How to Get Tickets for Palazzo Vecchio in Florence (2024)

Heading to Florence? Don’t miss out on tickets for Palazzo Vecchio! Read on to learn about 4 clever ways to get Palazzo Vecchio tickets and skip the line!

When planning your Florence itinerary, it is crucial to get tickets for Palazzo Vecchio and several other attractions upfront, so that you do not miss out on visiting and avoid being stuck in endless lines.

This is exactly what happened during our first trip to Florence in 2007. Admittedly, booking tickets was a lot harder at the time, but we failed to get tickets for the Uffizi, the Accademia to see David, Boboli Gardens, and many other attractions, and spent most of our holiday queuing in the heat. Not fun!

Palazzo Vecchio is the town hall of Florence and one of the prettiest medieval buildings in the city with its fortress-like exterior in a blend of Gothic and Romanesque style, and opulent interior. It is located on Piazza Signoria and like so many other palazzos in Florence, it boasts an abundance of history and art from the wealthy Medici Family.

The palace is set within the city’s historic center, which has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Among the art inside, you find works by important artists like Michelangelo (including a replica of David) and Donatello. Colorful frescos cover walls and ceilings while secret passageways invite for a unique guided tour. The museum with its Roman Theater and crypt also makes for an interesting trip into history.

For sweeping views of the city, you can climb to the top of the 13-14th-century Arnolfo Tower, the iconic clock tower rising 95 meters above Piazza Signoria. Originally, the tower had a much darker history; it served as a prison for those who were convicted for execution.

In this guide, we will go through everything you need to know to get tickets for Palazzo Vecchio and the different tickets you can choose from, including skip-the-line tickets, to help you plan your itinerary.

Why You Need to Book Tickets for Palazzo Vecchio

Visiting Palazzo Vecchio requires that you book a ticket with a specific time slot as there is a limited number of people that can enter at a time. If you have a limited time in Florence, you do not want to waste your precious time risking that there are no free time slots when you arrive at the entrance.

Especially in the summer months when Florence receives the most visitors, you must book at least a few days in advance to even find tickets for your chosen date and time. For this simple reason, we recommend booking your Palazzo Vecchio tickets as early as possible and preferably as soon as you have booked your trip and start planning your itinerary.

Considering there are more top attractions in Florence that require pre-booking tickets, like the Uffizi Gallery, Pitti Palace, and the Duomo complex, the importance of planning all the entrance times becomes even more important, as they all have to make sense towards your itinerary.

Book all your Florence Tickets here!

• Florence Duomo Tickets 
• Uffizi Gallery Tickets
• Accademia Gallery Tickets to see Michelangelo’s David
• Boboli Gardens Tickets

Palazzo Vecchio Ticket Prices

The ticket price for Palazzo Vecchio will depend on what type of ticket you get and where you purchase the tickets. We will break it down for you here so that you can know the official ticket price for Palazzo Vecchio and whether you should get a full price, reduced price, or free entry ticket.

Note that even though you are eligible for free entry, you must book a timeslot upfront for your visit. You can book directly on the official ticket site here.

• Full price: A single entrance to Palazzo Vecchio costs €12.50 for adults over 25 years of age.
• Free entrance: All children under 18 years can visit Palazzo Vecchio for free. Besides, disabled people enter for free (including their helpers,) authorized tour guides, and teachers visiting with school groups. You also get free entrance if you hold the Firenze Card. Every first Sunday of the month, residents of the Metropolitan City of Florence can enter for free between 08:00 and 19:00 as part of the Domenica Metropolitana initiative.
• Reduced price: Adults between 18 and 25 years and University students with a valid student card pay a reduced price of €10.

Note that there is a €1 online booking fee on top of the above prices, which means that if you book a free ticket online, it will cost you €1.

4 Clever Ways to Book Your Palazzo Vecchio Tickets

You now know why you should book your Palazzo Vecchio tickets in advance, especially in the high season, as well as the official ticket prices. So let us dive into how to book your tickets. There are a few different ways to book, including guided tours if you want to learn more about the history of the Palazzo Vecchio. We will go through it all below.

1) Buy Palazzo Vecchio Tickets Online

It is easy to purchase tickets to Palazzo Vecchio online through the official site or a third-party site like GetYourGuide. You simply choose a date and available time slot that suits your itinerary, make the payment, and shortly after you will receive a confirmation email and a voucher by email.

You must show the voucher at the entrance either printed or on your tablet or smartphone. If you have booked a free or reduced ticket, you also have to show valid documentation and an ID card like a passport to guarantee your entry. Note that not all foreign ID cards are accepted, so we suggest that you always carry your passport as a valid ID unless you have an EU identity card.

If you book through a third-party site, be aware that they normally charge a few euros more than the official price, though sometimes you can find good discounts.

In return, they offer free cancellation up to 24 hours before your visit which is a good guarantee if something should happen and your trip gets cancelled or your travel dates change. Besides, operators like GetYourGuide have their own app which is super useful for keeping track of all your booked tickets and tours as you have all electronic tickets in one place.

On top of that, they will send you a notification on the phone with a reminder of the booked tours and tickets making it easy to keep control during your entire trip. If something were to happen, these third-party operators also usually have 24-hour customer service available in different languages on the phone and via chat.

Note that you must show up 15 minutes before your allotted time slot. Arriving any later might result in denied entry as they only allow a certain number of people to enter every 15 minutes.

Note that there is a €1 online booking fee on top of the regular prices, which means that if you book a free ticket online, it will cost you €1.

2) Book a Guided Tour of Palazzo Vecchio

Booking a guided tour of Palazzo Vecchio is a great way to learn more about the history and art found there by a local guide, plus, you get an opportunity to explore the secret passages and get priority access if you wish to climb Arnolfo Tower.

In our experience, guided tours offer a unique immersive experience giving you the chance to understand the culture layer by layer, and a guide will always have some historical fun facts that you will not find anywhere else. The opportunity to ask questions and have a dialogue with a knowledgeable person is invaluable.

You can find reasonably priced guided tours on third-party sites like GetYourGuide that last around an hour and a half. They also include skip-the-line tickets which means you save considerable time waiting in line and can rather spend it exploring Florence.

Booking guided tours through third-party sites also gives you the freedom of free cancellation up to 24 hours before the tour in case something comes up and you must cancel the trip or change travel dates. Before choosing a guided tour, you can also read reviews from other travelers which can help in decide which one to go with.

There are supposedly guided tours on the official website too, but there is currently no information about them and we are not sure if they have stopped offering them or if they are just not available at the moment of writing this.

Here are some amazing guided tours of Palazzo Vecchio!

• Palazzo Vecchio: Magnificent Private Tour
• Palazzo Vecchio Entrance and Secret Passage Tour
• Palazzo Vecchio Museum Tour – includes access to the secret passage to the Uffizi!

3) Book Palazzo Vecchio Tickets in Person

If you are in Florence already, you can purchase Palazzo Vecchio tickets in person at the ticket office in Piazza della Signoria. This will save you the €1 online booking fee, but in turn, there is often a very long line which sometimes can take hours to get through. The Palazzo Vecchio ticket office is open every day from 9 AM to 7 PM, except on Thursday, when opening times are 9 AM to 2 PM. 

So if you are on a tight timeline and want to spend your time wisely, exploring Florence, it might be worth booking online instead and paying the extra €1, which in all honesty is not that much.

Besides, as mentioned before, time slots might be filled for the next hours or days, so the likelihood of getting in straight away, especially in the summer and holiday seasons is slim.

However, if you are visiting Florence in winter, or get to the ticket office as soon as it opens at 9 AM, by all means try!

4) Get the Firenze Card

Finally, you can purchase the Firenze Card which includes free entrance to several of the top attractions in Florence. The Firenze Card is valid for 72 hours from the first time you use it.

Besides free entrance tickets, the Firenze Card gives you free public transport for 72 hours. Getting the Firenze Card is a great option if you are going to Florence for 3 days or longer, and want to fit in as many things to see as possible.

However, please bear in mind that even if you have a valid Firenze Card, you need to book a time slot for your visit in advance (not only for Palazzo Vecchio, but for all sites included in the card). That means that even if you purchase the Firenze Card, it is important to organize your entire itinerary carefully and book access to the sights you want to see. You can have a look at our Florence itinerary to optimize your time.

The following attractions are included in the Firenze Card:

• Palazzo Vecchio
• Uffizi Gallery
• Boboli Gardens
• Galleria dell’Accademia
• Basilica di Santa Maria Novella
• Museo Galileo
• Museo Nazionale del Bargello

If you have more than 3 days in Florence and do not get the time to see all the attractions on the Firenze Card in the course of 72 hours, you can extend it for another 48 hours with the Firenze Card Restart. 

You can purchase the Firenze Card online in advance or at any of the following tourist attractions:

• Palazzo Pitti
• Uffizi Gallery
• Museo di Santa Maria Novella
• Museo di Palazzo Vecchio
• Museo Stefano Bardini
• Cappella Brancacci
• Museo Nazionale del Bargello
• Palazzo Strozzi
• Tourist information office in Piazza Stazione
• Tourist information office in Via Cavour

Since you must book a time slot for most of the attractions in Florence, we do recommend getting the Firenze Card in advance so that you can set up your itinerary as you wish and avoid encountering any last-minute surprises and not finding tickets for your travel dates.

The Firenze Card costs €85 and the cost of the Firenze Card Restart is €28. You can purchase the Firenze Card online on their official website or through a third-party website like GetYourGuide. After the purchase, you will get a voucher that you can either print out or use directly from your smartphone or tablet. With this voucher, you can pick up your physical Firenze Card at any of the collection points in Florence.

Tips for Visiting Palazzo Vecchio

Before visiting Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, there are a few things to consider that might enhance your visitor experience. Here are our top tips.

Visit early in the day – Palazzo Vecchio gets crowded throughout the day, so our top tip is to pick the earliest timeslot available. Especially during peak season which is normally April to October. It is such a different experience without too many people around, so definitely worth setting the alarm for.

Book a tour to see the secret passages – By booking a tour to see the secret passages, rooms, and concealed staircases you get a unique opportunity to see a section of the palace not open for general visitors. It is interesting to hear all the stories about this part of the Palazzo Vecchio and well worth the cost of a guided tour.

Climb the Arnolfo Tower – Get a separate ticket to climb the Arnolfo Tower for sweeping views of Florence – it is truly worth it!