Private tours in Florence is now part of Guidaly.
Now we can offer private tours not only in Florence but also in Tuscany and Rome.
Full day Michelangelo Tour overview
This tour allows you to have a full day immersion in the life and works of Michelangelo.
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564) is considered the father and master of all arts. Sculptor, architect, painter and poet, the Florentine artist raised the Renaissance to its highest point. Most of his works are split between Rome and Florence, this tour dives into the life and works of Michelangelo visiting all the main attractions related to the master artist.
We start the tour in Piazza San Lorenzo, in the heart of the Medici, to speak of the young Michelangelo and visit the Medici Chapels. You will get to know why the statues do not resemble the real aspect of Lorenzo and Giuliano de Medici and what Michelangelo actually intended to represent.
The second stage of the tour features the most famous statue in the world: Michelangelo’s David. In the Accademia Gallery we will analyze the unique sculptural technique of Michelangelo through the unfinished Slaves. You will be told the story of how Michelangelo created his masterpiece from a low quality block of marble, how he reacted to criticism and how the statue was destined to a totally different location, analyzing the different symbology of this David compared to the earlier statues we’ll see later at the Bargello Museum. In the ancient Bargello Palace (1255), you will be told about how the building was a prison, where people was tortured and condemned to death. We will see where Michelangelo comes from, through the works by Donatello and Andrea del Verrocchio, discovering how David was a symbol of Florence well before Michelangelo dealt with his huge statue. We will then admire some of his early masterpieces and you will get to know the incredible way the young artist earned a prestigious commission in Rome and the hidden symbology behind his portrait of Brutus, probably related to a member of the Medici family.
We finish the first part of the tour in Piazza Santa Croce, filled with typical restaurants, for a lunch break.
Santa Croce district is one of the ancient four quarters of the Medieval Florence. Once a swamp, often flooded by the river Arno, it became the base for the Franciscan friars that arrived in Florence in the 13th century. The construction of the Basilica and the beautiful square started in 1294 when Florence was the largest town in Europe. Santa Croce is also the district of Michelangelo, and we will visit Casa Buonarroti, his home, a museum displaying some of the very first works of the master artist, like the Madonna Della Scala and the Battle of the Centaurs, made by a teenager Michelangelo at the service of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
We then move back to Piazza Santa Croce, the rectangular square, to speak about the curiosities of this place, like the fact it has been used (and still is) to play historical football games. Finally we will visit the Basilica di Santa Croce, known as the temple of Italian glories. Inside, you’ll see the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, Niccolò Machiavelli, Gioacchino Rossini and more illustrious Italians. The church is filled with frescoes, mainly by Giotto and his followers, the pioneers that paved the way for the Renaissance. You will discover how Giorgio Vasari restructured the church after the Catholic counter-reformation, and you will see sculptures by Donatello, glazed terracotta by Luca Della Robbia and altarpieces by Bronzino. The sacristy features the symbol of the damage Florence suffered in the 1966 flood, a painted cross by Cimabue, and you will hear a story about the “Angels of Mud”.
Out in the courtyard of Santa Croce stands a masterpiece of Renaissance architecture: the Pazzi Chapel by Filippo Brunelleschi. You will relax sitting on the benches of the Chapel while your guide tells you about the Pazzi conspiracy, the plot to kill the members of the Medici family.
Finally, we’ll visit the refectory of the convent, where is the most ancient Last Supper fresco in Florence.
Highlights
- Michelangelo – Tomb of Lorenzo de Medici
- Michelangelo – Tomb of Giuliano de Medici
- Michelangelo – Slaves
- Michelangelo – David
- Donatello – Bronze David
- Andrea del Verrocchio – David
- Michelangelo – Bacchus
- Michelangelo – Brutus
- Michelangelo – Madonna della scala
- Giorgio Vasari – Michelangelo’s tomb
- Giotto – Bardi and Peruzzi chapels
- Cimabue – Painted Cross
- Filippo Brunelleschi – Pazzi Chapel
Click on markers for more info:
Tour features
| Pricing | Private tour – price varies based on the number of participants |
| Duration | 6 hours (plus lunch break) |
| Language | English |
| Tour type | Private |
| Pick-up | Florence – Piazza di San Lorenzo in front of the statue of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere (Hotel pick-up available for selected hotels) |
| Drop-off | Florence – Piazza Santa Croce |
| Venues |
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| Included |
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| Not included |
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Tour Schedule
| We schedule the tour upon request.
Based on the opening days/hours of the venues involved, we can provide the tour in the following days:
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Additional info
| The tour involves some walking, it is recommended to wear comfortable shoes |
| ID document is required to obtain ticket price reductions for children. This is mandatory (a photocopy is accepted) |
| Accademia Gallery is one of the most visited museum in Florence. Tickets need to be reserved in advance, we take care to reserve your skip-the-line tickets (at no additional fee) |
| Even with skip-the-line tickets, security checks can delay the entrance to the museum |
Private tours in Florence is now part of Guidaly.
Now we can offer private tours not only in Florence but also in Tuscany and Rome.
How is Full Day Michelangelo Tour different?
Different from what? You won’t find Full Day Michelangelo tours including all the Michelangelo masterpieces anywhere else. Some Michelangelo Tours do not even include the Accademia Gallery (David)!
Why? Because agencies and tour operators are concerned with selling you as many tours as possible: so if any other tour in their list includes the Accademia, they want you to buy that tour as well. We are different: even though the Accademia Gallery is included in two more tours in our list (Florence Walking Tour and Florence in a Day), we want to give you a complete perspective of Michelangelo masterpieces in Florence and this cannot be done without the Accademia Gallery, displaying seven works of the master including David, the most famous one.
As you can see we are not concerned with selling you as many tours as possible but with giving you the best possible experience. By the way, if you want to buy another tour that includes the same attractions, we will adapt it so that you’ll never see the same attractions twice.
Private tour
This is a private Full Day Michelangelo Tour. You won’t join any large or small group of tourists, it’s meant for you, your family and/or your friends. The Florence Tour Guide will be at your service for the duration of the tour, assisting you in buying skip the line tickets for the Accademia and explaining to you whatever you want to know.
Fair price
Is our Full Day Michelangelo Tour expensive for you? Any agency will price a private 6 hours Florence Walking Tour no less than € 800. Here you’re directly hiring a local genuine Florence Tour Guide, so you save any agency or middlemen fees, which means paying up to 60% less. The tour is certainly expensive if you travel alone, but it’s as low as € 132/person for a family of five: much less than any 6-hour Florence Day Tours offered online and a much better experience than any shared group tour.
Private tours in Florence is now part of Guidaly.
Now we can offer private tours not only in Florence but also in Tuscany and Rome.
Photo gallery
Daniele da volterra - Portrait of Michelangelo
Private tours in Florence is now part of Guidaly.
Now we can offer private tours not only in Florence but also in Tuscany and Rome.
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