Florence Accademia Gallery Small-Group Guided Tour
Description
The Accademia Gallery was originally established in 1784 by Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo as part of the Academy of Fine Arts to house a prestigious collection of original masterpieces and classical casts. In 1873 the city of Florence chose this gallery as the permanent home for Michelangelo’s David to protect the masterpiece from the elements in Piazza della Signoria. The location is particularly symbolic as the Accademia sits on the same square where a young Michelangelo first studied the art of sculpting. Beyond the David you will discover Michelangelo’s unfinished "Slaves" or "Prigioni" which appear to be struggling to escape the raw marble. These powerful sculptures offer a rare glimpse into the artist's creative process and his philosophy of "liberating" the figure trapped within the stone. Our expert guide will bring each masterpiece to life by sharing the fascinating history and hidden stories behind the works of one of the world’s greatest artists.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Known as Italy's second most popular museum and the home of the original Michelangelo's David, Academy of Fine Arts of Florence was founded in the last XVIII century and still receives art students from all around the world today. Accademia stores masterpieces of great artist such as Giambologna, Ghirlandaio, and Michelangelo. Our expert English speaking guide will bring each masterpiece to come back to life with stories of one of the world’s greatest artist.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(275)
Excellent information, knowledgeable guide, moved our group smoothly through the crowded museum. Friendly and professional.
Good experience. Really good guide. Easy entrance to the museum. Laura was very knowledgeable and kept us all engaged.
Super great tour! The lady was excellent and kind! We got to see everything. Super worth it!! Everything was great!
Told many times to be 20 minutes early (with exclamation points). We arrived promptly and then told to come back in 15 minutes. We came back and were told there was a delay and to sit on the couch, which we did for almost 30 minutes. during this time, the tour operator continued to sell skip the line tickets for our group. Finally at 12:30 we asked again and learned that we were actually joining another tour that must have been running late or scheduled to start at 12:30. The tour guide was flustered or frustrated (maybe both) and upset and we felt that she never had any command of the group and frankly lost control. By the time we got into the academy we were nearing the originally scheduled completion point. The tour guide or operator made no modifications or efforts to improve the experience. While we were looking forward to an expert guides overview, we had also chosen this experience to keep to our personal time schedule. Had the tour operators communicated with us what was really going on rather than stalling basically, we could have reset our expectations and enjoyed the experience. I reached out to Viator afterward to see if they would consider a partial refund and heard quickly back with a no. Long story short, if you are late, Viator and their tour operators tell you won’t be refunded but if they are late, they will take no responsibility. I was surprised at the lack of customer service as our other experiences have been quite good. PS - we do notice that unlike other tours where they ask you multiple times to give a review, no one do on this tour - I suspect it’s because reviews would be poor.
Raquel is very passionate about her job, such good information and storytelling. As lot covered in just a short time. Highly recommend.
Sylvia was THE BEST TOUR GUIDE!!! She explained everything about the David that made it so interesting and even more fascinating!!!! Sylvia was fun and so helpful!!!
The tour was good but it started over 30 minutes late because they had to “find us a guide”. Seems like there are lots of tour options, could easily find a more reliable option.
Tour was great with Filomena as our guide, she was full of knowledge and had a great personality. She took us through the background of both Michelangelo and Florence to set the scene and better understand the statue of David. She was very informative while keeping it easily digestible, fun and interesting at the same time. Would definitely recommend!
Our tour guide was extremely knowledgeable and was wonderful to tour with through the Accademia. This was a wonderful tour and priced very well including the entry ticket. The fact that we got to skip the line was wonderful!
The tour was exceptional!! A whole new appreciation for the history & artwork! Thank you so much for a bucket list memory.
