Pitti Palace and Palatina Gallery

Beautiful palace with much to see. Need to book timed tour of Royal apartment if wish to visit (included with most tickets). Varied exhibits to see from art, statues and fashion. Self guided tour let us go at our own pace. Cafe inside for refreshments when needed. Go early for quieter visit

The palace apartments are stunning- each room is more opulent than the next. The costumes from each era are also fantastic. Arrive before 11am as the crowds arrive in the afternoon and it’s a bit chaotic. The Boboli gardens are clean and pretty but most of the statues are scaffolded and the Neptune fountain is emptied of water snd under some Reno’s, so that was a tad disappointing.

This was our first visit to Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens. It will not be our last. The palace is so immense and full of artwork that it would take a few visits to encompass it all and many more to appreciate the full beauty of the collection. The gardens are unique and built on a hill behind the palace. It is a relaxing was to take in the neighborhood and also see some of the major sites of Florence.

Gloria was outstanding with her knowledge. The Tour was amazing and so interesting Gloria gave us information on everything. We asked her several questions and she had every answer! She was so kind and upbeat! We would definitely recommend this tour on your trip to Florence.

The star of our holiday experiences The Palazzo Pitti is stunning. The granduer of the rooms alone makes a visit worthwhile and the enormous art collection within those rooms is truly incredible. In all Florence it was my favourite visit and I would happily go again. Sadly it was far too hot to enjoy the Boboli Gardens which are part of the palace.

Absolutely worth seeing. One of the most beautiful attractions in Florence and Italy. Stratospheric collections with works by the greatest of the Renaissance.

Highly recommended, it is a place that you can not miss and enter. It is a must and better visit with guide, which was very good.

Do not miss this place. It and the Bardini gardens nearby are wonderful. Pitti has a huge art collection, a large and interesting display of costumes through the ages, and some bedrooms on display. If you are lucky you might get on a guided kitchen tour!

The Pitti Palace was commissioned in 1440 by the banker Luca Pitti in an attempt to outdo the Medici family; but his luck changed and the family had to sell it to them in 1549. They initiated major expansion works, lavishly decorating the rooms and creating what are now the Bobboli Gardens. With the death of the last Medici Grand Duke in 1737, the Habsburg-Lorraines took over and lived in the palace until 1860. King Vittorio Emmanuel I briefly lived here from 1865-71. The Palatine Gallery was opened to the public in 1874 and the palace was donated to the state in 1919. To my mind, the building has a functional, depressing outward façade, like a prison, deliberately hiding views of the gardens behind. But the extensive interiors are a real treasure-house. The visit is equivalent to 6 separate attractions, and in many ways, more absorbing than the Uffizi. The Palatine Gallery is housed in a luxurious suite of rooms, filled with artworks, largely by Tuscan or wider Italian painters; Tintoretto, Raphael, Murillo, Gentileschi, Lippi, Titian, Caravaggio and more. The fun is finding them tucked away among the others, and guessing what the subject is. These rooms are enjoyable for the decoration alone. For me, the Ark Room was the most impressive, with its simulation of a large tent and action going on around you – fresco, trompe a l’oeil and marbling combined. The Royal Apartments were unfortunately closed, but there’s still the Museum of Fashion and Costume, the Modern Art Collection, and the State Rooms. In the latter, trompe a l’oeil is taken to the limit in some stunning rooms. The Russian icons did not work for me, but some of the items in the Treasury were mind-boggling, especially the ivory carvings (yes, I know tastes change over the centuries). Café not the cheapest and service not great. Boboli Gardens are an extra fee.

This is a really impressive palace to visit with numerous exhibits on display so be sure not to miss them as they are located inside the walkways around the courtyard. If you have not a sore neck after visiting, you've not been looking at the building properly, as the ceilings are the stars of the show. There's just about everything you could wish for in a palace of this scale, art, furniture, sculpture, clocks, bronze, ceramic and beautifully painted and ornate ceilings. My ticket was part of the combination with the timed visit to the Uffizi, but go early to avoid the crowds.