Palazzo Vecchio Guided Experience With Entrance Ticket

Really enjoyable and informative small group tour of this beautiful & important landmark in Florence! Our guide, Ivan, was super knowledgeable, as well as thoughtful and personable. Tour was just the right length.

Beautiful artworks and frescoes demonstrating the greatness and power of the Medici. Fillipo was a great guide, effortlessly mixing history and artistic appreciation into an engaging 1:30 tour. Highly recommended!

We had a great tour with a very knowledgeable and enthusiastic guide Francesca. I felt it was just the right length to give a good overview plus interesting details, but not overly long, especially considering it was extremely hot that day. Well worth the money.

Political intrigue and so much Medici history! You can’t visit Florence without learning about the Medici family and the Palazzo Vecchio is a key location in the family’s history, and the history of the city as well. Our guide Fabio was terrific! We enjoyed it so much we came back the next day and did the Secret Passageways Tour.

We walked off this tour today. DNF - did not finish…and we paid $65 per person. I have been on 30+ tours in 13 different countries, and this was the first one I have ever walked off from. Our tour guide was terrible. He could not keep time/pacing; he did not follow the his own tour company’s expectations; and we paid for an English tour, and it was not fully in English. I admire our tour guide - he is much smarter than I am for being able to speak multiple languages. However, the job requires a guide to be able to have a deep enough understanding of a language to communicate the story and history in an effective and engaging way. And sadly, I felt he did not have a deep enough grasp. He kept switching to heavy, full Italian sentences at times. It was a real struggle to try to follow the story. I love history - especially the Medici history. I have taken full college class work on the Medici women. It is really hard to bore me with history - I was so bored and could follow the story, and I even knew a decent amount to begin with!!! Our guide was also very disrespectful with the timing of the tour. It was made very clear by our pre-tour instructions that the start time was 5:15pm and anyone late would not be accommodated. Accordingly, we arrived early. In addition, our guide made it clear that we were the last tour through the palace, which closed at 6:30pm. He emphasized we would need to be efficient. He did not follow his own rule. We waited another 5 minutes for one more family to show up. It is now 5:20pm. And then, the tour guide spent 15 minutes talking outside the palace by the Neptune fountain. Now -5:35pm. Less than a hour to see the palace. We walked to the front of the plaza, and spent another 10 talking outside the palace. 5:45pm!! We paid to tour inside the palace, not sit outside in the plaza. We finally made it inside 25 minutes later. We made it to just the great room and now the tour guide was rambling. We made it another 10 minutes before we decided to the leave tour at 5: 55pm. I wanted to see the palace that we paid entrance into, and our tour guide was still going on in the first room. At this rate, we were concerned we would not get to see the entire palace. We left the tour guide and continued touring the palace on our own. The palace was beautiful. I recommend the experience, just not this tour guide. At one point we were in a walkway that overlooked into the great room. At 6:05pm - the tour had still not made it out of that room!! Luckily, we walked out at 6:31 and we had seen all the rooms. I am not sure if our other tour mates were so lucky. Im glad we walked off - at least we got to see everything! However, this experience was the biggest waste of money. I think you’re better off just buying your own entry ticket and taking your time reading the interpretive pieces. I am going to reach out to the company and ask they refund at least part of our tour. However- it did say nonrefundable. But, this wasn’t us arriving late. This was poor customer service and a bad product. We shall see what happens.

My guide was incredible and her local knowledge and expertise made the tour unforgettable. Must do in Florence.

Our guide was wonderful, and she provided a fascinating look at the palace and the Medici family - cool and interesting details.

Informative tour of Palazzo Vecchio

Lots of art history for the entire tour. Beautiful art throughout. There were a good amount of stairs.

€99 wasted. Tour didn’t happen. And no one wanted to help. It didn’t happen because the meeting point was given wrong and the phone number for help is published wrong. When we got through to an agent agent via txt sooooo unhelpful. Then cut us off. Had to buy another two tickets at a cost of €36. So disgusted at there cause no refunds!!!!

Steffie was incredibly knowledgeable and thorough. She was easy to find, added outstanding information, answered our questions, was thoughtful about what we were interested in, and took time to ensure we got to spend time in a “secret” room. Well worth the time!

Very good tour, our guide Annette was fabulous. She did a great job, highly recommend this tour. There are stairs inside palazzo vecchio, makes sure your okay with about 4 flights of stairs up and down.

A competent concise guiding through a surprisingly big sight in the short time I had available. Thank you Emmanuelle.

Our tour guide had great information to share. We had a bit of trouble understanding him due to his accent.

Steffie was a wonderful guide! She was a fountain of information & we learned so much from her! Wish she had been with us elsewhere in Florence.

We have the best luck with our viatour tours! They have the most knowledgeable guide guides and the small tour exceeded expectations. This is a can’t miss spot on your Florence tour.

So glad we had Lorenzo as our guide. It was two of us and another couple - small group was ideal for us. All questions were answered with great detail. We never felt rushed. Absolutely worth it to have a guide - makes me wonder what I missed in the places I visited without one.

Can't say enough about what a great guide Ivanno is. Knowledgeable, enthusiastic, friendly and down to earth. He answered all of our questions with great patience. Highly recommend

My english guide was wonderful! I sadly don't remember her name to mention it here. The visit itself was fascinating, it's a must! The tower however, not so interesting if you've already gone to the top of the Duomo.

Our guide was extremely knowledgeable about the Palazzo and gave us a lot of interesting information. Well worth the price.

The guide’s English was poor, both in articulation and vocabulary. The information provided did not go beyond what was already written on the museum inscriptions. There was no storytelling—only brief descriptions of each room, lacking context about the Medici family’s history.

It was so much better with a guide who provided us context and stories. Our particular guide didn't flinch when we peppered her with questions! She knew all the answers!

Great tour. Guide was on time, exactly where the meeting instructions said. Very knowledgeable. Everyone in our group enjoyed the experience.

Incredible! Our tour ended up just being my husband and I (other couple didn’t show) and the tour guide went above and beyond! Our 1.5 hour tour turned into almost 3 hours and she did a fantastic job telling us about the history. She was incredibly informative and after the tour recommended some restaurants nearby to enjoy (which we did!). My husband said this was his favorite tour of our entire 10 day Italy trip. Highly recommend

We had such a great day. Our guide was friendly, energetic, and knowledgeable. This was a great tour. Wasn't sure what we were going to see but it was a highlight of our tour in Florence that day.

The Palazzo was amazing but our tour guide didn’t have great English so that was unfortunate. I believe there were many more historical and religious details that could have been explained in more detail. But, overall it is still very much worth the entry fee, etc.

Ivan was very informative and friendly. He definitely knows and loves sharing historical information.

Elizabeth took us on a very informative tour of Palazzo Vecchio. She is super-knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and was so fun in her presentation! We loved it!

This was amazing!!! Our guide was the absolute best, we could have hung out with her all day! She was amazingly knowledgeable and a wonderful human being! Thank you Silvia!

Our guide Ivan was very knowledgable and funny. I'm a bit of a history nerd so it was easy to entertain me but my wife is much less interested. He did a great job of making it more interesting for her and explaining everything in a way that really got her engaged in the history of the palace and the Medici family.

Steffi was our guide for an interesting and enlightening tour! Her enthusiasm about the Medici and the Palazzo Vecchio was contagious.

The guide was very informative about the art, his knowledge was exceptional. He spoke very good English and added a little humor to our tour.

The tour guide was not 15 min early as stated on the directions caused us to worry and call to make sure they were coming. Once he arrived he seemed unhappy that we were the only couple signed up for the tour. The tour guide was assigned for English. Unfortunately he spoke with a heavy accent that was hard to interpret. The tour was insightful though the guide seemed to have his own agenda and was quite snarky. I would not recommend this tour if your looking for a friendly tour guide that is patient and friendly with ample opportunity to take pictures look somewhere else. In addition when the tour was over he walked us out and did not afford us time to explore on our own though the tour included the cost of the museum.

Florence and Palazzo Vecchio are absolutely beautiful — I loved visiting and highly recommend seeing them. My disappointment is entirely with our guide, Ivan, not with the city, the Palazzo, or the tour company. From my point of view, the tour was boring and lacked the depth I was hoping for. I was also put off by how often the Medici family was described simply as "ego maniacs" because of the lavish decoration in the Palazzo. He went further, calling Niccolo Matas, the architect of the facade of the Basilica of Santa Croce, an "ego maniac" just because he included the Star of David on the facade. In my opinion, his words regarding Niccolo Matas were really inappropriate. I felt the commentary was one-sided and didn’t give a balanced picture of the Medici family’s historical contributions. I left feeling disappointed and frustrated, because such an incredible place deserves a guide who can bring its history to life. In my opinion, this guide didn’t do justice to one of Florence’s greatest landmarks. If you book a tour of Palazzo Vecchio, I’d suggest asking for a different guide so you can fully appreciate the history and beauty of this landmark.

The tour was very good. Knowledgeable guide, but was too much for our 10 y.o. It was a bit too hard to understand due to heavy accent.

The last tour of the day #5. Enjoyed the guide and seeing all the Art and The workings of Florence. We were hot tired and hungry but very glad we did the tour. Thank You. Victoria and Richard Wilson

Robust history of Medici Family history, our guide was super informational and really helped shape Medici history over many generations!

Our guide, Annett, did a fantastic job of guiding us through the centuries stories of Palacio Vecchio and the Medici family history. We had a delightful time and would highly recommend Annette to anyone!

Our guide was very knowledgeable & explained clearly the history & key facts about the Medici family & history of Palazzio Vechio. We were a family group of 4 and we had our own personal guide. We could take the tour at our own pace and this was perfect for teenagers. I would thoroughly recommend this tour and guide as excellent value for money

Laura was an amazing guide, with perfect English and a vast knowledge of her tours. We were superbly impressed and grateful for her insights on the tour

Very informative and friendly guide! A must see if you’re in Florence. Always nice to have a guide point out the importance and the meaning behind the many many works of art!

Our guide was amazing! He was so knowledgeable about the various Medici rooms and the history of the palace! One of my favorite tours.

We had a great tour with Francesca. We did four different tours on this trip and she was our best guide. She brought great energy and she knew a lot. It was a relatively expensive tour (we did it as a private tour for 5 people), but well worth it.

Our guide Leonardo was friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. The palazzo was stunning and the art was amazing. Leonardo really brought the Medici legacy to life.

The tour was actually booked for two but one of us was unwell so it turned out to be a personal single person tour for me alone. Leo, my guide was prompt and easy to find at the meeting point. He was friendly and a mine of useful information, readily able to answer the many questions I had. He put into historical context the art treasures and the intriguing iconographic detail we saw around the Palazzo. A tour hosted by 'Florence Pass' to be thoroughly recommended.

Our guide was knowledgeable, brought the palace and the paintings to life. His English was outstanding also. We saw this palace and the Pitti, Pitti was more interesting but I recommend bith

Excellent tour of the Palazzo Vecchio w/ Ivano! He really knows the history of Florence and its rulers. He’s funny too.

Guide was very knowledgeable, perfect english. Without a tour like this you would walk past so many things and be none the wiser. Guide was excellent, friendly, punctual, knew so much. Thoroughly recommended.

This small tour is educational and fascinating if you are at all in interested in the history and how Firenze played such and important part in the formative years of Italy. I am fascinated by the influence of the Medici dynasty so it was wonderful to be standing and walking in the rooms where so many important events and ceremonies took place. Plus being with a guide in a small group and discussing history is extra and extra bonus. Loved standing on the balcony and looking across at the Pitti Palace and beautiful gardens. This Palazzo tour is exceptional way to immerse yourself into history.