A guide to visit Florence Cathedral in under two hours
If you’re in Florence for a few days, visiting Florence Cathedral is almost a necessity given the size and significance of this monument. But there are numerous sections to visit in Florence Cathedral and the long lines outside can be daunting. Fret not, here is a guide to visit Florence Cathedral under two hours. We visited two sections – the Dome and the museum.
Tickets
Having visited the Duomo di Milano in Milan and climbed up to its rooftop, we had some idea of what to expect of this other Duomo. But we were not prepared for the long lines outside the church, just before the opening time of 10am. We arrived at the ticket office at about 9.45am and proceeded to buy our tickets for €18. The ticket staff said that we could make a reservation at the ticket machine near the counter. We made a reservation for the Dome at 10am. It was good that we made a reservation as there was a long line at the side of the cathedral, at 9.55am. The doors only opened at 10.10am.
[Sidetrack to a para on Washrooms]
There are washrooms available for free, but you have to enter the museum. There are also washrooms located at the other end of the cathedral, but those cost €1. It appears that most public toilets cost about €1 for use – the only positive thing is that there is toilet paper and the toilets and quite clean.
The Dome
The Dome involves a fair bit of walking and stair-climbing, so brace yourself. There were several people who paused to take breather, which was fine. It’s just that the paths can get quite narrow and the steps steep, so be careful. There are two viewing spaces around the dome. They are surrounded by an acrylic panel (so no one falls out). It was quite an experience to see the artwork up close. In the cathedral, these paintings would usually be high up. The paintings were quite unique too – there were pictures of demons being punished, which was quite similar to Chinese mythology too. It was most interesting.
The view of the rooftop of the Florence Cathedral was nice too. You could see most of Florence from here. It was actually a really well-organised city.
Museum
The Florence Cathedral museum had plenty of sculptures and art pieces too. I believe these were taken from parts of the church during restoration. My favourite part of the museum was the marble carvings, as there was an option of touching them. We went through several levels of the museum pretty quickly.
The Travelling Squid’s Take
It is not difficult to visit Florence Cathedral in under two hours – just go early to purchase the tickets, make a reservation in advance, be super focused and you’ll be out soon. After our visits, I can only say that the restoration work at the Cathedral was done very well as the paintings on the dome was done by different artists with different methods. Today, it looks uniformed. The sculptures on display at the museum also seem to be in very good condition. Definitely worth a visit, no matter how short it is.
