VIP David & Duomo Early Entry Accademia, Skip-the-Line Dome Climb

Badge of ExcellenceFlorence, Italy

David and Duomo Tour Early Accademia and Skip the Line Dome Climb

3 hours 30 minutes
Offered in: English

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Overview

Explore Florence art and architecture on a tour that gets you skip-the-line access to the Accademia Gallery and the Duomo. See Michelangelo’s ‘David’ in the uncrowded, morning hours, then get an in-depth tour of the Duomo, including the Duomo Museum, the Duomo Terraces, without waiting in line. This tour includes all entrance fees.

Small-group Accademia and Duomo tour
Skip-the-line access at both locations
See two Florentine highlights
Get insight into Renaissance-era history and art from your guide

What's Included

Expert English-speaking guide
Skip the line tickets to the Accademia Gallery
Special access to the Duomo Terraces
Skip the line access to climb the dome
Headsets (when needed)

Gratuities
Hotel Pick-Up/Drop-Off

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

Piazza San Marco, Firenze FI, Italy
The tour meets in Piazza San Marco, by the statue in the middle of the square. This is a centrally-located square adjacent to Via degli Arazzieri and Via Giorgio la Pira, about 1/3 mile north of Santa Maria del Fiore Cathedral. Your guide will be holding a Walks sign.

End point

Piazza del Duomo, 50122 Firenze FI, Italy
Duomo Terraces

What To Expect

Make your way to the Piazza San Marco, where you’ll meet your guide. Walk right past the long lines at the Accademia Gallery, and visit one of the museum’s most iconic masterworks: the David, a longtime symbol of the small (but mighty) Florentine Republic. You’ll also have time to explore some of Michelangelo’s unfinished sculptures, The Slaves, which offer a fascinating insight into the artist’s creation process.

Continue to the Duomo Baptistry to see its famous doors, replicas of the originals. Learn stories about the members of the powerful Medici family that were baptized here, and see some of the Duomo’s exquisite artwork..

The next step is a once-in-a-lifetime experience: skip the lines for the Duomo Terraces, which are rarely open to the public. Once the guided portion of the tour ends on the terraces, you’ll have easy access to climb to the top of the dome, where your experience ends.

Galleria dell'Accademia

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Piazza del Duomo

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Duomo - Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Cupola del Brunelleschi

45 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
Please note: Only the morning tour will briefly tour the Florence cathedral. The afternoon tour will enjoy a view of the cathedral's interior from above during the climb to the Duomo terraces. The order of the itinerary may vary to avoid the crowds and enhance your experience.

Due to conditions inside the Duomo (463 steps and fairly narrow), wheelchairs, those with limited mobility, and anyone with claustrophobia cannot be accommodated on this tour.
Children under 7 years old aren't allowed on this tour.
We ask all guests (including children) to bring their ID on the day of their tour.
Walks / Devour complies with all local government regulations. Please refer to local government guidelines for the most up-to-date information.
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 18 travelers

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.

Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews

5.0

442 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

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Showing 1-10 of 442 reviews

Deeper dive into Florence

Lani_C, Apr 2024

Thank you very much, Anna our tour guide was very knowledgeable and was great at creating a sense of modernity while talking about the past she made connections. She asked questions. We enjoyed her very much and the tour was good too.

Great Tour!

Kim_D, Apr 2024

The tour was great and well worth the investment to skip the lines. The tour guide was knowledgeable and disciplined with the time. Some notable feedback: 1. A little less time on David and leave some time to visit additional art in the museum 2. A longer break than 10 mins to allow for browsing of the gift shop

David and The Duomo

Rita_N, Apr 2024

Loved our tour guide, Angelo, who was both knowledgeable and funny. Getting into the Academia and the Duomo without having to stand in line was great. Angelo made David come alive! I learned a lot. In addition, the view from the terrace of the Duomo was spectacular. Was very happy with this tour. My only suggestion for this day -- because it was pouring rain-- would be to have had a place that provided shelter for us until our timed entry.

Fantastic way to start our day

Chris_K, Apr 2024

Was a great tour. Saw so much and out guide made great suggestions for other locations to visit as well.

Best Tour of Duomo and Statue of David

Kenneth_D, Apr 2024

This was probably our favorite tour during our trip to Italy. Our guide was incredibly passionate about the history which made the tour even more exciting. Our guide also had special access to an area of the Duomo that was not on the typical tour. We were able to access the exterior on the side of the duomo, just under the start of the dome where we had incredible private views of the city. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone.

Excellent

Lisa_E, Apr 2024

Our Walks guide was excellent! She was very knowledgeable and professional. This is so worth it! Just do it.

The private tour was fantastic.

TIMOTHY_K, Apr 2024

Viewing the statue of David and the walk up to the top of the Duomo was truly an experience of a lifetime. I highly recommend this tour.

Very informative tour, we...

Andrew_H, Apr 2024

Very informative tour, we learnt a lot. Well worth the journey up the steps. Well worth the early morning start to miss the crowds that had formed by the time our tour finished

Great for access to David & Duomo

Erin_G, Apr 2024

I typically do not love tours this size, but it was a great way to avoid lines to the David & Duomo and get good information from the guide. He did a great job giving interesting background and context. Would recommend.

Loved it!

Melany_R, Apr 2024

We loved this tour. Our guide was extremely nice and knowledgeable. The views from the top of the Duomo are stunning!!

David & Dome Climb

Christopher_B, Apr 2024

Incredibly knowledgeable guide. Tour group was the only that allowed access to the terraces above the Cathedral which offered incredible views of Florence. From that vantage point, our tour guide allowed us to determine if we wanted to proceed to the top of the dome. Think of it as a rest stop before the final climb. Incredible views from the top! The lines were long in Florence. With this tour, we were able to see many sites!

Art and architecture…amazing experience! Learned so much!

Cheri_F, Mar 2024

Wonderful knowledge tour guide. Amazed at how much we learned. The views from the top of the Duomo are not to be missed!

Matt was a wonderful...

Matthew_H, Mar 2024

Matt was a wonderful guide, very knowledgeable and passionate about the history and culture. I would definitely recommend someone to request him as their guide.

Great Communicator and Passionate

daryl_W, Dec 2023

Get Irina as your tour guide! She was passionate, clear and extremely knowledgeable. She welcomed all of our questions and kept my teen’s interest the entire time. That’s no small task!

Wonderful, insightful tour

Beth_F, Dec 2023

Our tour guide Elena was incredibly knowledgeable and gave us such great insight and historical context for the David. The Duomo is beautiful and we earned our gelato for the day by climbing all the stairs to the top 😁

Our host/guide was...

Jason_P, Nov 2023

Our host/guide was incredibly knowledgeable about the Renaissance Art movement. He provided great information, and an exceptional way to look at the best of Florence

Do not miss this tour!!!

Sarah_H, Nov 2023

Such an amazing tour and experience! This tour gets you right pass all the lines to see David and to to the top of the Cathedral terraces and dome past lots of lines. Our tour guide was brilliant and helped explain the history of Florence, the art works and the construction of the cathedral. This is a do not miss experience!

A Great Experience

Michael_B, Nov 2023

The very smart, knowledgeable and friendly guide is a wonderful person. Made it to the top of the very windy ( at least on this day) dome. I’m a 65 year old guy who had open heart surgery two months ago, but it wasn’t that difficult. There are a couple of places on the way up where you can take some time to rest. You can do it! Fantastic view from up there. Truly remarkable the amount of treasures in Florence. More than you can possibly see on just one tour, but, I also liked how our tour included tickets to the Baptristry, the Duomo Museum, and the bell tower. I wasn’t expecting that, and the museum, especially, was spectacular.

The perfect tour!

Christina_M, Nov 2023

This was the perfect tour! Our guide, I believe his name was Noble (?) was absolutely fantastic - he was incredibly knowledgeable, engaging, and kept things light and fun. The many stairs up to the top of the Duomo are worth it, truly. We feel so fortunate to have been able to go on the tour, skip the lines, and be matched with a wonderful guide. Thank you so much!!

Outstanding experiencing

Deb_L, Nov 2023

Fantastic experience. Guide was Castanza and she was fantastic. So knowledgeable. Getting in early to see David was amazing. Skip the line for duomo worked perfectly. Game changing.

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