Private Vasari Corridor and Uffizi Gallery tour: review
My verdict: a private guide for the Uffizi, then the corridor, in about two and a half hours. The private part is real in the gallery. In the corridor it is not: you still join a museum group of 25 with two staff, and the word “exclusive” in the listing’s title should be read with that in mind. Book it for a private guide among the paintings, not for a private corridor.
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 sixWhat is private and what is not
Two hours in the Uffizi with a guide of your own is the thing you are paying for, and it is a real difference from a group of nine: your pace, your questions, the rooms you care about. Then comes the corridor, about 45 minutes, and there the rules are the same for everyone. Inside, everyone walks in a museum group of 25 with two staff, who escort the group and do not give guided tours. Groups stay together, nobody may linger, and the walk runs one way, from the Uffizi to the Boboli Gardens, with no way back into the gallery. Private guides count towards the 25. Another operator states that the corridor is unguided “for all options, including private tours”. So expect your guide’s work to end, or at least go quiet, at the corridor door. The guide rule, in full.
€275 against €47
The museum’s own Uffizi + Vasari Corridor ticket is €47 booked ahead on tickets.uffizi.it (€43 on the day), and it already includes the gallery. The Uffizi alone is €29, so the corridor’s share is €18. At €275 per person this tour costs €228 more than the official ticket. The reviewers do not pretend otherwise. Gina, from the United States, had Jadranka as her guide and calls it “costly ... but worth it given that it was private”. Alf, from Norway, found the price “quite stiff”. The value-for-money rating is 4.2, below the overall 4.7, which says the same thing in numbers. Private options compared.
What the reviewers describe
Giuseppe, from Italy, describes walking the corridor as “a moment of genuine emotion”. That is the corridor doing its work on someone, with or without a guide talking. Gina also mentions a long wait to get in despite the reserved tickets: a private guide does not take you past the Uffizi’s security queue.
Booking it
The listing offers free cancellation up to 24 hours before, but also asks you to book only if you are sure, because the museum tickets are issued in your name. Treat it as a fixed plan. You need photo ID matching the name on the ticket, and the tour ends at the Buontalenti Grotto in Boboli, across the river, so bring nothing you would have to collect from the Uffizi cloakroom. What to bring and what to leave.
What works
- A guide to yourself for two hours in the Uffizi
- Corridor included in the price
- Starts in Piazza della Signoria, ends in Boboli
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before
Worth knowing
- €228 more than the official ticket
- The corridor is a shared museum group, not private
- 4.2 for value for money
- Named tickets: book only when your plans are fixed
Who it suits
Couples or families who want the Uffizi at their own pace with a guide of their own, and for whom the price is not the deciding factor. If it is, the small-group tour gives you a guide with eight others at most for a fraction of it.
Other options to consider
Max 9 peopleCorridor costs extraFlorence: Uffizi Small-Group Tour (Max 9) + Vasari Option
Best ratedGuide walks the corridorFlorence: Uffizi Gallery with Optional Vasari Corridor Tour
Ticket, no guideCorridor includedUffizi Gallery & Vasari Corridor Reserved Entry Ticket
Frequently asked questions
Is the Vasari Corridor private on this tour?
No. The Uffizi part is private. In the corridor you join a museum group of 25 with two staff, and your guide counts towards the 25. What the walk is like.
Will my private guide explain the corridor?
Expect not. Operators say guides are not permitted to explain inside, and one says this applies to private tours too.
Where does the private tour start and end?
It meets at the Fountain of Neptune in Piazza della Signoria and ends at the Buontalenti Grotto in the Boboli Gardens. Where the corridor comes out.
Is the private tour worth €275?
For a guide of your own in the Uffizi, some reviewers say yes. For the corridor alone, no: the official ticket is €47 and the walk is the same.