David & Duomo: Accademia & Skip the Line Exclusive Dome Access
Description
Explore Florentine art and architecture on a tour that gets you past the typical long lines at the Accademia Gallery and the Duomo. You'll breeze past the long line to marvel at Michelangelo’s statue of David, granting you incredible insight into the mind of a master. After, you’ll stop at Piazza del Duomo outside the Baptistery and check out the incredible bronze-cast doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti, coined the "Gates of Paradise" by Michelangelo. Continue on to the jewel of Florence, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, with a special skip-the-line entrance up to the terraces—an exclusive space rarely visited by the general public. You’re welcome to continue your journey up to the top of Florence by climbing to the top of the dome to soak up even more spectacular views of the city. With all entrance fees included, an expert guide, and a small group of just 18 guests max for a more intimate experience, there’s no better way to see Florence’s top attractions.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Meet your local expert guide and small group of 18 people or fewer outside the Accademia. Before the daytime crowds show up or after they've left in the afternoon, you’ll head in to marvel at Michelangelo’s “David” as well as his unfinished sculptures known as “Slaves,” which give incredible insight into the mind of one of history’s greatest artists.
After leaving the museum, you’ll stop at Piazza del Duomo outside the Baptistery and check out the incredible bronze-cast doors by Lorenzo Ghiberti, coined the "Gates of Paradise" by Michelangelo. Your tour includes tickets (valid for 72 hours) allowing you to visit other monuments like the Opera Duomo Museum, Baptistery of San Giovanni and Crypt of Santa Reparata on your own after the tour.
You’ll skip lines into the Duomo, where your guide will bring the unbelievable history of its construction to life before heading to the pinnacle of your tour: the once-in-a-lifetime chance to step onto the Duomo’s rooftop terraces, rarely open to the public and offering stunning panoramic views.
Finally, once the guided tour concludes on the terrace level, you’re welcome to continue your journey up to the top of Florence by climbing to the top of the dome. Starting from this level gives you a head start past the long lines down below, so you’ll be soaking up spectacular views of the city in no time at all.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Unfortunately due to the nature of this tour it is not suitable for guests with mobility impairments or with wheelchairs, or strollers.
- This is a walking tour. Guests should be able to walk at a moderate pace without difficulty.
- Due to security reasons, children under 7 years of age aren't allowed on this tour and minors under 18 years must be accompanied by an adult.
- We ask all guests (including children) bring ID on the day of their tour.
- Due to the religious nature of the Cathedral, all individuals regardless of gender must cover their shoulders and knees. Walks cannot be held responsible for those denied entry.
- Flip-flops, slippers, clogs and shoes with heels are prohibited inside the Cathedral.
- Your Duomo ticket is valid for 72 hours to explore the other Duomo monuments on your own: Opera Duomo Museum, Baptistery of San Giovanni, Crypt of Santa Reparata and Giotto's Tower.
Reviews(703)
Jessica was fantastic and a wealth of knowledge. She made this experience so memorable!
Excellent guide and tour. Perfect amount of time and the guide provided a lot of interesting information that helped to make the tour come alive!
We did the morning tour with Annette and it was one of our best tour experiences in Italy! Annette set the expectations well, was extremely informative and had a dearth of insight to share about any question our tour group asked. The skip-the-line at the Duomo truly was amazing, we saved so much time. We took two tours from Walks on our trip and both turned out to be excellent!
Annette gave us a wealth of information about Michaelangelo, his life and impact on Renaissance art, and his masterpiece David. The tour of the Duomo was very impressive and we loved the "skip the line" access.
Excellent tour guide - knowledgeable! Wonderful experience – skipping the line save so much time and waiting in the heat.
Brenda was amazing! Had all the facts and made it so entertaining… wonderful story teller of historical significance. My eleven year old was completely into it as well! Worth the trip up to the duomo too!
Brenda was an amazing tour guide. She was informative and added great little stories to bring to life what she was telling us. The time at the museum with David was great. Brenda was passionate and shared many details. The time at the Duomo was really unique. She shared details about the interior and then we climbed stairs to a private terrace. The views were great and we learned details about the exterior and restoration efforts. We have been traveling through Italy and Brenda is the best guide we have had so far.
Fabulous Tour! The pick-up location was easy. The Tour operators were easy to spot and checking in was efficient and fast. The sound equipment was very helpful with keeping our group together. Our knowledgable tour guide had us effortlessly move through the early morning crowds of people who surrounded David. We had many opportunities to take photos and still listen to her give a history of David, the other sculptures and artwork. Our VIP climb to the terrace was special. While others in our group climbed to the top of the dome, we chose to go back down and see the Crypt instead. Our lovely tour guide helped guide us to do the latter. Highly recommend this tour!
Kristina was very knowledgeable and did a great job explaining how the art and architecture fit in with the history of Florence. The view from the top of then dome was incredible and worth all of the steps it took to climb.
Our tour guide Jessica was amazing! Very knowledgeable and accommodating.
