Florence Accademia & Uffizi Guided Tour Options

The guides were both fabulous. If you do a full day be prepared for a long time on your feet. Trips themselves very good and thoroughly informative. Julie

Our Uffizi guide Vanessa was amazing!! She spoke with so much passion and had so many good stories to tell - some of our group were not art fans but we were all so engaged all afternoon by Vanessa’s enthusiasm. Well organised, great tour, great communication - highly recommend Towns of Italy!

Visiting David and being guided through museum was really interesting then riding through city streets and enjoying a delicious gelato.Guide was excellent really great way to have introduction to city

My daughter and I had a great time. Both guides were very good. Process was easy and both tours went without a hitch. Gelato towards the end of the bike tour was a nice touch. We were going to do the walking tour luckily it was sold out as we were both very happy we did the bike tour instead. And of course seeing the statue of David with a description was very nice. The audio headsets worked great on both tours and make a huge difference.

We had a short stay in Florence, so this was the perfect way to see and learn a lot about the city’s most important highlights in a relatively short amount of time. Our guides for both were welcoming and knowledgeable, I learned a lot from them both. Highly recommend!

We bought this combo tour package on our first trip to Florence. The bike tour was great and hits all the major spots around the city and provides historical facts about the various sites. Our guide Sara was a lot of fun. Biking was easy, other than the heat, since Florence city center is relatively flat but it can be somewhat chaotic with the mix of pedestrian, bike and car traffic. The bike tour lasted about 2.5 hours and ended with gelato (included). The accedemia gallery tour was about 30 minutes after and lasted about 1.5 hours. 1.5 hours was the perfect amount of time there unless you want to see every item and read every word of every plaque. SKIP THE LINE! It is absolutely worth an extra fee dollars to avoid hours in line and to have a guide. We looked at some of the lesser known items in the gallery and of course had plenty of time with the David, which unlike other famous pieces of art lives up to the hype. The tour ends in the gallery so you can stay longer if you want but we say mostly everything in that time. Highly recommended.

<p>Do not even think about a bike tour in Florence. This should be called it a walk your bike tour. Never road the bike for more than 100 yards befor having to stop. Just too many people in Florence. Save your money, take a walking tour. Skip the line Accademia Gallery Tour was very good. Worth it, so you do not have to spend 1/2 day in line</p>

Our Guides Fabio and Francesca W RE were amazing. The bike tour was perfect and Fabio led us by the highlights of Florence and we biked like native Italians through the crowds :-). Good storytelling also, well informed. Francesca did perfectly show us some beautiful pieces of art culture and at the Galleria Academia. She understood very well to explain all the historic backgrounds with a personal touch. We can only highly recommend FlorenceTown and ask for Fabio and Francesca.

The ihighlight of this was really the bike tour. From the Piazza della Repubblica to the Ponte Vecchio and the Duomo we crisscrossed the city learning alng the way. A great intro to Florence. Our guide was wonderful and the group was just the right size. The stop for gelato outside the Pitti Palace was the icing on the cake. Great stories and it gave us the lay of the land to figure out what we wanted to do next. I suggest you do this first thing!!

<p>This tour was well worth it. Our guide was very knowledgeable and very friendly. The problem is, you really can't ride a bike in Florence. The streets are too narrow and the crazed motor cycle riders make it very dangerous.</p>

<p>Great tour for whole family. Valentina was a wonderful guide and full of knowledge. Will book more tours via Viator- never disappointed!</p>

<p>The bike tour itself was fun and the entire group passed by some interesting structures and our tour guide gave us several tips for good and reasonable restaurants.<br/> The Accademia tour was disappointing. I felt that I could have learned more from a guide book.<br/> The group wasn't allowed to explore the Gallery.<br/> The gelato given at the end of the tour was a sample--4 bites.</p>

<p>We love taking bike tours on vacation but this one was a bit of a let down compared with others. Bikes are old school three speeds and one size does not fit all I am 6'1. Cobblestones are bumpy and seats are hard which makes for a sore backside after a while. Guide was nice but the stops were pretty mainstream and riding through the main square was just silly as you end up pushing yourself along like a 2 year old due to the crowds. We like to use bike tours to see more remote parts of a city and were a bit disappointed we didn't get off the path here. Still a decent way to explore.</p>

<p>Highly recommend this tour especially at the beginning of your stay. It's a great way to become oriented to the city. Our tour guide, Valentina was FANTASTIC. Her English was spot on. A huge bonus, my husband and I were the only two on the tour so we had a personal tour!</p>

<p>We're so happy that we booked this tour. Historic Florence is teeming with tourists and walking through the crowds takes so much time. A bike tour makes it so much easier. You get a good overview of area in a much shorter space of time... especially when you have a guide that knows where she's going. Marzia was our guide and she was excellent. When you're visiting such a historical city, it's invaluable having someone who can bring the history to life for you. The same goes for the Academia Gallery. She provided context and we viewed the gallery in a manageable period of time. She was worth her weight in gold. Actually, she was worth more than her weight in gold. She was short. : <br/> In fact, we so enjoyed the Florencetown tour, we booked another two tours!</p>

<p>Excellent tour guide and beautiful city! It was a little scary riding bikes through streets with traffic and lots of tourists! Fortunately, we had lots of stops and we finished the tour with a delicious gelato!</p>

<p>The roads in Florence are too crowded for a bike tour<br/> The meeting place was poorly marked and difficult to find even with a GPS<br/> The guide was nice Valentia? however, her facts were memorized and delivered like an oral report with no personality.</p>

<p>The tour guide was a little difficult to understand!!</p>

<p>After our initial disappointment that we missed the bike tour our bus from the port of Livorno was stuck in traffic - word to the wise ..allow more than two hours transit time from port excursions we were relieved that Florencetown accomodated us by rushing us to a walking tour in progress. Valentina, our guide was delightful. She was friendly, incredibly knowledgeable and say to understand. She invited questions and happily did her best to answer any questions we had. We visited many important sites including, Piazzas Santo Spirito, Republica, Vecchio, a view of and travel across Ponte Vecchio. I gained incredible understanding of the Medici family and political history of Florence. We were treated to a delicious gelato at a lovely little gelateria near Palazzo Pitti. In the afternoon we joined Valentina again for a tour of the Accademia - Florencetown arranged our tickets and we were able to get in very quickly. Valentina gave us lots of descriptive background on the paintings and sculptures that we saw. She guided us around the David sculpture with fine detail and description. Finally we ended our tour in the gothic section of the gallery where we were guided through a comparison of the changes in gothic and Renaissance pieces. Overall - Bravo! We had an excellent experience.</p>

<p>Very good tour , our guide was very knowledgeable about the art and history of Florence .</p>

<p>Francesca was amazing. Her knowledge is simply incredible. I loved the way we managed to cover a large area in the 3 hours, more than if you were walking. I would highly recommend the bike ride. I also wanted to visit David again and the visit was great. The only reason I haven't rated it 5 star is the wait time between tours, however in saying that once we got started Julia was also very knowledgeable and patient with answering questions. I'm amazed at how much study the tour guides need to do which is a skill in itself but also they must have good people skills and both Francesca and Julia were excellent at that. Thank you.</p>

<p>The bike tour was very fun and entretaining. The guide was incredible and she was very helpful, we had to call my grandfather because he was only going to meet us at the Accademia and she let us use her phone and helped us get in touch with him. The Gelato place was delicious and skiping the line at the Accademia was very helpful.</p>

<p>Bike tours are the way to go...and when they include gilato...a sure win.</p>

<p>Skip the Line is the way to go. I wouldn't take any tours in Italy without Skip the Line. The tourguide had a few good nuggets of info. Worth it!</p>

<p>Really the best way to see Florence in a short time. My 7 yo son did fine despite the crowded streets and hot weather. As promised- helmets, water bottle, ear phones provided. Gelato was good too. David tour was less fun but still necessary to see. Really hot waiting in line to get inside</p>

<p>It was great to skip the long line for the Accademia, but we waited for over a half hour ourselves, so I can't imagine what the length of wait was like for those without these privileges. Our tour guide was informative...can't recall her name. She was an art history student and passionate and well versed in the artforms she was showing us. Given the length of time in line, I had to cut my visit at the Accademia short to make it to the bike portion of the tour only to find that that tour guide did not show for the tour. Florencetown offered a refund or the option to take another tour, which is what I chose. They were easy to work with, but it would have benefitted me to know I didn't have to leave the Accademia early just to find out the second tour was cancelled. Florencetown should call the tour guides to advise of follow-on tour guide absence in the future.</p>

<p>Learn from me and do NOT book this tour. My group of 8 including four athletic teenagers, learned this the hard way last week. Florence is a terrible city for a bike tour. We thought this would be a fun way to see the city but didn't realize how bumpy Florence's streets are like most cities in Italy, it has many streets with cobblestones. Even worse in summer these streets are filled with other tourists. There is simply no room to navigate around these crowds as well as Italy's terrible drivers pedestrians are not even given right of way here so you have to go through them, which annoys them and is dangerous for you as well. The guide gave no introduction or welcome, just took off. At one point she didn't wait for our group and we were separated, which was crazy. We ended up abandoning the tour before it finished and were so put off we never went back for our Accademia tickets. The part of the tour we did complete was not very interesting - mostly consisted of us stopping outside a church and being told what was inside and how to buy tickets to return. This review comes from a person extremely interested in history and who has taken several Viator tours and had a great experience on all of them. Unfortunately, this was not one of them.</p>

<p>Riding bicycles in Florence can be tricky. We weren't quite prepared for narrow streets with cars and people. But it went well and covered a lot of sites. Our guide was informative. A little more time between the bike tour and the Accademia tour for some lunch would have been nice. We did this on our first day and it helped us get a good idea of the city and where things were.</p>

<p>Academia was rushed and the guide did not help us get back to the meeting point for the bike tour. There was no 30 minute break for free time at the museum as you need every bit of that time getting back to the meeting point for the bike tour. Irene the guide of the bike tour was very knowledgeable and somehow managed to guide a group through traffic, keeping a head count to not lose anyone, and take time to speak to us each individually. The bike tour definitely rates higher than Academia.</p>

<p>Awesome stories, very nice and easy ride through the city. Must do it Florence.</p>

<p>Great way to see the city! Our guide was simply wonderful. Although this tour does not require a great deal of athletic ability I don't recommend it for children, particularly during the height of tourist season. It does require an amount of self-awareness and the ability to steer albeit slowly around narrow streets and through squares filled with oblivious tourists. My teenager loved this tour says it was the highlight of her trip and so did I.</p>

<p>Love this tour - fun and informative! Will definitely book another tour with Viator.</p>

<p>The tour was split into two small tours. Both were very informative and enjoyable. We found all the information interesting and relavent. Wishing we did more bike tours at other cities now!</p>

<p>This tour was WELL WORTH THE MONEY! Our family of 4 - including two teenagers - LOVED this tour. Our guide was knowledgable, fun and peppy, showing us all of the major piazzas of Florence in style. We saw a lot more by bike than we would have by foot. But you might not want to go on this tour if you don't feel confident biking along a crowded street. You don't have to be an expert, but need to be a steady, stable rider to follow the tour.</p>

<p>The tour guide did not say much when we made the walk to the Accademia Gallary, but once inside, she was very passionate and informative. Unfortunately, since the tour was delayed due to some people being late, my party had to leave the museum tour a bit early to make it to the City Bike Tour portion of the trip. This was a fantastic way to see areas away from the city's main center.</p>

<p>This tour was fabulous. Our tour guide was informative and we learnt heaps about the city - the Medici family, their rivals, the artists and the silk merchants. Loved it and would highly recommend it</p>

<p>The tour takes in the major sights of Florence - the best part was the Accademia Gallery to view the statue of David with our wonderful and informative guide Marco</p>

<p>Sarah was simply amazing. The tour was well-paced and fun. So wonderful to learn some Florentine history from someone so knowledgeable and who knows how to present it in such an interesting manner.<br/> We would highly recommend this tour.<br/> Thank you Sarah</p>

<p>The bike tour was a really fun way for our kids (ages 10, 12, 15, and 16) to get an overview of the city. Our guide, Katarina, was excellent and great with the kids. And the added gelato was a nice touch. Definitely recommend.</p>

<p>Absolutely loved the Bike Tour! It was a great way to familiarize ourselves with the city as well as learn about the architecture and culture. </p> <p>Skip the Line to view the Statue of David was convenient.</p>

<p>The bike tour portion of the tour was fine (this is actually two separate tours sold together at a discount) - we had already seen many of the sights the day before under our own steam, but this was a good way to get some history on the sights wthout feeling the need to take millions of photographs. It also inspried us to see a few different places in the following days. The skip-the-line Accademia tour later in the day was also good, but brief. Fortunately you are able to stay in the Accademia after the tour ends, which is why if you do both tours, do the bike tour in the morning and Accademia in the afternoon. I recommend the book cafe opposite the Accademia entrance for a quiet cup of tea afterwards :)</p>

<p>Eleonora, our first guide for the city bike ride, was amazing! Pretty knowledgeable and she answered every question. Our second guide for the Academy Museum was Barbara and she was also great! Overall fun and great experience</p>

<p>Great experience. However I think it could improve by adding microphone and earplug so the guide could talk during the rides but also to be connected with he entire group all the time as with so many people sometimes was hard to follow right behind her</p>

<p>Biking in the morning was a good idea as it gave us a layout of the city. The streets are busy and our guide did a great job keeping us safe. I would have selected the Gallery Tour for a different time as it is a long day to do both. I am not a fan of head phones and it was hard to hear our Gallery Tour guide.</p>

<p>Great fun and overview of Florence. Excellent guide</p>

<p>The tour was great and very fun and informative. The bikes were awesome!</p>

<p>Fabulous guide and great tour. But too many people meant it took a long time getting started and a couple of people weren't confident on bikes so the combo meant it felt like we spent a lot of time waiting.</p>

<p>Wonderful tour! Grea bike ride, covered a lot of areas of Florence and skipping the line for david was excellent.</p>

<p>Was lovely... Very explanatory guide. Worth taking.kids enjoyed it too.</p>