The City of Florence’s museums have a structure that confuses almost everyone: the legal seller is the council, through the official ticket office bigliettimusei.comune.fi.it; the technical operator of the platform is Firenze Smart; visitor services, guided visits and education belong to the MUS.E Foundation. Three different bodies, one ticket.
The verdict in two sentences: this is the best-value channel in the city, with an online surcharge of just €1 and a support desk that promises a reply within two hours. It is almost always the right choice on price; it is the wrong one if you want to be able to cancel, because withdrawal is excluded by contract.
At a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Seller | City of Florence — official ticket office bigliettimusei.comune.fi.it |
| Technical operator | Firenze Smart · supportomusei@firenzesmart.it, Mon–Fri 9–17, stated reply within 2 hours |
| Museum services | MUS.E Foundation, Palazzo Vecchio, +39 055 0541450 |
| What it sells | Palazzo Vecchio and the Arnolfo Tower, Museo Novecento, Brancacci Chapel, Bardini Museum, Fondazione Salvatore Romano, Forte di Belvedere, Santa Maria Novella |
| Typical prices | Palazzo Vecchio €18 · Tower €20 · Brancacci €15 · Novecento €13 · Bardini €10 · €1 booking fee per ticket |
| Cancellation | withdrawal excluded by contract; refunds only for closures decided by the museum |
| Support | online support desk, Palazzo Vecchio ticket office 055 2768325 |
| Ratings | the channel has no reviews of its own. On TripAdvisor the monument has two listings: the main Palazzo Vecchio page scores 4.6/5 from 9,496 reviews, no. 33 of 819 things to do in Florence and a Travellers’ Choice 2026 winner; the separate Museo di Palazzo Vecchio listing stops at 4.6/5 from 1,515 — same score, a sample six times smaller — at the time of checking |
Transparency: we have no relationship with the City of Florence, with Firenze Smart or with the MUS.E Foundation. We earn a commission on our partner links, with no effect on the price.
Price list compared
Live prices from our partner feeds, cheapest first. Tap a button to open the listing.
| Platform | Price | Rating | Duration | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tiqets Palazzo Vecchio & Museum: Entry Ticket + Optional Video or Audio Guide Best price | €30.5per person | ★ 4.3296 reviews | — | Book on Tiqets |
| GetYourGuide Florence: Palazzo Vecchio Entrance Ticket & Audioguide Top rated | €32.12per person | ★ 4.45,082 reviews | — | Book on GetYourGuide |
Official prices, museum by museum
The online booking fee is €1 per ticket, including the free ones that still have to be booked. It is the lowest surcharge in Florence.
| Museum | Full | Reduced 18–25 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Museo di Palazzo Vecchio | €18 | €12 | free under 18 |
| Tower and walkway | €20 | €13 | includes the museum |
| Brancacci Chapel | €15 | €10 | limited numbers |
| Museo Novecento | €13 | €9 | |
| Museo Stefano Bardini | €10 | €7 | |
| Santa Maria Novella | €7.50 | €5 | free for residents of the city |
| Fondazione Salvatore Romano | €8 | €5 | the price is stated differently across the council, MUS.E and ticket office pages: check the amount at the time of purchase |
| Forte di Belvedere | €8 | €5 | free for residents of the Metropolitan City |
| MUS.E guided visits | €8 | €5 residents | booked separately, not through the online ticket office |
The ticket office homepage advertises prices “from €12”: that is the reduced rate, not the full one. The comparison with the platforms is stark: the same admission to Palazzo Vecchio costs €19 on the official channel and around €30–32 on Tiqets and GetYourGuide at the time of checking, where the price does include an audio or video guide and a cancellation policy.
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from €30.5 per person
Book on Tiqets -
from €59 per person
Book on Tiqets -
from €30 per person
Book on Tiqets
Opening hours and closures: the real traps
These museums have the most irregular calendar in the city. It is worth learning before you plan your day.
| Museum | Hours | Weekly closure |
|---|---|---|
| Palazzo Vecchio | 9:00–19:00, Thursday 9:00–14:00 | none |
| Arnolfo Tower | 9:00–17:00, Thursday 9:00–14:00 | closed in the rain |
| Museo Novecento | 11:00–20:00 | Thursday |
| Brancacci Chapel | Mon and Wed–Sat 10:00–17:00, Sun 13:00–17:00 | Tuesday |
| Museo Bardini | 11:00–17:00 | open Friday–Monday only |
| Forte di Belvedere | seasonal, Tue–Sun | Mondays, closed in winter |
At the Brancacci Chapel access is capped at ten people at a time for a maximum of half an hour: without a booking you can be left outside even on a quiet day. The Arnolfo Tower does not admit children under six, closes in rain or a heat alert with no refund, and involves 418 steps counting the route through the museum.
Palazzo Vecchio is the seat of the city council: sudden institutional closures happen, sometimes of the whole building, sometimes of the Hall of the Five Hundred alone. No annual calendar of extraordinary closures is published in advance — notices appear case by case on each museum’s pages and in the monthly visitor bulletins. Before setting out for Palazzo Vecchio on a date with council business, a check on the site is essential.
How booking works
You pick museum, date and time slot on the online ticket office, pay through the Nexi circuit and receive your ticket. Booking is compulsory for Palazzo Vecchio, for the Tower and for the Brancacci Chapel, optional elsewhere.
Tickets bought online can be cancelled within five working days of purchase: that is an administrative window, not a last-minute cancellation. Firenze Card holders still have to book a free ticket, and the same applies to the Brancacci.
The Secret Passages of Palazzo Vecchio are run by MUS.E and are not sold through the online ticket office: they cost €8 (€4 for residents) on top of the museum ticket, last 75 minutes, admit a maximum of ten people and are booked on +39 055 0541450. The comparison with the guided tours sold by the platforms is in Palazzo Vecchio.
Free entry, residents and Domenica Metropolitana
People who live locally have tools visitors never hear about. Domenica Metropolitana, the first Sunday of every month, opens the civic museums and Palazzo Medici Riccardi free to residents of the Metropolitan City, with free guided visits on booking and a programme published the Monday before.
The Card del Fiorentino costs €10, lasts 365 days and is reserved for residents: it covers all the civic museums including the Tower, Forte di Belvedere, Santa Maria Novella, Palazzo Medici Riccardi and three guided visits. You collect it at the Palazzo Vecchio ticket desk or at the Novecento. For anyone living in Florence it is the best cultural purchase in the city.
Standard free entry across the civic museums: under-18s, school groups with teachers, guides and interpreters, journalists, disabled visitors and their companion, ICOM members.
Pros and cons
Pros
- A €1 booking fee: the lowest online surcharge in the city.
- Written support with a stated response time.
- Cancellation possible within five working days of purchase.
- Real tools for residents: Card del Fiorentino and Domenica Metropolitana.
Cons
- No withdrawal and no refund for unused tickets.
- Irregular hours and institutional closures that are hard to predict.
- Information scattered across three different sites, with prices that do not always match.
- The Tower closes for rain or a heat alert, with no refund.
Verdict
The official channel of the Florence civic museums takes 4 out of 5. On price it has no rivals: €19 for Palazzo Vecchio against €30-plus on the platforms is a gap no audio guide entirely justifies. It loses a point for the scattered information and for the rigidity on refunds.
Buy here if your date is fixed and you can read the closure calendar. Move to a platform only if you want to cancel up to the last minute, if you need a guide in a specific language, or if you are putting the Uffizi, the Duomo and Palazzo Vecchio in the same basket. And if you are staying three full days, check Firenze Card first: in civic museum maths the card often turns up unexpectedly.
Alternatives
- Tiqets — Palazzo Vecchio tickets with a video guide and cancellation.
- Firenze Card — it covers every civic museum, but it starts at €85.
- Duomo ticket office — the city’s other big non-state channel, with the opposite rules.
- Palazzo Vecchio — hours, the Arnolfo Tower, the secret passages and what to see.
- Santa Maria Novella — a €7.50 ticket, the cheapest in the circuit.
Compare Palazzo Vecchio tickets from €30.5 · ★ 4.3
Frequently asked questions
What is the official website for the Florence civic museums?
It is bigliettimusei.comune.fi.it, the official ticket office of the City of Florence, with online support at supportomusei@firenzesmart.it and the Palazzo Vecchio ticket desk on 055 2768325. The MUS.E Foundation runs visitor services, guided visits and education, but it is not the seller.
How much is a Palazzo Vecchio ticket?
The museum costs €18 full and €12 reduced for 18–25s and university students, and is free under 18; online you add €1 per ticket, free ones included. The tower-and-walkway ticket, which also covers the museum, costs €20 full and €13 reduced.
When is Palazzo Vecchio closed?
The museum opens 9:00–19:00 every day except Thursday, when it closes at 14:00; the ticket desk shuts an hour before. As it is the seat of the city council, institutional closures happen and are announced case by case, sometimes affecting only the Hall of the Five Hundred.
Can civic museum tickets be refunded?
No: the council's terms exclude the right of withdrawal under article 52 of the Italian consumer code and provide no refunds for unused tickets. A refund exists only when the museum itself closes: within five working days for a partial closure, by the fifth of the following month for a full one.
Do Florence residents get into the civic museums free?
Not with a standard ticket. Residents of the Metropolitan City go in free on the first Sunday of the month for Domenica Metropolitana and at Forte di Belvedere, and can buy the Card del Fiorentino at €10 for 365 days. Residents of the city itself enter Santa Maria Novella free.
Is it better to buy the civic museums on Tiqets or GetYourGuide?
Not on price: the official channel starts at €19 all in for Palazzo Vecchio, while the platforms sit around €30–32 at the time of checking. It makes sense if you want an audio guide included, a cancellation option, or one basket shared with the Uffizi and the Duomo.