How to Avoid the Crowds in Florence

Florence has around 400,000 residents and receives millions of visitors a year, most of whom head for the same square kilometre. You cannot make the crowds disappear, but you can avoid meeting them at their worst.

When to come

• Quietest: January and February. Cold, sometimes wet, and the museums are a pleasure.
• Shoulder: November, early March. Fewer people, shorter days.
• Busiest: Easter to October, peaking in late spring and early autumn. Summer is hot and crowded; August is a little quieter in the city as some Italians leave, but many restaurants close.
• Avoid: Easter week, Italian public holidays, and big trade-fair weeks (the Pitti Uomo menswear fair in January and June fills hotels).

When in the week

• Mondays: the Uffizi, Accademia and Palazzo Pitti are closed, so their crowds land on Tuesdays.
• Free first Sundays at state museums are the most crowded days of the month.
• Weekends bring Italian day visitors on top of international tourists.

When in the day

• First hour (8:00 to 9:30): squares are empty, museums open quietly. Book first slots.
• Midday to late afternoon: peak crowds everywhere in the centre.
• Last two hours before closing: museums thin out as tour groups leave.
• Evening: after 19:00 the centre empties of day-trippers. Walk Ponte Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria then.

Book, and book the right thing

• Timed tickets from the official sites are the real skip-the-line for the Uffizi, the Accademia and the Duomo climbs. The booking fee is small.
• Third-party "skip-the-line" tickets often resell the same slot at a markup. They are worth it only if official slots are gone, or if a guide is included and you want one.
• Do not buy from people on the pavement outside museums.

Quieter alternatives

Instead of	Try	Why
Uffizi at midday	Bargello	Donatello and early Michelangelo, often nearly empty
Cathedral queue	Museo dell'Opera del Duomo	The original sculpture from the cathedral; included in Duomo passes
Accademia queue	Museo di San Marco	Fra Angelico's frescoes, five minutes away
Piazzale Michelangelo at sunset	San Miniato al Monte or the Bardini Garden	The same view, a fraction of the people
Santa Croce in high season	Santa Maria Novella	Masaccio and Ghirlandaio, usually calmer
Lunch near the Duomo	The Oltrarno or Sant'Ambrogio	Better food, lower prices

Small habits that help

• Walk one street parallel to the main routes: Via dei Calzaiuoli and Via Por Santa Maria are packed; the lanes beside them are not.
• Do the big outdoor sights early or late, and museums in the middle of the day only if you have a slot.
• Stay in the Oltrarno, Sant'Ambrogio or San Marco rather than beside the Duomo; the evenings are calmer.
• Keep valuables in a front pocket in crowds; pickpockets work the bridges, the Duomo square and buses.

The planner has a Beat the crowds focus that favours quieter places and early starts: try it here.