Free museums in Florence and the days they open for free

The Uffizi, the Accademia and Florence's other state museums let everyone in free on the first Sunday of each month, with no booking possible. Civic museums such as Palazzo Vecchio follow different rules, and the free day only pays off for some itineraries.

The Uffizi holds Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera in a collection that also covers Giotto, Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo and Caravaggio. Opening times stay the same on the free Sunday, 8:15 to 18:30, with the ticket office closing at 17:30. The gallery is closed on Mondays, 1 January and 25 December, and the full timetable sits on the page of Uffizi Gallery hours.

On a free Sunday the staff hand out a free ticket at the door, right after entry, and nobody can turn back or leave once through. Every normal ticket at the Uffizi Galleries has carried the holder's name since 13 October 2025, so the timed-entry ticket for another day has to be bought in the visitor's own name. Some rooms on the first and second floors are closed for works, and the museum keeps a list of them updated.

The Accademia is where Michelangelo's David stands, along with his unfinished Prisoners and a hall of musical instruments on the ground floor. The gallery opens 8:15 to 18:50 and closes on Mondays, 1 January and 25 December.

On free days the museum switches its booking service off, and visitors wait their turn at the entrance gate. The gallery itself warns that the wait without a reservation can be long, and on a free day nobody holds one. The free day works best for anyone who can join the line early and keep the morning open.

The Pitti Palace groups several museums under one roof: the Palatine Gallery, the royal apartments, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Museum of Costume and Fashion. Behind the palace, the Boboli Gardens climb the hill toward Forte Belvedere. Both are free on the first Sunday, and the palace runs 8:15 to 18:30 from Tuesday to Sunday.

Boboli opens daily at 8:15 but closes on the first and last Monday of each month. Its closing time moves with the season: 17:30 in October once standard time starts, 16:30 from November to February, with last entry an hour before. Inside the palace, the Treasury of the Grand Dukes has been closed for maintenance since 3 February 2026, and the Room of the Iliad stays shut until 25 October 2026. The gardens can also close at short notice in bad weather, which is worth remembering before planning a whole free Sunday around them.

The Bargello fills the oldest public building in Florence with Renaissance sculpture. Donatello's bronze David and his Saint George share one hall, and works by Verrocchio, Michelangelo, Cellini and Giambologna fill the rest. The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday, 8:15 to 18:50, and closes on Mondays.

It is free on the first Sunday and on 25 April, 2 June and 4 November, with bookings and educational activities suspended on those days. In 2025 the museum announced shorter hours for at least one free Sunday, closing at 13:50 in June, so its news page the week before is worth a look.

The Medici Chapels, on Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini, are the burial place of the Medici family. The New Sacristy holds Michelangelo's architecture and tomb sculptures, the Chapel of the Princes is the grand-ducal mausoleum, and the crypts lie underneath. The museum opens 8:15 to 18:50 from Tuesday to Sunday and closes on Mondays, with last entrance 40 minutes before closing.

Free entry applies every first Sunday and on 25 April, 2 June and 4 November. Reservations and educational activities pause on those days, and the museum's own guided route in Italian is suspended too.

Entering the Duomo costs nothing and needs no ticket. The cathedral opens to visitors Monday to Saturday, 10:15 to 15:45, and closes to visitors every Sunday and during religious celebrations. Inside, the free visit takes in the inlaid marble floors, Paolo Uccello's clock and the equestrian portrait of John Hawkwood, plus Vasari and Zuccari's Last Judgment painted on the inside of the dome.

Clothing has to suit a place of worship: bare legs, bare shoulders and hats are not allowed, and neither is bulky luggage. The dome climb, the bell tower, the Baptistery and the Opera del Duomo Museum all need one of the three paid passes. The mosaics of the Baptistery vault are under restoration and not visible.

The Loggia dei Lanzi on Piazza della Signoria is an open-air sculpture gallery that belongs to the Uffizi Galleries and costs nothing to enter. The statues stand under its arches day and night. Cellini's bronze Perseus holds the head of Medusa, next to Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women and his Hercules and the Centaur Nessus. It suits a free Sunday well, because nobody has to queue to see it.

San Miniato al Monte stands on Via delle Porte Sante, not far from Piazzale Michelangelo. Entry to the basilica is free and needs no booking, for individuals or groups. It opens Monday to Saturday 9:30 to 13:00 and 15:30 to 19:00, and on Sunday 8:15 to 13:00 and 15:30 to 19:00. During services the church is closed to sightseeing.

The Benedictine community sings vespers in Latin Gregorian chant every afternoon at 18:30, and the 17:30 mass on Sundays and holidays is also sung in Latin Gregorian chant.

Piazzale Michelangelo is a public square finished in 1875 to a design by Giuseppe Poggi. Its terrace looks across the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, Santa Croce, the Arno and Ponte Vecchio toward the hills of Fiesole. In the middle stands a monument made of bronze copies of Michelangelo's David and the four allegories from the Medici Chapels. Access is free and open, and buses 12 and 13 stop at the square. The Rose Garden and the Iris Garden lie a few steps away.

Photo: "Panorama di Firenze centro visto dal Piazzale Michelangelo" by PROPOLI87 (CC BY-SA 4.0).