Florence if museums closed, what to do?

[Imagineer]

...we're on the Insiginia from Rome to Venice next April, looking over the itinerary of our trip, I see we're in Florence on a Monday, which seems unfortunate as the information I've been reading indicates that on Mondays all the museums are closed...BUMMER!!
...so what else is there to do, the main reason for me to go to this city is to see the art galleries and the museums featuring the works of Michelangelo and other renaissance artists...
...if you're going to tell me the shopping is great, that's what they say about all the other cities as well, I need someone to give me some other reasons and incredible things to do in place of what we'll be missing, something that is going to make Florence any different from the other cities on the cruise...sorry if I'm sounding a little flippant, but we were really looking forward to the museums and galleries and we're not going to Italy just to shop for souvenirs...
...hopefully some of you have some good alternatives for us to look forward to...

cheers,

Lorne Miller
upcoming NCL cruise on the Wind - Aug 27/06
upcoming Oceania cruise on the Insignia - Apr 28/07

[ClaudiaF]

Not all museums in Florence are closed on Mondays some are just closed on certain Mondays in the month, like Bargello..check each museums schedule..
If everything you want to see will be closed..then perhaps you should venure out to other Tuscany towns, Sienna, Lucca or better to gorgeous
Montepulciano ( wine regions)..they have a Duomo, churches, museums, great wines ( "vino nobile") and the dreaded shopping too.:D

[potterhill]

We were there on a Monday last year. Had a great time. Saw the Duomo, the Baptistry, walked through the market, the Ponte Vecchio, up and down the streets and had a lovely lunch. There is a plaza that has a lot of statues outside, including a replica of David, I believe.

We hired a taxi at the pier to go to the train station and he made us a deal for the day (there were 4 of us). He drove us up to the top of the hill overlooking Florence where a lot of artists are and I think there was a church there but we didn't go in so it must have been closed. He also took us to Pisa, which is one of my favourite places.

So we had a lovely day. If all the museums were open you wouldn't have time to do everything anyway, so do the other stuff and go back for the museum. Frankly, after a while in Europe, I get to saturation point on museums, galleries, castles and cathedrals! I just like to wander and revel in the atmosphere- the scenery, the streetscapes, the people, the cafes, the gelato......

Monday in Florence will be a wonderful thing. Enjoy.

Mo

[Sweeterpea]

Hi Lorne:

That's why we are spending 5 days in Florence before the cruise :) ; seeing the Uffizi was extremely important to me.

If you get a hold of Rick Steve's Florence and Tuscany book, he has some ideas of what to see and do if you happen into Florence on a Monday.

SP

[emmalbrent]

Head for the bridge to gold shop and then to eat and enjoy some wine.

[ClaudiaF]

although I would probably change the order...eat ,drink the wine then head to all the gold shops..it is so much more fun that way:D

[Sweeterpea]

Hi Lorne,
Sorry, I meant the Rick Steve's Italy book

[KCruisin']

When we were there last year, quite a few of the museums had waiting lines hours long and one or two required advance reservations. I would look into all of that early if actually getting into them is important. Like a previous poster, we saw the replica of David, the Duomo, Bapistry as well as lunch on a bench in a beautiful square with a Merry-go-round. We then ventured a little further into the city to an open air market. We even had time for a stop on the gold bridge! Florence is a beautiful city with lots to do on the outside as well.