Barrier-Free Florence: A Guide to Accessibility for Everyone

Is Florence accessible to everyone?

This guide will provide information on mobility, museums, and cultural venues accessible to people with various disabilities.

Wheelchair users, the blind and visually impaired, and those with cognitive disabilities or hearing impairments will have access to information to use during their visit to the city.

Most of the attractions in the cradle of the Renaissance can be visited safely by everyone:

In many cases, access for people with disabilities is free;
State museums do not require reservations;
Disabled visitors and their companions can skip the line by presenting a document certifying their disability;
At civic museums, simply purchase two free tickets (one for the disabled visitor and one for the companion) and then show up at the ticket office without a reservation;
Many museums offer guided tours for tourists with special needs, led by professionals with expertise in various forms of disability.

Accessible Museums and Monuments

The Tuscan capital boasts over one hundred museums and art venues, located throughout the city and housing a world-class artistic and cultural heritage.

But which museums in Florence are accessible, barrier-free and offer services dedicated to the disabled?

Let’s discover them all:

Accademia Gallery: It offers a fully accessible tour, enriched with tactile maps. The ticket office and entrance are barrier-free. It boasts a disabled-accessible restroom;
Uffizi Gallery and Pitti Palace: The entrances are equipped with elevators that allow easy access to the various floors. There is a ramped entrance located under the loggia. A disabled-accessible restroom is available;
Opera del Duomo Museum: Accessible to people with mobility disabilities. Inside, there is also a multisensory tactile tour, designed to include people with various disabilities. Wheelchairs are available near the entrance to the Cathedral and the Museum. Reservations are always required to access the museum.
National Bargello Museum: The sidewalk connected to the street level is equipped with devices for disabled access. A tactile tour is available inside by reservation.
Palazzo Medici Riccardi: Access for disabled visitors is on Via de’ Ginori. The entire museum can be visited with ease by visitors with mobility impairments, with the exception of the Chapel of the Magi.
Monumental Complex of Santa Croce: No reservation required. Ramped access is available for the cloister and the basilica. Certified guide dogs are permitted. Almost the entire complex is accessible to visitors with disabilities, except for the naves of the basilica and the transept chapels.
Medici Chapels: A ramp and sidewalk connected to the street allow access for wheelchair users and/or visitors with mobility impairments. The Chapel of the Princes, on the first floor, is accessible by elevator. The only location that cannot be accessed is Michelangelo’s Secret Room.
Santa Maria Novella Monumental Complex: Fully accessible to visitors with disabilities. An elevator provides access to the entrance. A disabled restroom is available.
Palazzo Davanzati: Accessible to visitors with mobility impairments via a mobile platform installed by staff along the main door, if necessary. Elevators to the upper floors are available, as well as dedicated restrooms on the ground floor. A tactile tour is available upon reservation.
Museo Marino Marini: An elevator provides access to the ticket office. The interior can be fully explored thanks to ramps and ramps. A tactile tour for the blind, guided tours in sign language, and guided tours for the cognitively impaired are available upon reservation. A disabled restroom is available on the ground floor.
Museo Stibbert: Elevators and ramps provide easy access to the ground and upper floor rooms, the ticket office, cafeteria, and restrooms. Some ground-floor rooms and the Japanese Armory have steps.
Museo Novecento: Elevators and ramps make the museum fully accessible. Multi-sensory tours are available. Accessible restrooms are available on the ground, first, and second floors.
Museo dell’Opificio delle Pietre Dure: Fully accessible via an elevator, but cannot accommodate electric wheelchairs.
Museo Archeologico di Firenze: An electric ramp allows people with mobility disabilities to access the various floors and restrooms.
Chapel Brancacci: People with disabilities can reach it via the museum route that runs from Piazza del Carmine to the cloister and the Sala Capitolare. An elevator allows access to the chapel, located on the upper floor. Accessible restrooms are available in the cloister on the ground floor.
Museo degli Innocenti: Accessible from the main entrance. Elevators provide access to the upper floors. The entire museum is accessible. Accessible restrooms are available.
University Museum System: The Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology and the Museo della Specola have wheelchair-accessible elevators. The Museum of Geology and Paleontology (with a tactile Braille trail) and the Giardino dei Semplici Botanical Garden are barrier-free;
Palazzo Strozzi: is barrier-free, has an elevator to the exhibition level, and the restrooms are accessible to people with mobility disabilities.

Accessible Itineraries in Florence: Where to Go

The “Passepartour: the Keys to Accessibility” project provides some interesting ideas for visiting the city for people with disabilities.

The project was born from the collaboration between Kimap technology and the City of Florence.

Here are four accessible itineraries in Florence:

The “Classic Route” begins at the Santa Maria Novella station and passes through the city’s most important sites, such as Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Pitti, and the Uffizi;
The “Route from the Accademia to the Santissima Annunziata” covers the northern part, including Palazzo Medici Riccardi, Piazza Santissima Annunziata, the Basilica, the Spedale degli Innocenti, the Galleria dell’Accademia, the Museum of the Opificio delle Pietre Dure, the Museum of San Marco, the Museum of National Archaeology, and the Museum of Geology and Paleontology;
The “Oltrarno Route” combines two itineraries that pass by the Basilica of Santo Spirito, the Boboli Gardens, Piazzale Michelangelo, and the Church of San Miniato al Monte;
The “From Santa Croce to the Bargello” itinerary focuses on the eastern part of Florence, including the Basilica of Santa Croce, the Bargello National Museum, the Dante House Museum, the Buonarroti House Museum, the Sant’Ambrogio market, and the flea market.

Where to eat: barrier-free restaurants

The city offers numerous restaurants, taverns, and trattorias, all accessible to wheelchairs and with dedicated restrooms.

Here are the best wheelchair-accessible restaurants in Florence:

Il Foyer Restaurant – Via S. Gallo, 57 R, Florence
Osteria Toscanella – Via Toscanella, 36 R, Florence
The Stellar Restaurant – Piazza di Cestello, 10, Florence
Osteria del Gatto e la Volpe – Via Ghibellina, 147/r, Florence
La Chicca Boutique Restaurant – Via dei Macci 79 R, Florence
Casa del Vin Santo – Via Porta Rossa, 15, Florence
Il Bongusto La Maremma Restaurant – Via Giuseppe Verdi, 16R, Florence
Enoteca Strozzi Restaurant – Piazza degli Strozzi, 12R, Florence
i Tre Pepi Restaurant – Via dell’Anguillara, 38, Florence
Gilò Restaurant – Via dei Fossi, 44, Florence

Accessible Services and Public Transportation

Finally, here is some useful information for traveling with disabilities in Florence:

Public Transportation: Trams and city buses are normally accessible to people with disabilities. The new vehicles feature low floors, central doors for easy entry, and dedicated spaces for wheelchairs.
Private transportation: Florentia Bus has vehicles with low floors and electro-hydraulic ramps for wheelchair access, with four reserved spaces on board.
Taxi: Taxi Firenze 4390 offers a disabled taxi service. Vehicles are equipped to transport wheelchairs. Reservations are required.