Uffizi small-group tour (max 9) with the Vasari option: review

The Ponte Vecchio from the Arno bank, with the Vasari Corridor running along its top

My verdict: if you want the paintings explained, this is the tour I would book, and it is the one I measure the others against. The guiding happens in the Uffizi, with nine people at most, and that is where a guide earns the money. Read the price line carefully: the from-price is the gallery tour without the corridor, and the corridor has to be chosen as an option when you book.

4.7★★★★★111 reviewsfrom €79

GuideLicensed guide in the Uffizi, about 2 hours

Group9 people at most

CorridorAn option, at extra cost: not in the from-price

With the optionAbout 3 hours, ending near the Buontalenti Grotto

Meeting pointLeonardo da Vinci statue, Uffizi colonnade, blue flag

CancellationFree up to 24 hours before

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

The from-price leaves the corridor out

Read the price line twice. The from-price on this listing is the option without the corridor. On the date I checked, the option with the corridor cost roughly half as much again. The listing also says the corridor option cannot be added on the day, so if you want it, pick it at checkout and look for it on the confirmation. Two reviewers on other “optional” listings booked the cheaper option and only found out at the Uffizi. The three guided tours and their options, compared.

What you get in the Uffizi

Two hours with a licensed guide, reserved entry, and a group capped at nine. The reviews are mostly about the guides, by name. Tom, from Australia, says Camilla “brought the paintings to life”. Louise, also from Australia, was in a group of just four with Stefania. Martin, from the United Kingdom, recommends Debrah highly. The honest complaint comes from Kimberlee, from the United States: at points the crowds were so loud her group could not hear the guide. That is the Uffizi on a busy day, and a group of nine does not make the rooms any emptier.

What the corridor part actually is

With the option, the corridor comes after the gallery tour, roughly two hours after you start, which is how the museum’s own ticket works too. The whole thing runs to about three hours and finishes near the Buontalenti Grotto in the Boboli Gardens. 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.

The listing’s own summary of its reviews says the Vasari segment “feels rushed and offers little commentary”. I would not hold that against this tour. That is the corridor under the current rules, on every product here. The reviewers who enjoyed it took it as a coda: Tom calls it “the icing on the cake”, and Louise says “the Vasari bridge was an awesome extra”. Why nobody explains the corridor.

Against the official ticket

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. With that ticket you get the same Uffizi entry and the same corridor walk, and no guide. What this tour adds is two hours among the paintings with someone who knows them, in a small group, and the named tickets and the timing handled for you. I think that is worth paying for once in the Uffizi. If what you want is the corridor itself, the Friday evening ticket at €24 is the cheaper way in.

Before you bookThe listing says the tour is not suitable for wheelchair users, although the corridor itself has ramps, platforms and lifts. Backpacks, rucksacks, suitcases and large umbrellas are not allowed in the corridor, and anything you leave in the Uffizi cloakroom has to be collected by walking back round by road, over the Ponte Vecchio, once you are out in Boboli. Travel light and keep your coat with you.

What works

A guide for the paintings, which is where a guide pays off
Nine people at most
4.7 from 111 reviews, with guides praised by name
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Worth knowing

The from-price excludes the corridor
The corridor option cannot be added on the day
Little or no commentary in the corridor itself
Crowds in the Uffizi can drown the guide out

Who it suits

First-time visitors to the Uffizi who want the paintings explained and the corridor at the end of the same morning. If you have seen the gallery before, or only care about the corridor, the museum’s own ticket or a Friday evening slot will do it for less. The Friday evening corridor-only ticket.

Check dates for the small-group tour

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.

Other options to consider

Cheapest guideCorridor costs extra

Frequently asked questions

Does the Uffizi small-group tour include the Vasari Corridor?

Not at the from-price. The corridor is an option at extra cost, and the listing says it cannot be added on the day, so choose it when you book. Which prices include the corridor.

Will the guide explain the corridor?

Expect not. The listing’s review summary calls the Vasari segment rushed with little commentary, and operators say guides may not explain inside, on any tour.

How long is the tour with the corridor option?

About three hours in all: two hours in the Uffizi with the guide, then the corridor, ending near the Buontalenti Grotto in Boboli. You cannot go back into the Uffizi afterwards. Where the corridor comes out.

Is the small-group tour suitable for wheelchair users?

The listing says it is not. The corridor itself has ramps, platforms and lifts, so a wheelchair user can book the official ticket instead. Accessibility in the corridor.