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Explore the enigmatic secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio

4.3(21,110 ratings)

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Tourists exploring the courtyard of Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, Italy.

Visitors exploring the ornate hall of Palazzo Vecchio on a skip-the-line tour in Florence, Italy.

Palazzo Vecchio interior showcasing Renaissance art and architecture in Florence, Italy.

View from Palazzo Vecchio's secret hidden passages in Florence, Italy, showcasing historic architecture.

Exiting one secret door of the Study of Francesco I in the Palazzo Vecchio

Small tourist group exploring exhibit at Palazzo Vecchio, Florence.

Small tourist group exploring Palazzo Vecchio's ornate interiors in Florence, Italy.

Palazzo Vecchio exterior with clock tower in Florence, Italy.

3.9(16)

Palazzo Vecchio Secret Passages Guided Tour with Skip-the-Line Tickets

from

€33

Free cancellation

You can cancel these tickets up to 48 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.

Instant confirmation

Mobile ticket

1 hr 15 min

Unravel Medici mysteries in corridors and rooms hidden from the public, on an exclusive tour!

Follow an expert guide up the narrow passages of Duke Gualtieri’s medieval stairway, and through a door concealed by a painting.
Enter an intriguing private study, and view the coffered ceiling of the ‘Hall of the 500’ from a unique perspective.
With your skip-the-line tickets, freely walk through the rest of Palazzo Vecchio.

Unravel Medici mysteries in corridors and rooms hidden from the public, on an exclusive tour!

Follow an expert guide up the narrow passages of Duke Gualtieri’s medieval stairway, and through a door concealed by a painting.
Enter an intriguing private study, and view the coffered ceiling of the ‘Hall of the 500’ from a unique perspective.
With your skip-the-line tickets, freely walk through the rest of Palazzo Vecchio.

Inclusions

Skip-the-line entry to Palazzo Vecchio
English guided tour of the secret passages

This experience is not accessible by wheelchair/stroller, and is not recommended for guests with mobility issues.
Visitors must leave all umbrellas, backpacks, and large bags in the cloakroom.
Please present a valid photo ID along with your ticket at the info point of Palazzo Vecchio.

You can cancel these tickets up to 48 hours before the experience begins and get a full refund.

Reviews

How do we collect reviews?

3.9

16 ratings

What our guests say

Ljudmila

Jun 2025Verified booking

5/5

The tour was excellent and it stared on time, and we didn't wait on the line. Everything was well explained and it was worth it cheking out the secret passages!

Carole

Jun 2025Verified booking

5/5

Our guide was phenomenal!! Perfect in every way. The tour was fascinating and very engaging. The perfect experience for anyone 12 years and older. Book today!!

YULIA

Jun 2025Verified booking

3/5

The guide, Julia, was amazing, very knowledgeable and fun. The tour itself is interesting. If proper instructions on how to find the guide and where to meet are there, then I would definetely give a higher score.

Alexis

May 2025Verified booking

5/5

Note: Great tour, poor meeting instructions from Headout. The tour was really special! If you enjoy seeing secret rooms, learning about the people who lived in these buildings, and learning more about the craftsmanship, then this is the tour for you! By far my favorite visit in Florence. After the tour, we were then able to visit the rest of Palazzo Vecchio, so overall a great experince. HOWEVER, please do not follow the instructions on the Headout app or email. GO TO THE TICKET OFFICE to get your tickets, THEN they will tell you where to meet your guide. The app told us to wait where we were, and we almost missed our tour.

Helen

May 2025Verified booking

5/5

The tour itself was fabulous. Christina was knowledgable, very informative and engaging, and she had many great insights about the Medici family. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the secret, hidden away places in the Palazzo Vecchio and would recommend it for anyone coming to Florence. However, the instructions on our confirmation email were misleading. I was instructed to stand just inside the door of the Palazzo and wait for the guide (pic of email attached). But I really needed to go to the pre-bookings ticket office first, then wait for the guide at the lion in the courtyard. Because of this, we missed our scheduled tour - fortunately, there was availability on the next one so we didn't miss out. The women at the ticket office were very helpful.

Petrus

Jun 2025Verified booking

4/5

Nice to see the secret hallways and stairs . Also the story of the past is interesting

Eva

Jun 2025Verified booking

3/5

Robert

Jun 2025Verified booking

5/5

Sergii

May 2025Verified booking

5/5

Andreea

May 2025Verified booking

4/5

Fred

Jun 2025Verified booking

1/5

It was just bad. The "positive" thing was that the guide was nice and explained everything in detail. The worst thing was the meeting. At the time at the place and NOTHING was there. Then ANY questions about access and then we were told that we had to redeem the tickets and then wait at the meeting point which-oh wonder-was a completely different one. I have never had such stupid organizational planning and information. I will never book through this platform again. Then the event. The pictures that could be seen in advance showed UNIQUELY more "secret places" than we were shown. What we say was very exciting. Only that the lady from the organizer looked very often at the clock and the feeling came up with us that she must "pull" the time. Please provide clear and unambiguous information about the entry process and do not post false pictures that raise expectations that will NEVER be met. A very dissatisfied client. Fortunately, the nice gentleman at the Info Point was very friendly and eager to help!

View original review in German

Duane

May 2025Verified booking

1/5

Cherie

Mar 2025Verified booking

5/5

Tour guide was wonderful and knowledgeable. Tickets were easy and convenient

Giovanni

Feb 2025Verified booking

5/5

Very good, clear and knowledgeable guide

View original review in Italian

Myka

Apr 2025Verified booking

5/5

Wai

Feb 2025Verified booking

1/5

The tour with Daisy was EXCELLENT! She was knowledgeable, engaging and very helpful!

Fountain with statue in the courtyard of Palazzo Vecchio Museum in Florence

Palazzo Vecchio Hall of the Five Hundred, Florence, showcasing grand frescoes and historic sculptures.

Deposition of Jesus Christ fresco in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

Sala di Leone X in Palazzo Vecchio, Florence, showcasing ornate ceiling and historical frescoes.

Palazzo Vecchio ceiling fresco, Florence, Italy, showcasing intricate Renaissance artwork.

Interiors of the Palazzo Vecchio Museum in Florence

Judith statue at Palazzo Vecchio in Florence courtyard.

Palazzo Vecchio stone stairs in Florence, Italy, leading to historic chambers.

4.1(3,195)

Palazzo Vecchio Skip-the-Line Tickets

from

€18.50

Instant confirmation

Mobile ticket

Flexible duration

Audio guide

Guided tour

Jump past ticket queues to Florence's grand townhall, and upgrade for an audio guide.

Gain direct entry to elaborately furnished courtyards, halls filled with Renaissance masterpieces, and lavish apartments once occupied by the Medici family.
With an optional audio guide, get a complete understanding as you explore all three floors of this legendary museum and seat of the Florence city council.
See Donatello’s famed bronze sculpture of Judith assassinating the Assyrian general Holofernes, and Michelangelo’s Genius of Victory statue.
Add on a tour of Palazzo Vecchio's mysterious secret passages and enter a door hidden behind a painting!

Jump past ticket queues to Florence's grand townhall, and upgrade for an audio guide.

Gain direct entry to elaborately furnished courtyards, halls filled with Renaissance masterpieces, and lavish apartments once occupied by the Medici family.
With an optional audio guide, get a complete understanding as you explore all three floors of this legendary museum and seat of the Florence city council.
See Donatello’s famed bronze sculpture of Judith assassinating the Assyrian general Holofernes, and Michelangelo’s Genius of Victory statue.
Add on a tour of Palazzo Vecchio's mysterious secret passages and enter a door hidden behind a painting!

Inclusions

Skip-the-line entry to Palazzo Vecchio
Audio guide in English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Dutch & Portuguese (as per option selected)
Multimedia tablet (as per option selected)
English guided tour of the secret passages (as per option selected)

Exclusions

Headsets & mobile device

Tip: Until March 6, 2025, your Palazzo Vecchio tickets include entry to the "La sala grande. Giorgio Vasari per Cosimo I de’ Medici exhibition"—don’t miss it!
The two main floors of the museum are wheelchair accessible, but architectural barriers prevent access to the mezzanine floor and the Secret Passages.
Guests with disabilities can enter the museum for free. Visitors with mobility issues can access the building via the side entrance in Via dei Gondi.
The lift, situated on the ground floor in the Cortile della Dogana, is for visitors with reduced mobility only.
Visitors must leave umbrellas, backpacks, and large bags in the cloakroom. Wheelchairs and strollers may be borrowed here free of charge.
Please present a valid photo ID along with your ticket at the info point of Palazzo Vecchio.

These tickets can't be cancelled or rescheduled.

Reviews

How do we collect reviews?

4.1

3,195 ratings

1.5K

1.1K

171

152

278

What our guests say

micaela

Jun 2025Verified booking

5/5

laila was a great host! it felt easy and smooth with her help. we enjoyed all the art palazzo Vecchio had to offer. Suprised to find out you needed separate admission to climb the tower which was disheartening. Thank you for the easy access to tickets!

Sumur

Jun 2025Verified booking

5/5

Everything about the museum was amazing, I'm glad we did not skip it during our trip. The room of geographical maps was my favorite exhibit.

Ana

May 2025Verified booking

5/5

Everything! Tour with Simonna was very interesting and informative. We were dazzled with the paintings, history, size of the rooms, etc

Catharina

Jun 2025Verified booking

5/5

Beautiful to see the secret chambers of the Pallazo Vecchio

Kovács

May 2025Verified booking

5/5

Our entry to the museum was very good and quick.

This review is translated. Show original review.

Jeff

May 2025Verified booking

5/5

I had an early entry . Highly recommended

View original review in Dutch

Christine

May 2025Verified booking

5/5

Really great museum and great historical vibe, not stressy or overcrowded, time to take it all in

Holger

Apr 2025Verified booking

5/5

Great building with history. A must see.

View original review in German

Luísa

Apr 2025Verified booking

5/5

The exhibition is impressive. I didn't have a guide, so we explored at our own pace.

View original review in Portuguese

Luciana

Apr 2025Verified booking

5/5

It was beautiful! No queues and everything worked!

View original review in Portuguese

Marc

Jun 2025Verified booking

5/5

Hello, Le.palazzo vecchio is a truly unique place, which brings together the history of Florentines for nearly 600 years ..superb visit..I recommend Mzrc

View original review in French

Naomi

Jun 2025Verified booking

5/5

We didn't realise the tour is run by the Palazzo itself. We had trouble finding the guide, not realising the info point was actually inside the ticket office (on the left) and that we had to go in there and show the tour email to get the tickets and find out where to wait. Thankfully we bumped into some other people waiting for the tour and Simona our guide was gracious and waited for us while we exchanged the email for the tickets. The tour itself was awesome! A small group getting to go into lots of behind the scenes spots, through some doors you wouldn't ever know existed. It's definitely changed the way we look at Palazzos now! Simona also brought to life some of the many numerous paintings and frescoes, giving us an insight into the history of Florence and the lives of some of its most most infamous inhabitants.

Wilhelmina

Jun 2025Verified booking

3/5

Great reception and guidance to the elevator ( bad walking) very thoughtful . Palazzo was fantastic! Dante's mask, the great hall, the card room! Actually everything very unfortunate of the not working audio

View original review in Dutch

Elisabeth

Jun 2025Verified booking

4/5

Friendly welcome from Laila. She guided us to the left-luggage office and to download the audio guide app.

View original review in French

ROUINSSARD

Jun 2025Verified booking

4/5

Hello, we had no wait although there was a queue at the counter. Someone was waiting for us outside. It was perfect. We had taken the audio-guide option, and the person waiting for us downloaded the tour on our phones. It was very practical, but unlike audio-guides with a number at the entrance to each room, the text was at the end and it was up to us to pause it as we moved around and before arriving in the next room to take advantage of the explanation at the right moment. We managed with just one laptop. Thank you for your help.

View original review in French

Stephen

Jun 2025Verified booking

4/5

The venue was not overcrowded and the displays had good, informative descriptions posted. The audio guide was not very useful since we didn't bring ear buds and found that using the guide without them was disturbing others.

Nina

Jun 2025Verified booking

5/5

Problem-free handover of the tickets. The audio guide is a bit emotionless, you almost fall asleep while listening to it... but all in all, everything was great.

View original review in German

Galland

May 2025Verified booking

4/5

What I liked most about this experience was the guide's welcome and her efficient help in orienting us and advising us on the tour. The messages and reminders before the date were also reassuring.

View original review in French

John

May 2025Verified booking

5/5

Palazzo Vecchio is a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours or more. Such a beautiful building, full of history and art. Our tour host, Laila, got us off to a great start showing us how to access the audio guide (which was invaluable) and where to begin our tour.

Lianne

May 2025Verified booking

4/5

Marta, our guide for the tour was fantastic. She was very knowledgable and her excitement/interest in the Medici's and the Palazzo were palpable. Directions on where to meet could be more clear, the map makes it look like you meet between the Ufizi and the Palazzo

Jørgen

May 2025Verified booking

4/5

The ticketing was according to my -positive- expectations. And we were services by a very helpful representative of Headout. Mille grazie!

DANIJEL

May 2025Verified booking

5/5

"The room od 500" is simply amazing work of art, an experience worth of visit. The palace is an enormous display od Medici wealth.

TILEMACHOS

May 2025Verified booking

5/5

The Palace is extraordinary. The architecture is amazing, and the feeling was very special. Our guide, Laila, helped us a lot with the directions and the instructions she gave us. I will definitely visit Palazzo Vecchio on my next trip to Firenze! Thanks Laila, The Greek friends!

Apoorva

May 2025Verified booking

5/5

Everything was amazing, starting from the guide, Laila, who was very sweet and helped us with the overview! We listened to the recording shared, throughout the artwork, wonderful experience over all :)

Purva

May 2025Verified booking

5/5

Laila was amazing, we had an issue with our car and couldn't find parking but she waited patiently for us to ensure we don't miss on this experience, would personally love to thank her ☺️

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Why visit Palazzo Vecchio’s secret passages?

1/3

Unravel the mystery

Explore hidden corridors to piece the puzzles of Florence’s intriguing history, and the symbolic power and governance of Palazzo Vecchio through the centuries.

Things to know before booking a Palazzo Vecchio secret passages tour

In order to explore the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio, you need to book a special guided tour along with your skip-the-line tickets.
The tour is conducted in English and lasts around one and a half hours, ending with either a hearty Tuscan lunch or a frozen artisanal treat of gelato tasting at the end.
Since it involves climbing a set of constricted staircases and navigating relatively small areas, the tour is not accessible by wheelchair or stroller.

Your journey through the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio

Gualtieri's stone staircase

Your adventure begins as you ascend the narrow spiral staircase of Duke Gualtieri to a set of hidden chambers and corridors. Behind a painting of a dinner party featuring the likes of Cleopatra and Mark Antony lies a small room. Another door unveils a second staircase, also leading back to the object-filled room.

Private study and treasury

Enter the Studiolo of Francesco I de' Medici, which has soaring frescoes across four walls, each dedicated to a natural element. A niche accessible from within this room, Cosimo I’s Tessoretto are secret cabinets that contain rare objects, a collection of Medici art, and his writing desk.

Hall of the 500

Francesco I's tiny private study is right next to the Salone dei Cinquecento, where the Grand Duke used to spy on assemblies in his youth. Observe the great hall’s architectural details from a completely unique perspective.

Elevated passages

The staircase extends upward, guiding you to the grand Hall of Geographical Maps. Concealed within is a hidden passage that discreetly connects to Bianca Cappello’s dressing room—once the mistress of Francesco and later his second wife.

Explore Palazzo Vecchio

With skip-the-line tickets included, you can freely discover the rest of the palace – from the grand courtyard to the Medici apartments, at your own pace after the tour.

History & purpose of Palazzo Vecchio’s secret passages

Built in the 14th century, Palazzo Vecchio served as the seat of power for the influential Medici family. Concealed within its walls are hidden corridors built for clandestine movement and confidential conversations. Designed primarily by Giorgio Vasari, these rooms and passages played a pivotal role in political intrigues, allowing the Medici family to strategize and shape the destiny of Florence behind closed doors.

But Palazzo Vecchio secret passages hold more than political history. Within these concealed chambers lie artistic treasures crafted by legendary masters like Michelangelo, as well as uncommon artifacts. These hidden gems add an enchanting dimension to your journey, as you marvel at the exquisite craftsmanship and immerse yourself in the beauty of the Renaissance.

After centuries of secrecy, the passages were rediscovered and opened to the public. Today, this extraordinary experience offers a rare glimpse into the hidden corners of Florence's past. Follow an expert guide on this adventure that will leave you both informed and spellbound.

Palazzo Vecchio history

Frequently asked questions about the Palazzo Vecchio secret passages

Why are there secret passages in Palazzo Vecchio?

Numerous hidden corridors were carved into the palace in order to give its residents the space to store their precious artifacts and important documents, and to have private meetings.

Does the secret passages tour in Palazzo Vecchio connect to the Vasari Corridor?

No, this tour only includes the hidden passages of the palace. A tour of the Vasari Corridor is only possible from Uffizi Gallery. There is a door in Duchess Eleonora’s Green Room that connects to the corridor, but it is sealed and inaccessible.

Are the secret passages recommended for young children?

Although older children and teenagers may enjoy the experience, children under the age of 6 years are not allowed on the tour.

Are the secret passages of Palazzo Vecchio accessible for guests with limited mobility?

The Palazzo Vecchio Secret Passages tour is not recommended for guests with mobility issues or claustrophobia since there are narrow stairs and passageways.

How to access the Palazzo Vecchio secret passages?

You can enter from a secret location within Palazzo Vecchio, accessible only with a guide.

From happy customers

Micaela

United States

Jun, 2025

Palazzo Vecchio Skip-the-Line Tickets

James

United States

May, 2025

Our tour guide Martha, was very passionette and friendly. The history/background she provided was very informative. I don't think you get as much out of a tour doing it on your own.

Palazzo Vecchio Skip-the-Line Guided Tour