This summer, my family had the trip of a lifetime to Italy. I still can’t believe we went on a family vacation to Venice, Cinque Terre, Florence and Rome. One of the resources we used to plan our vacation (or any vacation or staycation) was TripAdvisor, which is why I am thrilled to be part of the TripAdvisor Attractions Influencer Program.
My family and I booked a Front-of-the-Line tour through Trip Advisor Attractions to see the Uffizi Gallery in Florence and I’m so glad we did. The Uffizi is one of the most popular museums in the world housing masterpieces by Michelangelo, Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci.
We went on our trip in July during peak tourist season and the city was packed. We arrived a half hour before the Uffizi opened and there were already at least a hundred people in line.
We met up with our tour guide, Annette from Keys of Florence, in front of the gallery. The quality of any tour is dependent on your tour guide and she was very interesting and knowledgeable. There were so many front-of-the-line tours and ours was highly rated on TripAdvisor and reasonably priced.
Annette started our tour by sharing the history of the museum. The Uffizi was built for Cosimo I de’ Medici to be the administrative offices for the government. Over the years, the Medici family – one of the most powerful in Europe – went on to collect some of the most important art works in the world like this one by Michelangelo.
Michelangelo’s painted the Doni Tondo (Holy Family) in 1503 or 1504 before he spent four years painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. It’s the only Michelangelo panel painting in existence and it sits in it original frame in a new room in the Uffizi dedicated to Michelangelo and Raphael.
I’m so glad we did the gallery tour. It’s one thing to do an audio tour on a headset (which we did a few times on our trip), it’s an entirely different experience to be with someone who can answer questions on the spot.
We were all very interested in the frescos on the ceiling of the long hallway of the East Corridor of the Uffizi.
Painted in the late 1500s by Alessandro Allori and a team of frescoists, the frescos depict fascinating scenes in the Grotesque style. We could have spent all day there.
Annette showed us the highlights of the Uffizi (including the Baccio Bandinelli sculpture, Laocoon and Sons below and Caravaggio’s Medusa below that) and then sent us off to explore on our own.
Before she did she introduced us to this painting, which became the highlight for me of the tour.
It’s Judith Slaying Holofernes by Artemisia Gentileschi. She was the most famous female painter of her time and an early feminist (well, I think so). She was raped by another painter when she 17 and later charges were filed against him resulting in a conviction. She went on to have a successful career with many of her paintings depicting strong women.
Before we explored on our own, we went to the cafe and sat out on the patio and its stunning views.
We learned so much touring the Uffizi with Annette and I don’t know if we would have gotten as much out of the tour on our own.
It was easy to find and book the tour through TripAdvisor Attractions. We used it to find other information for our trip when were in Rome and overwhelmed by all of the things to do and see. For more information, visit TripAdvisor to help plan your next outing.
Disclosure: I was not compensated for this review, but I was given a voucher for a TripAdvisor Attraction as part of the influencer program. All opinions are my own.
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