Is the Vasari Corridor worth it? Once, yes

View of the Arno from a window in the Vasari Corridor

Once, yes, if you know what you are paying for. It is a bare passage of about a kilometre that you walk in about 45 minutes in a museum group, without stopping and without commentary. What you get is the route: windows over the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio, Roman busts above the bridge, a balcony looking into Santa Felicita, and an exit in the Boboli Gardens. If you expect a gallery of paintings you will be disappointed; the self-portraits that used to hang there have not come back.

WalkAbout 45 min

The corridor’s share€18

Group25 visitors + 2 staff

Windows73

Paintings insideNone now

Roman bustsSince July 2025

Official ticket firstUffizi plus corridor costs €47 on the museum’s own site. The options below sell a guide for the paintings, or a slot when the official ones are gone.

Compare all six

What it is actually like

The Uffizi’s own words for the restored corridor are “original bareness” and “a simple air tunnel”, and they are accurate. White walls, a long floor, a group of 25 moving at one pace with two members of staff, and no stopping. You cannot walk it back the other way and you cannot leave the group. Phillip, from the United Kingdom, put it better than most guidebooks: “some of the views from it were stunning, the inside of the corridor was quite underwhelming”. The summary on one of the guided listings says the corridor segment “feels rushed and offers little commentary”. Both are fair.

Why I still think it is worth €18

Because of where it goes. You cross the Ponte Vecchio above the goldsmiths’ shops, looking down the river through the wide windows over the bridge. Since July 2025 more than fifty Roman portrait busts line that stretch; they had been in storage since 1993. Then the passage bends round the Mannelli Tower on stone brackets, because the family would not let it be knocked down. And then the balcony into Santa Felicita, built so the ducal family could hear Mass unseen. I grew up a few streets from that church, and looking down into it from the Medici box was the moment the walk made sense to me. The full route, in order, is on what you see.

Who should go

Anyone visiting the Uffizi anyway: the corridor adds €18 to the advance ticket.
Anyone who has already seen the Uffizi: the Friday evening ticket, at €24, is the corridor alone. Friday dates.
Anyone curious about how the Medici moved through the city. The corridor is the argument, in stone, that a duke did not use the streets.

Who should skip it

People expecting art on the walls. The self-portrait collection hung there from the 1970s until 2016 and is not back.
Anyone who cannot walk about a kilometre in 45 minutes without stopping.
Photographers who want to set up and wait for the light. The group keeps moving.
Anyone on a tight budget who mainly wants the bridge. Walking the Ponte Vecchio is free; only the floor above it needs a ticket.

Is it worth paying a tour for?

For the corridor alone, no. In practice nobody explains anything inside it, tour or not, and I go through why on can a guide explain the corridor. For the Uffizi beforehand, often yes. Tom, from Australia, had a guide who “brought the paintings to life”, and called the corridor “the icing on the cake”. That is the right order of value. A tour is also worth it when the official slots for your dates are gone. One warning: Willem, from the Netherlands, never got to the corridor on the cheapest guided tour, and Melody, from the United States, booked the option without it by mistake. On the two listings with “Optional” or “Option” in the title, the from-price does not include the corridor. The comparison is on all tours.

What works

The windows over the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio
More than fifty Roman busts above the bridge since July 2025
The Santa Felicita balcony and the bend round the Mannelli Tower
Only €18 on top of an advance Uffizi ticket

Worth knowing

A bare passage: no paintings, by design
About 45 minutes at the group’s pace, no lingering
No commentary inside, even on a tour
One way only, with no way back into the Uffizi

Guide for the Uffizi, then the corridor: check dates

Four of the six options listed here cancel free up to 24 hours ahead; the ticket-and-app option and the escorted tour are non-refundable. Official Uffizi tickets are named and cannot be refunded either.

Cheapest guideCorridor costs extra

Frequently asked questions

Is the Vasari Corridor worth it?

Once, yes, for the route: the windows over the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio, the Roman busts above the bridge and the balcony into Santa Felicita. It is a bare passage walked in about 45 minutes in a group, with no paintings and no commentary, so go for the views, not the art.

Are there paintings in the Vasari Corridor?

Not now. The self-portrait collection hung there from the 1970s until 2016 and has not returned. Since July 2025 the section above the Ponte Vecchio has more than fifty Roman portrait busts.

Is it worth it if I have already seen the Uffizi?

Yes, and that is the case for the Friday evening ticket: the corridor alone for €24 ahead, until 20 November 2026.

Is a tour worth it just for the corridor?

No. Expect no commentary inside the corridor on any tour. A tour is worth paying for a guide in the Uffizi beforehand, or for a slot when the official ones are sold out.