Can you perceive the purity of a form by touching it? Can you appreciate the elegant organisation of a public space without being able to get around it independently? Is it right to give up travelling just because age and infirmity mean you can no longer afford to tire yourself out? The answer to these questions lies in the name that UNESCO gives to the sites it protects: the historic centre of Florence is a World Heritage Site. This means that everyone, including fragile people, can visit the city.
Florence has recently obtained the important Access City Award 2021 and has a good standard of accessibility! It is important to get informed before departure, reading the articles of this section of our Website including subjects such as mobility, accommodation and places to visit, which we are going to describe here below. In the same section, find more suggestions from museums dealing with all kinds of disability, from visual and hearing impairments to intellectual disabilities and more.
Most of the points of interest in Florence is accessible for people with reduced mobility and for people with other kinds of disabilities. Please check the section Points of Interest where for any of the museums and monuments you will find detailed information about accessibility. The same information are gathered in this attached document.
Free admissions in museums and churches? In many places of interest, admission is free of charge for both the disabled person and his or her companion. More specifically, in all the State Museums - even when there are long lines - you don't have to book in advance, but you can just show up at the door with your own badge proving disability and skip the line. For the Civic Museums, including Santa Maria Novella Complex, advance booking is strongly recommended. Just open the website, choose the museum you want to visit and select 2 free tickets - for you and your companion - for the day and time you prefer, according to the available time slots. From the drop down menu select the option "Disabili e rispettivi accompagnatori" (disabled plus carer). Alternatively, it is still possible to go straight to the ticket office and reserve the entrance for the current day, if available. Please, have always your disabled badge or any official document proving your disability with you!
Concerning Santa Maria del Fiore Complex - which includes Cathedral, Opera del Duomo Museum, Baptistery ( Belltower, Brunelleschi's Dome, Terraces and Crypt are not accessible for people with motor disabilities due to the stairs) - please, previously contact the Accessibility Office by email: they will help you to plan your visit. Do not forget to show your disabled badge or any official document proving your disability and your ID. Carer's free access depends on your disability. It is also possible to go straight to the ticket office and collect your free tickets, based on availability.
In other monumental churches with admission tickets, such as Santa Croce and San Lorenzo, both the disabled person and his or her companion are entitled to free entry without reservation. For all the other museums, kindly check their respective websites, also through our section called “places of interest”.
There are tours for visitors with special needs at the Uffizi Gallery, Palazzo Vecchio, and the Gallery of Modern Art. Tactile tours for the visually impaired are on offer at the Palazzo Davanzati, the Marino Marini Museum, the Galileo Museum and the Museum of Natural History, and olfactory visits to the Botanical Gardens are also available.
It is also possible to choose its own itinerary with the support of Licensed tourist guides for disabled people (Ask here for the update list).
In Florence, operators like Wander-ability, Moveris and Cristoforo provides last minute facilities and all-inclusive vacations for tourists with specific requirements who would like to visit our city. See also Destination Florence Website, official partner of the Municipality of Florence in the promotion of the city as a tourist destination.
