Florence Overture

Covering the historical centre of Florence, artistically and historically, geared to all ages and all ages.

DURATION: 3 hours (half day) or 5-6 hours (full day)

This private walking tour of the historical centre of Florence covers the religious centre (cathedral & baptistery square), the political centre (town hall & square), renaissance palaces, medieval tower houses, churches & frescoed chapels, sculpture and bridges.

Walk the streets of the Medici’s, Michelangelo, Donatello, Machiavelli and Dante. Explore side streets with stories to transport you back to when Florence was the centre of the world.
The Overture walking tour is very flexible. If there is a particular church, museum or site located in the historical centre of Florence, or you have a particular interest in a subject or artist, the tour can be tailored to accommodate this.

The Accademia Gallery (Michelangelo’s David and some of his unfinished works), the food market, one of the major churches (Santa Maria Novella, Santa Croce, San Lorenzo) or the Palazzo Davanzati can be easily incorporated into the half day overture tour.

THE FULL DAY The Uffizi gallery or, the Pitti Palace are good museums to add to the full day overture tour as they require 2.5hours and 1.5hours respectively to visit.

Some other major museums are the San Marco monastery, the Medici chapels, the Bargello National Sculpture museum and the Palazzo Vecchio (town hall), to name just a few of the many wonderful options and ideas.

IMPORTANT Please see ‘More info’ for important information regarding ticket reservations and recommended tour start times if including the Accademia & Uffizi galleries in the tour itinerary.

Meeting place:

The reception of your hotel if located in the historical centre. Otherwise, an easy, centrally located meeting point will be established.

As we organise private tours only the start time is flexible, the meeting place is flexible and the length of the tour is flexible, with a minimum tour length of two hours.

All tours that we organise are private. We do not organise group tours.

The cost of the 3 hour tour (half day)

€420 for parties of 1-5 people (excluding admission fees)
€480 for parties of 6-9 people (excluding admission fees)
€540 for parties of 10 people or more (excluding admission fees)

The cost of the 5 hour tour  (full day)

€700 for parties of 1-5 people (excluding admission fees)
€800 for parties of 6-9 people (excluding admission fees)
€900 for parties of 10 people or more (excluding admission fees)

The cost of the 6 hour tour (full day)

€840 for parties of 1-5 people (excluding admission fees)
€960 for parties of 6-9 people (excluding admission fees)
€1080 for parties of 10 people or more (excluding admission fees)

ADMISSION FEES to sites are not included in the above prices. Admission fees to be paid on the day at the ticket office with guide.

There is a break for lunch in the middle of the 6 hour tour. If interested, we will make a lunch reservations at a nice local place that we like. Guides do not stay for lunch.

Accademia Gallery Admission Fee

The Accademia Gallery admission fee is €20 euro per person (€16pp ticket + €4pp reservation fee for timed entry). *Admission fees are subject to change*

Entering the cathedral (duomo)

Due to the increased security measures, we no longer guarantee visits to the inside of the Duomo (Florence Cathedral). Unfortunately the Cathedral does not take reservations or allow priority entry for groups accompanied by licensed guides. Because of this, your guide will discuss in detail the Duomo from the square outside.

Headsets 

Groups of 4 or more people will require headsets in order to hear the guide well both when walking in the city centre and in the museums due to surrounding noise.

Freya’s Florence will book these in advance and they will be distributed at the beginning of the tour and used for the entire duration of the tour. For parties up to 15 people the total cost for a half day hire is 30€ or for a full day tour the cost is 40€.
For parties greater than 15pax the cost of the individual headset hire for the half-day rental is 30€ + 2€ per person or for the full day rental the cost is €40 + €4 per person

Payment

Prepayment is required for guided tour costs. This is done as a security measure so that large sums of cash are not carried or exchanged on the day of the tour. We use a secure payment system provided by SumUP, you do not need to have a SumUP account to use it, you can sign in as a guest and use a credit card. SumUP charges a 2.5% handling/service fee which will be added to your invoice.

Reduced ticket admission fees for under 18 years

Under 18 years are free to state museums (Accademia, Uffizi gallery, Pitti Palace, Bargello sculpture museum) however, a digital copy of the original passport is necessary to show as proof of age at the ticket office of each museum.

Ticket reservations are necessary ahead of time at the Accademia gallery, the Uffizi gallery and the Medici chapels so as to avoid the very long lines of unreserved visitors. Freya’s Florence will make these reservations when the sites are included in the tour itinerary and the gallery booking fee of 4euro is paid at the time of ticket reservation to the gallery. We will charge this in advance to the visitor. It is non-refundable and non-transferable once paid to the gallery.

All visitors over 6 years old must pay the 4€ for the reservation fee.

Under 6 years are not required to have a ticket nor reservation.

There are reduced admissions costs at other sites in the city upon showing proof of age.

 

Dress code

Appropriate clothing for entering the churches during summer months:

Shoulders must be covered and skirts or shorts no higher than the top of the knee in churches.

Ticket reservations for Accademia & Uffizi galleries

The Uffizi and Accademia Galleries are closed on Mondays. It is not possible to make a reservation to avoid the long lines on the first Sunday of a month.

We make the ticket reservations ahead of time for these two galleries if included in the tour itinerary.

We strongly recommend avoiding entering these two galleries between 9am-4pm as they become extremely busy and queues accrue in the reservation areas after 9am.

Both galleries open at 8.15am and so we recommend entering between 8.15-9am. Or, we will organise an afternoon tour entering from 4pm (they both close at 6.30pm) for the Uffizi gallery as it requires 2.5hours to visit and entering after 5pm at the Accademia gallery.

Tuesday is the busiest day of the week for both of galleries as they are closed on Monday. We strongly advise not including them in the tour itinerary on Tuesday. If necessary then we recommend entering no later than 8.30am.

Cancellation Policy

Cancellations or date changes made less than 1 week prior to the tour start time require full payment. Cancellations or date changes made within 2 weeks of your tour date will require half payment. Tours proceed in inclement weather. Museum reservation fees and pre-purchased tickets are non-refundable. SumUP handling/service fees are non-refundable.