pm Starting today, head to Piazza Santa Croce to travel to the traditional German/European Christmas markets – lots of ideas of gifts as well as warm wine and cider, bratwurts, crepes and more to snack on. The market continues until the 18th of the month.

Fierucola dell’Immacolota and di Natale – Piazza Santo Spirito

December 8 and 18 All day Every month on the 3rd Sunday of the month, you’ll find the Fierucola in Piazza Santo Spirito. All of the participating merchants are small family businesses that are dedicated to seeing high quality products: you’ll find organic produce, sauces, honeys, handmade items and much more. In December, aside from the Christmas one that falls on December 18th, you’ll also find a special edition dedicated to Virgin on December 8th but in Piazza della SS Annunziata, not in Piazza Santo Spirito.

Christmas in Town – Via delle Cascine

December 7-11 Every day, 10am-10pm December 11: 10am-9pm Market with lots of Christmas items and toys, a Santa Claus with his elves, a play area for children and lots of places where you’ll be able to eat local dishes and products as well as local “fast food”. There will be a lottery and shows where children can participate – fun for the family!

Ice Skating in Florence – Parterre, Piazza della Libertà

November 26 – January 8, 2012 Every day, 10am-11.30pm Fridays-Sundays open until 1am This week the ice skating rink at the Parterre opened up to allow all of us in Florence to enjoy some fun on the ice! The large central area is made into a large rink to hold up to 200 skaters. If you don’t have ice skates, don’t worry, you can rent them for € 6. If you’re looking for something to do on New Year’s Eve, a special party will be organized to welcome 2012! We hope you have a great December in Florence!

From September 29, 2011 to April 15, 2012
Palazzo Medici Riccardi – Museo Stibbert – Museo Bardini – Museo Horne – Museo Salvatore Romano – Palazzo Davanzati – Fondazione Salvatore Romano – Museo Bandini – Museo Casa Rodolfo Siviero

Florence’s network of “Small Great Museums” has set a pretty spectacular offer for visitors to Florence over the next 6 months that will give visitors the chance to see a great deal of treasures off the beaten path for most visitors to Florence. Each museum has its special collection, many of them the personal collections of antiques collectors from the 19th century, the treasures they decided to keep instead of selling or auctioning around the world. These collections now are part of small, separate museums such as the Horne, Bardini and Stibbert – all named after the collectors themselves.

From now until April 15, the museums are showing off their collections with a special focus on the Florentine artistic craftsmanship and the golden era of when private antiques collectors in Florence were very active.

The exhibit at Palazzo Medici Riccardi presents a general summary of the era, while the Stibbert Museum offers an international exhibit of Florentine “maiolica” created by Ginori and Cantagalli. The Bardini museum reopens its Hall of Paintings, with the original setup Bardini used to display the works, at the center of which is the newly restored 13th century crucifix by Bernardo Daddi.
The Horne museum offers a collection of designs from Raphael to Constable, while the Palazzo Davanzati exhibits photographs by Elia Volpi that document the original furnishings of the house before they were sold in a large auction in New York during the Great War.

A very special way to see many treasures in Florence, particularly since a special “Treasure Pass” has been created at just € 10 to allow you to visit all* of the museums — a really good deal, since it also includes free entrance to the Fondazione Salvatore Romano, Bandini museum, Casa Rodolfo Siviero museum,  the Ceramic Museum in Montelupo and the Museo della Manifattura Galileo Chini and discounts on entry to Palazzo Vecchio, the Brancacci Chapel, the Santa Maria Novella museum and the Richard Ginori of Doccia Works Museum.

We highly recommend taking this opportunity to go off the beaten path and explore some of Florence’s smaller but no less rich museums!

For more information, see http://www.stanzedeitesori.it/

* Only exception is the Palazzo Davanzati, who will continue to charge its entry ticket of 2 euros.

The Opera del Duomo, the body that owns and manages the religious buildings in Piazza del Duomo, including the cathedral, the climb up the bell tower and the cupola, entrance into the Baptistery, the crypt under the cathedral and the beautiful Opera del Duomo Museum introduced a few weeks ago a various combination tickets to make it just a bit easier to visit these monuments.

Since August 8, you can now buy a combination ticket to 2, 4 or all 5 of the monuments, keeping in mind that entrance into the main part of the cathedral continues to be free but all of the other monuments require entrance tickets. So the cathedral wouldn’t feel left out, another innovation introduced is a card that acts as a “priority pass” to skip any lines into the cathedral itself. There isn’t a line always or at all times…. so just know that if you arrive, you find a long line and you don’t want to wait, now you don’t have to. With 7 euros, you can purchase the card that will make you skip the line and get in right away.
The priority card does not work for the other monuments; there, you’ll still have to pay your ticket or get a combination ticket.

If you were planning to visit at least two of the monuments, the combination tickets do let you save a few euro and are definitely a good idea. Here are the combinations on offer:

Museum + Cupola (dome): € 11 (instead of € 14)
Museum + Bell tower + Baptistery + Crypt: € 15 (instead of € 19)
Museum + Bell tower + Baptistery + Crypt + Cupola (dome): € 23 (instead of € 27)

The combination tickets are valid for 4 days from the day it is purchased.

Will you be visiting more than the cathedral or dome now that you can save a little with the combination tickets? Would you consider getting the priority pass to skip the line into the cathedral??

The parade is a bright and colorful affair, with soldiers, guards, nobles and ladies in their fine clothes, drummers, cannons, flag throwers and much more! We love the colors, hope you enjoy the pictures if you weren’t able to see them in person yet!