There’s just nothing better than immersing yourself in the culture and vibes of a new destination, and if you’re short on time, a tour is one of the best ways to get acclimated. During my first visit to Florence recently, I wanted to see all of the artworks that I had studied during high school but I also didn’t want to spend days inside galleries. Enter, CiaoFlorence, a local tour company offering a range of skip-the-line gallery tours to feed your cultural curiosity and share the secrets of the great Masters.

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While these tours were complimentary, all thoughts and opinions are our own.

We review CiaoFlorence’s Uffizi Gallery & Accademia Gallery tours

Meeting up

Any art lover heading to Florence for the first time is in for an awe-inspiring, and sometimes overwhelming experience for the senses. Thankfully the team at CiaoFlorence has curated a selection of tours to help keep you on track when exploring this stunning city famed as the birthplace of the Renaissance.

Each of the tours that we took met at the tour group’s central office location, which was easy to find but lacked a toilet. Here we met with our guide, Greta, a Florence local and art historian. After introductions with the rest of the group, we received our headsets for the upcoming one and a half-hour tour, and were on our way.

The company likes to keep numbers small for these tours so that you can ask questions and hear the guide as you are walking. When we joined, we had groups of just five for both sessions, which was so wonderful as we could ask lots of questions.

Small Group Accademia Gallery Guided Tour with Skip-the-Line Tickets

Ciaoflorence review art tour The Accademia Gallery Florence Michelangelo David
There’s nothing like seeing Michelangelo’s David in-person for the first time

Just a short walk from the meetup point, when we saw the queue to get into the gallery, we were so glad to be on a tour with skip-the-line status. We visited in the low season of early March, and I hear that queue time can reach over two hours in peak season, which, in our opinion, is a waste of excellent Florence exploration time.

Once inside, Greta explained that while the gallery itself had officially opened in 1784, as a space to preserve the history and culture of the city, the building was originally a hospital. She took us to see paintings from different periods first, highlighting some culturally and historically relevant works by the likes of Narco di Cione and Sandro Botticelli.

Of course, the highlight for most people will be Michelangelo’s David. Standing in front of this iconic sculpture is truly something to behold and captures an essence to the work that simply can not be gleaned from books or even videos. But more than just the sheer beauty and craftsmanship, Greta dived deep into the making of the work and just why it was such a huge accomplishment. She also gave some wonderful facts about how the icon had been protected over the years to keep it safe from both war and humans.

In the lead up to the sculpture is the ‘Hall of Prisoners’ featuring unfinished works by the Master. We learned that the reason it is named this is because the characters he was working on are forever kept as prisoners in the marble, as they were not able to be given their complete form. Seeing these is a masterclass in how a gifted sculptor works.

If, like me, you find the technical process of working at such sheer scale, you may find the gallery’s collection of casts intriguing. Here, you can see plaster casts from the 19th century that show a variety of subjects in process and get a better understanding for how the artists worked. Although, it’s important to note, that Michelangelo didn’t work with any trials, and carved his masterpieces directly from the marble – such an astonishing feat.

Surprisingly for many, including myself, The Accademia has a wonderful selection of musical instruments, including what is thought of as the world’s first piano and a number of string instruments from masters such as Stradivarius.

Following on from the tour, guests can stay in the gallery to explore the full collection for the rest of the day, but we had another tour to get to.

Small Group Uffizi Gallery Guided Tour with Skip-the-Line Tickets

Uffizi Gallery Ciaoflorence guided art tour Florence people looking at paintings
The guides at Ciaoflorence bring the artworks at the Uffizi Gallery to life

In the same meeting place, Greta was also to be our guide to discover all the secrets of the famed Uffizi Gallery. The walk to this gallery was slightly longer, maybe 10-15 minutes, and it was wonderful to speak with her about the various architecture we passed along the way and its importance to the city.

Again, we got to walk past the snaking queues and quickly enter the gallery, avoiding the inclement weather brewing outside and another two-hour wait time. Inside, I was blown away by the sheer amounts of work hanging side by side on display.

Botticelli’s Birth of Venus was a highlight for me, and Greta dived into the symbolism, the culture, and history at the time of its creation, and even shared some of the artist’s secrets. Unlike many works that disappoint when seen in person, this exceptional painting was a marvel to behold and to get-up-close-and-personal with.

Caravaggio’s, Massacio’s, Giotto’s, and more Michelangelo’s, including his only surviving panel painting are all on display. But I was equally enamoured by unfamiliar works and artists that Greta brought to life for us, including her brief yet concise history on the Medici family and how they made their mark on the city, particularly Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici.

There are also some points in the gallery where you can get exceptional and unique viewpoints of the city. And don’t miss grabbing a coffee at the beautifully appointed cafe on the terrace, where you can really bask in the beauty of both the city and the art.

Final thoughts

What I loved about these tours is that, at just over 90 minutes, we got to learn some pivotal facts about different works, some that we knew and some that we didn’t. The time was just enough to get educated and then you can stay in the galleries for as long as like afterwards to see the things that particularly interest you.

Also, our guide pointed out some paintings that included images of Florentine architecture that still stands today, so then seeing the buildings and recognising them from the years-old art pieces was kind of thrilling. She answered our questions and schooled us in everything from sfumato to chiaroscuro to religious symbolism, and colour theory, and my partner even stated afterwards that he learned more on these tours than during two years of art history in high school!

If you want to dive into the art-filled heritage of Florence and the Masters who called the city home, I can’t recommend these tours enough.

Discover more about CiaoFlorence’s Small Group Accademia Gallery Guided Tour with Skip-the-Line Tickets and Small Group Uffizi Gallery Guided Tour with Skip-the-Line Tickets

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