Looking to visit any of Italy's museums? Here are some changes coming up for all of the state-run museums across the country, courtesy of DiscoverTuscany.com.
All museums run by the state have started offering free entrance on the first Sunday of the month. Of course, this will probably mean bigger crowds, but it's a great perk. To guarantee entrance, book tickets ahead of time, and pay the online and prebooking frees. For the Uffizi and Accademia Galleries in Florence, visit www.uffizi.org for tickets.
The second change applies just to Italians and EU citizens over 65 years old, who used to be able to enter these museums for free. All EU citizens over 25 now have no reduced-fare or free tickets (there are special conditions for teachers, guides, etc and those have not been changed).
Still, everyone under 18 does enter the museums for free, regardless of citizenship. (Families with children who want to buy advance tickets to avoid any lines will still have to pay the advanced booking fees for kids.)
There's some good news for night owls, too: Through September 30, the Uffizi and Accademia Galleries will remain open longer on Tuesdays, closing at 9pm. (Entrance is still charged on these evenings.) Also, the Uffizi, Accademia, Bargello and Medici Chapels will all extend their opening hours on Friday evenings, closing at 9pm. (In July, the Bargello will not yet have extended hours on Fridays and will close at 5pm.)
And (perhaps) best of all, visitors will be able to take pictures of the artwork inside the museums as long as they don't use flash. Tell David to say cheese!