27 February 2012

Amici degli Uffizi / Friends of the Uffizi Firenze, Italia / Florence, Italy


Amici degli Uffizi is a membership to the state museums of Florence.  The money raised for the membership is used to restore and maintain the artwork.  For a single person, the membership cost is 60 euro; for a family of up to four, the cost is 100 euro; and for a student under the age of 26, the cost is 40 euro for a calendar year membership. At an average museum entrance fee of 10 to 15 euros, it takes only a handful of visits to the museum before your Friends of the Uffizi membership pays for itself. If you live in Florence or nearby, you will definitely get your money's worth.  If you plan to be on vacation for longer than even a few days in Florence -- well, you do the math. 


Your membership buys you unlimited entrance to the state museums in Florence:

  • Uffizi Gallery
  • Accademia Gallery
  • The Pitti Palace (several different museums within the Pitti with individual admissions)
  • Bargello Museum (one of my favorite museums)
  • Museum of  the Medici Chapels
  • Museum of Palazzo Davanzati
  • Museum of San Marco
  • Garden of the Medici Villa of Costello
  • Medici Villa of Petraia
  • Medici Villa of Poggio a Caiano
  • Medici Villa of Cerreto Guidi & Historical Hunting and Territorial Museum
  • Cenacoli of Ognisanti, Andrea del Sarto, Fuligno, and Sant'Apollonia
  • Cloister of the Scalzo
  • Church and museum of Orsanmichele
  • Boboli Gardens
  • Bardini Gardens
Only at two museums in Florence does everyone who knows advise paying the additional 4,50 euro reservation fee for a designated entrance time, which saves you from waiting in line a few hours. With your membership, you walk to the appropriate door and get your ticket and enter when you want, no reservation necessary.  

Go to the Friends of the Uffizi office at the Uffizi Museum or go to the website to buy your membership.

Two wonderful gardens in Florence are included in the membership:  Boboli and Bardini.  Both are literally in my backyard, only a few steps from my home.  Oh, and up that steep hill behind my house. I can enter either of the two gardens.  Great news for me, as I spend too many hours in front of my computer, and yet I crave sunlight, greenery, and the outdoors.


I share with you the info, but please don't take my bench.
My seat to enjoy the surrounding beauty, especially as the days get warmer and longer.

The Grotto, Boboli Gardens

No surprise, perhaps, that I bought for myself an amazing gift at the turn of the new year.  Now, with membership card in hand, I can pop into a museum to see a particular painting, room, or exhibit as I fancy.  Or visit the two gardens.  I can return again and again to my heart's content.  And I will.  Look for me sitting on the bench pictured above.

5 comments:

  1. I will imagine you there, my friend. What a wonderful way to enjoy the gardens or museums in small moments as versus a day excursion. You are blessed.

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  2. What an amazing value to have access to the gardens and museums!! Glad you splurged on it, well worth it! Gustare!

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  3. Can I ask... how long it took for your Membership card to arrive in the post?

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    1. No time at all because I went to the office (another door outside the Uffizi) and filled out the form right there and got my membership card all at the same time. The whole process took about 15 minutes.

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