Art Viva's "Masterpieces of the Uffizi Gallery Tour" was featured in a BBC documentary hosted by Michael Palin. The two-hour tour gives visitors a greater understanding of critical works like Botticelli's "Birth of Venus." Tours prices start at €39 for adults and include the guide and all ticket and reservation fees (prices effective spring 2010). Art Viva offers a total of five different walking tours of Florence, and if the Uffizi tour is purchased as a part of a package, there is a discount over tours booked separately.
Art Viva
Via de' Sassetti 1
50123 Florence
Italy
+39-55-2645033
Florencetown has tours of the city of Florence and nearby attractions in Tuscany. Its "Uffizi Gallery and Vasari Corridor Tour" offers a special opportunity to visit the museum plus the Vasari Corridor, a collection of more than 800 paintings that is rarely open to the public and can only be seen as part of an escorted tour. The combined tour costs €89 per person. (Prices effective spring 2010; please note that after June 2010 the Vasari Corridor will close for extensive renovation for approximately three years).
Florencetown
Via de' Lamberti, 1
50123 Florence
Italy
+39-55-0123994
florencetown.com
City Discovery tours offer various options for taking guided tours of the Uffizi. The museum can be visited on its own or as part of tour including either the Accademia or the Vasari Corridor. These tours give expert information and allow visitors to skip long lines to enter the sites. A guided Uffizi tour concludes the full-day "All Florence: Its Great Museums and Hills" tour, which includes a coach trip into the Tuscan hills, Florence city highlights and a tour of the interior of the Franciscan Church of Santa Croce. Tour prices start at $50, effective spring 2010.
City Discovery
c/o Tours and Co. Associates, Inc.
13 North Saint Clair St.
Toledo, OH 43604
866-988-8687
city-discovery.com/country/Italy
Rick Steves, the PBS television travel series host and guide book author, has created audio tours that can be downloaded for free from iTunes or his website to a personal MP3 player. There are tours of the Uffizi Gallery and also of the city of Florence and of the Accademia, with Michelangelo's David. Accompanying maps are downloadable and printable on the same website.
Rick Steves' Europe Through the Back Door Podcasts
ricksteves.com/news/podcast_menu.htm
Firenze Musei (Florence Museums) publishes "The Uffizi: The Official Guide," a full-colored guidebook complete with map and in-depth explanations of highlights from the collection. The book is organized to allow a self-guided tour, and it can be purchased in any of the museum's shops. Another alternative is an audio guide, which can be rented inside the museum for €4.65 for a single apparatus, or €6.20 for a double apparatus; it is available in six languages. Ticket reservations are strongly recommended, since entrance lines can be very long. Reservations can be booked directly with the museum through its official website. Entrance fees start at €9.50, plus €3 reservation fee, effective spring 2010.
Uffizi Gallery
Piazzale degli Uffizi 6
50122 Florence
+39-55-2388651
uffizi.com
Context Florence only takes a maximum of six travelers on each of its scholarly walking tours. "Arte Firenze" is a three-hour tour of the Uffizi led by an art historian. Other offerings include a fresco-making workshop, a Michelangelo seminar and visits to leading art restoration laboratories. Tour prices start €60 per person, effective spring 2010.
Context Florence
2208 South Street
Philadelphia, PA 19146
800-691-6036
contexttravel.com
