18 best museums in Florence

Florence has an unusually high concentration of museums, and it makes sense once you look at the city’s history. For centuries, it was a center of wealth, power, and artistic innovation, especially under the Medici family. They not only collected masterpieces but also commissioned them, leaving behind vast collections that later became public. That’s why so many of Florence’s museums are connected to Renaissance art and architecture, though you’ll also find spaces dedicated to archaeology, fashion, science, and even contemporary work.

That said, with somewhere between 70 and 90 museums in the city, it can help to know which ones are worth your time. Here are our favorite museums in Florence.

1. The Uffizi

Kicking off with the obvious (it does, after all, boast the world’s finest collection of Italian Renaissance art), the Uffizi presents a mind-blowing parade of masterpieces.If you want to visit one of the best museums in Florence, this is it.

Inside you’ll see paintings that shaped the Renaissance, including Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Primavera, Leonardo’s Annunciation, and works by Michelangelo, Raphael, and Caravaggio. It's any easy addition to any Italy itinerary.

The galleries take you through the story of Italian painting from the Middle Ages to the height of the Renaissance. The building itself is part of the experience, with long corridors and the Vasari Corridor linking it to Palazzo Vecchio. Before leaving, stop at the rooftop café for a coffee with a view over the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio. It’s worth booking ahead since this is the busiest museum in Florence.

2. The Bargello

The Bargello feels very different from the Uffizi. This former prison and fortress now houses an outstanding collection of Renaissance sculpture. Donatello’s bronze David, Michelangelo’s Bacchus, and works by Cellini and Giambologna are highlights.

The museum also has decorative arts like tapestries, ivories, and medals that show how art was part of daily life in Florence. The courtyard, once used for executions, is now a calm place filled with statues.

Since it is usually less crowded than other museums, you can slow down here and really look at details, including the chisel marks on unfinished works. For this reason it's truly one of the best museums in Florence.
 

3. Palazzo Pitti

Across the Arno, Palazzo Pitti was once the grand residence of the Medici. Today it brings together several Florence museums under one roof.

The Palatine Gallery displays works by Raphael, Titian, Rubens, and Caravaggio in lavish rooms where paintings hang floor to ceiling. The Royal Apartments preserve 19th-century court life with silk-lined walls and ornate furnishings.

Behind the palace, the Boboli Gardens stretch across the hillside with fountains, grottos, and long paths through manicured greenery. The palace also includes the Treasury of the Grand Dukes, the Gallery of Modern Art, and the Costume Gallery. 

You can easily spend half a day here exploring the different collections. For more advice on how to split up your time during your trip, see our guide on how to plan a trip to Italy.

4. Museo dell’Opera del Duomo

 This museum pulls together the original artworks from the Duomo complex, keeping them safe from weather damage while showing them in ways that help you understand their original context.

One of the most striking pieces here is Michelangelo’s unfinished final Pietà, which he had planned for his own tomb. Donatello’s wooden Mary Magdalene, hollow-cheeked from her desert fasting, is equally unforgettable.

The Florence museum also houses Ghiberti’s restored Gates of Paradise, the golden baptistery doors that once stood outside. A large hall displays the cathedral’s original facade sculptures at eye level, giving you a perspective the public never had.

You’ll also find Brunelleschi’s wooden models and even his death mask, which give insight into the engineering genius behind the dome. This is a great stop, no matter how many days you have in Florence.

5. The Accademia

Most people come here to see Michelangelo’s David, and for good reason. It’s one of the most famous works of art in the world. Seeing the 17-foot statue in person, with its veins, tension, and oversized hands, is very different from seeing a photo. But the museum has much more than that.

Michelangelo’s unfinished Prisoners line the hallway leading to David, showing figures trapped in rough marble, as if they’re still fighting their way out. The museum also includes Renaissance paintings, with works by Botticelli, and a gallery of medieval and Renaissance musical instruments.

Another highlight is the plaster cast gallery, which shows how students once learned their craft. If you want to avoid the biggest crowds, it’s best to go early in the morning or later in the afternoon. As for what time of year is best, see our guide to the best time to visit Italy.

6. Museo Galileo

 Florence shaped the history of science as much as it did art, and this Florence museum makes that clear. Galileo’s telescopes are on display, including the ones he used to discover Jupiter’s moons. His preserved middle finger is also here, kept as a kind of relic.

The collection includes astrolabes, globes, and scientific instruments made from brass and ivory, as well as exhibits on navigation, mathematics, and anatomy.

You can also see Cosimo II’s chemistry lab and detailed wax anatomical models once used in teaching. The museum makes it easy to see how Renaissance curiosity came to be the experiments that changed how people understood the world

7. Museo Archeologico

If you’re curious about what came before the Renaissance, this museum is worth a stop. It holds one of Italy’s largest Egyptian collections outside of Turin, with mummies, sarcophagi, and everyday objects spanning thousands of years.

The real standout here is the bronze “Chimera of Arezzo,” a 5th-century BCE Etruscan piece that later inspired Renaissance artists. You’ll also see the “Francois Vase,” one of Greece’s most famous painted vessels, and entire rooms lined with Roman portraits that capture the ideals Florence’s artists tried to revive.

In the garden, you can walk past reconstructed Etruscan tombs. Set inside the Palazzo della Crocetta, it’s usually calm and uncrowded, which gives you the chance to really take in the classical roots that shaped Renaissance Florence. 
 

8. Palazzo Vecchio Museum

Florence’s city hall has been the center of political life since medieval times, and it is still a working government building today.

Inside you can walk into the Salone dei Cinquecento, a massive chamber designed for a council of 500, with Vasari’s paintings covering the ceiling to glorify Medici power. Behind some of the paintings you’ll find secret passageways the family used to move around unseen. This is one of the most interesting of Florence's museums.

When you climb the tower, you get sweeping views across the city. The private apartments show the shift from the stark medieval period to the more lavish Renaissance style, with decorations by artists like Bronzino and Vasari. 
 

9. Medici Chapels

Inside the church of San Lorenzo, the Medici family built their grand mausoleum. The Chapel of Princes is covered floor to ceiling with marble and semi-precious stones, a display of wealth that took centuries to finish. 

The New Sacristy, designed by Michelangelo, holds some of his most intense sculptures. Figures like “Day,” “Night,” “Dawn,” and “Dusk” frame the unfinished tombs, their energy and emotion still powerful today.

Michelangelo left Florence before the work was complete, which makes the chapel feel even more charged. 

Beneath it all, an underground crypt holds generations of the family. In a hidden room nearby, recently uncovered charcoal drawings may even be sketches Michelangelo made while hiding here during political unrest. 
 

10. Museo di Palazzo Davanzati

Palazzo Davanzati is one of the few places in Florence where you can see how wealthy Florentines actually lived in the Middle Ages. Unlike the grand palaces later converted into museums, this 14th-century merchant’s home still feels domestic.

The walls are painted to look like tapestries, the windows close with wooden shutters instead of glass, and there’s even an early version of a toilet. The rooms are filled with carved beds, painted wedding chests, and other furniture that shows how people lived before Renaissance luxury became the standard. You’ll also find kitchen tools, board games, and textiles that make the space feel personal.

On the top floor, the loggia gives you views across the city, and a collection of lace and embroidery highlights Florence’s textile traditions.
 

11. Palazzo Strozzi Foundation

Palazzo Strozzi is known for its rotating exhibitions, which range from Renaissance retrospectives to big names in contemporary art.

The building itself is a classic example of Renaissance architecture, with a stone facade and a large courtyard at its center.

Exhibitions change regularly, so what you see depends on when you visit. In recent years, shows have included everything from Ai Weiwei’s installations to Marina Abramović’s performance art.

The basement, known as the Strozzina, focuses on contemporary and experimental projects. There’s also a bookshop and café (and other great Florence restaurants nearby). If you’re interested, it’s worth checking the calendar before you plan your visit.
 

12. Salvatore Ferragamo Museum

Inside Palazzo Spini Feroni, this museum tells the story of Salvatore Ferragamo, the shoemaker who built his fashion house in Florence after working in Hollywood.

The collection includes shoes designed for film stars like Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, and Greta Garbo, as well as newer pieces.

Altogether there are around 14,000 shoes in the archive, including Ferragamo’s own inventions such as the wedge heel. Exhibitions rotate, often connecting the history of Ferragamo with broader themes in fashion. The museum also highlights the link between Florence’s history of craftsmanship and its ongoing role in global design. It's a great stop, even if you're only in Florence for the weekend.

13. Stefano Bardini Museum

Stefano Bardini was one of Florence’s most influential art dealers, and his old showroom is now a museum. The walls are painted in a distinctive “Bardini blue,” which makes the artworks stand out.

The collection feels personal, more like stepping into a private trove than a traditional museum. It's a great addition to any Tuscany itinerary. You move through rooms filled with medieval and Renaissance sculptures, paintings, ceramics, furniture, and armor. Pieces like Donatello reliefs, della Robbia terracottas, and medieval wooden figures share space with Roman sarcophagi and ornate Renaissance cassoni, or wedding chests.

Rather than presenting history in strict categories, the collection reflects Bardini’s personal eye for beauty. The building itself still feels connected to early 20th-century collecting culture, when dealers shaped the way people understood Renaissance art. And from the windows, you get great views of the Oltrarno.

14. Casa Buonarroti

Michelangelo bought this house for his family, though he never lived in it himself. His descendants later turned it into a Florence museum that preserved both his art and the family’s legacy.

Two of his earliest works are the highlights here: the Madonna of the Stairs, which he carved at fifteen, and the dramatic relief Battle of the Centaurs. Original drawings show how he developed ideas, while furniture and Renaissance paintings create a sense of the period.

The rooms were decorated in a baroque style by his great-nephew, who wanted to celebrate the family name. The museum also holds the largest collection of Michelangelo drawings, displayed on rotation. Family letters and documents bring out a more personal side of the artist.
 

15. Museo Novecento

If you want to step outside the Renaissance for a while, Museo Novecento focuses on 20th-century Italian art. It’s housed in the old Spedale delle Leopoldine right on Piazza Santa Maria Novella. The collection runs from Futurism to Arte Povera, with works by de Chirico, Morandi, Fontana, and other key figures.

The galleries trace how Italian artists engaged with modernism while still keeping a distinctively Italian character. Temporary exhibitions bring in contemporary artists, so there’s usually something new to see alongside the permanent works. Installations, video art, and interactive displays give it a different energy compared to Florence’s more traditional museums.

From the loggia, you’ll also get a clear view over the piazza and the church of Santa Maria Novella. 
 

16. Zeffirelli Museum

Franco Zeffirelli, the famous film and opera director, left his archive to Florence, and it became this museum dedicated to his career.

It’s just a short walk from Piazza della Signoria, where you can see costumes, sketches, set designs, and props from productions like Romeo and Juliet and La Traviata.

Some rooms are arranged like stage sets with original materials and projections, so you get a sense of how his productions came to life. The collection moves between his work at La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, and even Hollywood, showing how he carried an Italian sense of style onto the world stage. If you’re interested in opera or film, you’ll find plenty of behind-the-scenes details here. This is easily one of the best things to do in Tuscany.

17. Natural History Museum (La Specola)

La Specola is one of Florence’s more unusual museums. The zoology halls are lined with old glass cases filled with taxidermy, including exotic animals that fascinated collectors in the 1700s and even a few species that are now extinct.

The real draw is the set of anatomical wax models, made in the 18th century for teaching medicine. They’re so detailed that they look unsettlingly real, with carefully crafted organs and figures like the reclining “Venus” showing the human body in layers.

There are also fossils, minerals, and botanical specimens, but most people come to see the wax figures. It’s close to Palazzo Pitti and usually much quieter than Florence’s main museums, so you can take your time looking around.
 

18. Stibbert Museum

The Stibbert Museum was once the home of Frederick Stibbert, a British-Italian collector who filled his villa with more than 50,000 objects.

The highlight is the main hall, where rows of armored knights on horseback look ready to ride into battle. There’s also a major collection of Japanese samurai armor and weapons, along with tapestries, costumes, and decorative objects from across Europe, Asia, and the Islamic world.

The villa itself is part of the experience, with interiors decorated in different revival styles and a garden designed for strolling. It’s a little outside Florence’s center, but if you’re curious about collections and eccentric old houses, it’s worth the trip. For more ideas outside the city, see our guide to the best day trips from Florence.