Florence is always increasing the number of fully-accessible museums and attractions, ways to avoid architectural impediments, themed sensory tours, helpful elements in public transport, places to park, and more. They are working to make it a more accessible destination for all and it is a great place to choose if you or someone in your group have particular requirements but don't want to miss out on a wonderful holiday or have to stress out overly about the details. Just find a vacation rental in Florence and continue to read our guide to the helpful initiatives making Florence more accessible for all...
5. Special Tours, Exhibits, Attractions & More
The Uffizi Gallery, Palazzo Vecchio, Gallery of Modern Art, Palazzo Davanzati, Marino Marini Museum, Galileo Museum, Museum of Natural History, and Botanical Gardens all offer special tours and ways of exploring their attractions for those with special requirements or needs and there are also many guides that offer special tours and personalised routes through the institutions. Very few museums are inaccessible and those that are are only this way due to unalterable historical features of the buildings in which they are housed. Most attractions also have sections of their websites dedicated to accessibility but this PDF offers a good guide to the main ones that tourists might be interested in visiting.
5. Special Tours, Exhibits, Attractions & More
The Uffizi Gallery, Palazzo Vecchio, Gallery of Modern Art, Palazzo Davanzati, Marino Marini Museum, Galileo Museum, Museum of Natural History, and Botanical Gardens all offer special tours and ways of exploring their attractions for those with special requirements or needs and there are also many guides that offer special tours and personalised routes through the institutions. Very few museums are inaccessible and those that are are only this way due to unalterable historical features of the buildings in which they are housed. Most attractions also have sections of their websites dedicated to accessibility but this PDF offers a good guide to the main ones that tourists might be interested in visiting.
Blind and visually impaired tourists are catered for, in particular, with initiatives like the plastic models that act as tactile maps in the center of Piazza Repubblica and the “Living Florence” braille publications that have reproductions of some of Florence’s significant monuments and can be collected for free at the information points at Piazza Stazione or via mail if you email your request to touristinfo@comune.fi.it. In addition to this there are tactile sections in museums like the Museum of the Cathedral (Opera del Duomo), with its reproductions of Michelangelo's Pietà, the Gates of Paradise of the Baptistry, other masterpieces in the collection, and a model of the whole monumental complex of Santa Maria del Fiore. There are also guided tours and tools at the Florentine Civic Museums and MUS.E Association for visually-impaired, blind, hard of hearing, and deaf visitors. There is a tactile path in the Geology and Paleontology section of the Museum of Natural History of the University of Florence, a tactile and olfactory path at the Botanical Garden, tactile tours at the Archaeological Museum of Florence, Marino Marini Museum (also including a path in the adjoining Sacello del Santo Sepolcro, Shrine of the Holy Sepulchre), Museo Galileo, Horne Museum, and Museum of Glass in Empoli.
There are many tactile paths in the Uffizi Gallery with recreations of Greek and Roman sculptures, three-dimensional transpositions of famous works, including the “Birth of Venus” by Botticelli, captions in Braille in Italian and English, and scheduled tours for the disabled that take place on the first Friday of each month at 10.15am (to reserve specify your needs and email capiservizio.uffizi@polomuseale.firenze.it or call + 39 055 2388693). In addition, there are itineraries for the blind and visually impaired at the Davanzati Palace, Bargello Museum and inside the church of Orsanmichele. A new innovation is the tactile path at the Gallery of Modern Art, that leads blind and visually impaired visitors from room no. 2 to room no 30 of the gallery, with ten works that they can touch and explore along the way, as is the tactile path of the Corsini Villa at Castello.
In addition, many places of interests, have free admission for both the disabled person and his or her companion including in all the State Museums (though advance booking – still free – is suggested, particularly the Uffizi, the Accademia Gallery, and Pitti Palace), in the civic museums (advance booking is also recommended for the Museum at Palazzo Vecchio), and in churches such as the complex of Santa Maria del Fiore, Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, and San Lorenzo. Check individual websites for other museums and attractions and they should have information about whether or not they offer free access. Also of note is the fact that on the International Day of People with Disability on the 3rd of December each year, there is a series of guided tours for the disabled, for information on this, you can email uffiziaccessibili@beniculturali.it.
In addition, many places of interests, have free admission for both the disabled person and his or her companion including in all the State Museums (though advance booking – still free – is suggested, particularly the Uffizi, the Accademia Gallery, and Pitti Palace), in the civic museums (advance booking is also recommended for the Museum at Palazzo Vecchio), and in churches such as the complex of Santa Maria del Fiore, Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, and San Lorenzo. Check individual websites for other museums and attractions and they should have information about whether or not they offer free access. Also of note is the fact that on the International Day of People with Disability on the 3rd of December each year, there is a series of guided tours for the disabled, for information on this, you can email uffiziaccessibili@beniculturali.it.
5. Public Toilets.
There are 14 public toilets accessible to the disabled in the city centre of Florence with the most central being in Borgo Santa Croce next to the Basilica, on via Filippina between the back side of Palazzo Vecchio and Santa Croce Church, in Piazza Santa Maria Novella on the left-side of the facade of the church, in Piazza San Giovanni next to the Baptistery, in Piazza Santo Spirito on the left-side of the Basilica, in Piazza de’ Ciompi, in Piazza D’Azeglio, in Parco delle Cascine on Viale Kennedy, on Viale Galieli near the Piazzale Michelangelo, in Lungarno Pecori Giraldi, and in the Fortezza da Basso in the gardens. See here for more information about where you can find the public restrooms around Florence. Most cost around a euro to use and there are also, of course, free toilets in bars and restaurants for customers.
Armed with all this information and the information in previous posts, be sure to get organising your trip to Florence ASAP – you'll have little to worry about in this wonderfully accessible destination!
There are 14 public toilets accessible to the disabled in the city centre of Florence with the most central being in Borgo Santa Croce next to the Basilica, on via Filippina between the back side of Palazzo Vecchio and Santa Croce Church, in Piazza Santa Maria Novella on the left-side of the facade of the church, in Piazza San Giovanni next to the Baptistery, in Piazza Santo Spirito on the left-side of the Basilica, in Piazza de’ Ciompi, in Piazza D’Azeglio, in Parco delle Cascine on Viale Kennedy, on Viale Galieli near the Piazzale Michelangelo, in Lungarno Pecori Giraldi, and in the Fortezza da Basso in the gardens. See here for more information about where you can find the public restrooms around Florence. Most cost around a euro to use and there are also, of course, free toilets in bars and restaurants for customers.
Armed with all this information and the information in previous posts, be sure to get organising your trip to Florence ASAP – you'll have little to worry about in this wonderfully accessible destination!
