Palazzo Vecchio in Florence: Everything You Need to Know

Palazzo Vecchio Tickets

You can buy Palazzo Vecchio tickets online or on-site. However, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to get tickets for the same day on-site, because the Palazzo is one of the most popular highlights in Florence.

You should buy online tickets a few days in advance.

You can visit just the museum, just the tower, or both.

Palazzo Vecchio tickets from the official website are cheaper, but you can’t cancel them if your plans change. The site is available in Italian and English.

The ticket on Get Your Guide is a bit more expensive, but it’s cancelable and comes with a video guide:

Palazzo Vecchio Ticket with Video Guide on Get Your Guide

If you have a little extra time, definitely climb the Arnolfo Tower as well. On the official website, the ticket is sold separately; on Get Your Guide, you can get it as a combo ticket with the museum (tower as an optional add-on):

Palazzo Vecchio Museum + Arnolfo Tower Combo Ticket with Video Guide
Our tip: The Firenze Card includes access to the Palazzo Vecchio, the tower, and many other museums in Florence. You can buy the card directly at the Palazzo Vecchio ticket counter.

What Is the Palazzo Vecchio?

The Palazzo Vecchio was the residence and seat of government of the Medici, the ruling dynasty of Florence.

Today, the palace serves as both the city’s city hall and a museum.

The real highlights of the Palazzo Vecchio are the artworks that decorated the various living quarters of the Medici in the 16th century.

Here’s everything you can see inside:

• The Hall of the Five Hundred, with works by Michelangelo and Vasari
• Rooms covered in frescoes, each depicting the life of a different Medici
• The Map Room, with hand-painted maps of the then-known world and one of the oldest wooden globes in existence
• The Arnolfo Tower, with a fantastic panorama over Florence
• Secret passages and hidden rooms that you can only see on a guided tour
• The excavations of a Roman theater from the 1st century

Palazzo Vecchio Highlights

The museum spans two floors and you stroll freely from one room to the next. Your tour begins directly in the Hall of the Five Hundred.

Here are the standout highlights you won’t want to miss:

The Hall of the Five Hundred

The most famous and largest room in the Palazzo Vecchio is the Hall of the Five Hundred, on the first floor.

The enormous hall is 54 meters long and 18 meters high and is still actively used by the city hall today.

Audiences and ceremonies were held here, and both Michelangelo and Da Vinci were commissioned to adorn the walls with paintings.

Unfortunately, neither of them finished their work: Leonardo moved to Paris, which is why the Mona Lisa now hangs in the Louvre, and Michelangelo was called to Rome to decorate the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.

Their unfinished works were lost. The hall was then decorated with paintings by Vasari and other artists depicting battles won by Florence — against Pisa and Siena, among others.

According to legend, though, Leonardo’s paintings are hidden behind a concealed wall in the hall that no one has found to this day.

The Room of the Elements

The Room of the Elements, on the second floor, depicts scenes of the deities of water, fire, air, and earth.

According to Greek and Roman mythology, these deities created the world — and it’s no coincidence that the room sits directly above the Room of Pope Leo X on the first floor.

He was also a Medici and laid the foundations for the duchy established in the 16th century — for the family, he represented the origin of their new position of power.

The other rooms on the second floor correspond directly to the rooms below them, too.

For example, the Room of Ceres, the Roman goddess of fertility and harvest, sits directly above the room of Cosimo the Elder.

He was the first prominent Medici, who brought wealth and prosperity to Florence in the 14th century.

The Chambers of Eleonora of Toledo

The chambers of Eleonora of Toledo — wife of Cosimo I — are among the most beautiful spaces in the entire palace.

At a time when women played more of a supporting role in public life, she was actively involved in her husband’s rule.

The two even had a genuine, love-based marriage, which was pretty unusual for the era. As a result, Cosimo — one of the most powerful Medici rulers — had especially lavish rooms built for her, including a private chapel decorated with remarkably expressive frescoes.

The Map Room

The Sala della Guardaroba — also known as the Map Room — is a hall where 53 hand-painted maps hang, depicting all parts of the world as they were known in the 16th century.

The room was commissioned by Cosimo I, who had a particular passion for geography, natural sciences, and trade.

It’s seriously fascinating to look at the individual maps and compare them with what we know today.

In the center of the room stands a large wooden globe from 1564 with a radius of over two meters — considered one of the oldest surviving globes in existence.

Fun fact: Behind the map of Armenia, one of the Palazzo Vecchio’s secret doors is hidden.

Secret Passages in the Palazzo Vecchio

In an era when intrigue, conspiracies, and forbidden love affairs were part of everyday life, hidden rooms and secret passages in the Palazzo Vecchio came in very handy.

Take the Studiolo, for example — a windowless room decorated with paintings and frescoes that you can only reach via a secret staircase.

This is where Cosimo I’s reclusive son, Francesco I, spent his time experimenting and studying the natural sciences.

Another hidden space is the Scrittoio, connected to the Studiolo via a concealed door in the wood paneling — where his father, Cosimo I, withdrew from public life and kept his private belongings.

You can only visit these secret spaces as part of a guided tour, which you can book separately from the regular museum visit:

Book the Guided Tour through the Secret Passages of the Palazzo Vecchio

The Roman Theater beneath the Palazzo Vecchio

Beneath the Palazzo Vecchio lie the archaeological excavations of a massive Roman theater that could hold up to 10,000 spectators.

The theater dates back to the 1st century, when Florence was still a Roman province — and it’s the only Roman remnant in the city.

The entrance is next to the ticket counter on the ground floor of the Palazzo Vecchio.

There isn’t a huge amount to see beyond wall remains and broken pottery, but access is included in your Palazzo Vecchio ticket and only takes a few minutes.

The Tower of the Palazzo Vecchio

The Palazzo Vecchio tower was named after its architect, Arnolfo di Cambio. It stands 95 meters tall and is one of the best vantage points in Florence.

There are two platforms you can climb to: the first is the battlements walkway, which runs all the way around the roof of the Palazzo Vecchio.

The second is the tower itself, reached only by a narrow staircase with 233 steps. There is no elevator.

On the way up, you’ll also pass the prison cell of the Palazzo Vecchio — this is where prisoners awaited their execution in the square below, the Piazza della Signoria.

Important: Only a limited number of people are allowed up the Arnolfo Tower at any given time, so when you purchase your ticket, you’ll reserve a time slot as well. Children must be at least six years old to go up.

The ticket costs €13.50. Tower-only tickets are available exclusively on the official website.

Visiting the Palazzo Vecchio

The entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio is right on the Piazza della Signoria, about a five-minute walk from the Florence Cathedral.

The first thing you’ll enter is the richly decorated courtyard. Since the ticket check comes after that, you can visit the courtyard without a ticket — worth knowing if you’re just passing through.

Next, you’ll reach the ground floor of the Palazzo, where you’ll find a ticket counter, a museum shop, a coat check, and access to the archaeological excavations.

You’ll also find two wide staircases leading upstairs:

The staircase on the left leads directly to the tower; the staircase on the right is for the museum tour.

If you’ve already purchased your tickets online, you can show them at the foot of the staircases and head straight up.

Note: If you have a combo ticket for Museum + Tower, take the right staircase to the museum first. From the second floor, you can then head straight up to the tower, where your ticket will be checked again.

Plan on roughly 1.5 hours for the full museum tour. If you also want to climb the tower, allow at least two hours in total.

Who Were the Medici and Why Are They Important?

When you visit Florence, you’ll keep coming across one name: the Medici.

They were a dynasty that played a decisive role in Florence and across Europe for over 500 years.

Through clever maneuvering, strategic marriages, and political connections, the Medici rose from ordinary city council members to Grand Dukes of Tuscany, turning Florence into the cultural and economic center of Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries.

The most celebrated family members — Cosimo il Vecchio, Cosimo I, and Lorenzo il Magnifico — shaped Florence into what it is today through their passion for art, literature, and science: a vast treasure trove of artworks and palaces unlike almost any other city on earth.

They supported artists and scientists like Da Vinci, Brunelleschi, and Galileo Galilei, whose discoveries still shape our daily lives: Galileo mapped the solar system at the Medici court, Brunelleschi invented the concept of perspective, and Leonardo da Vinci unlocked the workings of the human body and designed the first flying machines.

The Medici were far more than just the rulers of Florence — under their patronage, Europe’s dark Middle Ages came to an end, and art and science moved back to center stage.

The Renaissance began — the “rebirth”: as if humanity had woken from a deep sleep lasting roughly 1,000 years.

Is the Palazzo Vecchio Worth Visiting?

Absolutely. If you’re interested in the history of the Medici and the art of the Renaissance, the Palazzo Vecchio is a must.

Especially if you’re short on time in Florence and couldn’t get tickets for the Uffizi, the Palazzo Vecchio — with its art treasures and shorter wait times — is a genuinely great alternative.

If art and history aren’t really your thing, climbing the tower alone makes the trip worthwhile, and it’s also a solid alternative to the cathedral dome.

The tickets are cheaper, you don’t need to book nearly as far in advance, and best of all, you’ll have the cathedral dome in your photos too.

Frequently Asked Questions about Visiting the Palazzo Vecchio