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Our art historian guide will accompany you on a wonderful voyage exploring one museum or garden in Florence. You can also add these short tours to any of the half day tours or they can be combined together though this may depend on previous bookings and the availability of the tour guide. To avoid disappointment, we recommend that you book these “add on tours “when booking your original tours.
The Academy of Fine Arts Florence (Academy Museum)
It is situated in Via Ricoli and was commissioned by Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo in 1784 who united all schools of drawing under the academy. You can find Michelangelo’s original statue of David as well as many of his other notable works. Other famous renaissance works on display include fifteenth and sixteenth century Florentine paintings by Paolo Uccello, Sandro Botticelli, Andrea del Sarto and Domenico Ghirlandaio.
Uffizi Gallery, Florence
The Uffizi Gallery is housed in a beautiful building designed by George Vasari overlooking Piazza della Signora. The gallery is filled with paintings from the twelve hundreds to the eighteen hundreds. There are 45 rooms filled with art and it is indeed an art lovers’ paradise as it is filled with many famous paintings. Some of the most famous paintings include Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, Leonardo’s Annunciation and Michelangelo’s Holy Family.
Pitti Palace
The Pitti Palace has been the residence of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany and the King of Italy. Fortunately it has been converted to a museum with a very vast and excellent collection of art and artifacts. It has several collections its premises and exhibitions with an additional charge are also frequently held here.
There are several galleries to be visited. The Palatine Gallery is famous for its Raphaels, Correggios, Rubens and Titians. The Royal Apartments now house the Gallery of Modern Art. The Silver Museum contains a priceless collection of silver and art pieces in semi precious stones and gold. The Costume Gallery contains theatrical costumes dated from the sixteenth century up to the present. The Carriages Museum exhibits carriages and other modes of transport used by the Grand Dukes mostly late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century. The Porcelain Museum has exquisite pieces in porcelain including gifts and dinner sets and is in the Boboli Gardens.
Boboli Gardens
The Boboli Gardens behind the Pitti Palace became famous after the Medicis commissioned Niccollo Pericolo also known as Tribolo to design them. The gardens were enlarged and many treasures were added after it was sold by the Medicis.
There is a beautiful amphitheatre and a cypress alley. The gardens are filled with statues and grottos and fountains and also house the Porcelain Museum. You can find renaissance, baroque and rococo touches all over the gardens and even an Egyptian obelisk.
The gardens are large and extend across almost one hundred and eleven acres. They extend from behind Pitti Palace up to the modern Fort Belvedere in Florence. You can spend a lot of time exploring these gardens, sitting on the park benches or even enjoying a lovely walk in cool and natural surroundings.
Bardini Gardens
These beautiful gardens have been reopened recently after extensive restoration. They are divided into different enclaves like the Agricultural Park, in the east, which has remained almost unaltered from the Middle Ages, the Baroque staircase in the centre and the English Woods in the west. The whole garden is filled with many rare plants and exotic species.
There is a beautiful path covered with wisterias, which leads the visitor to a rare collection of camellias, peonies, hydrangeas and viburnums. The gardens have a lot of pleasant surprises as you explore them. There is a Baroque style flight of steps in the centre of the gardens, grottos and statues. This beautiful garden is worth a visit whenever you are in Florence.
Enquiry
Fill the registration form and enquire about the trip for your suitable dates. Alternatively you can enquire about this travel tour by email info@excursionsintuscany.com.
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