2023: Tickets and Opening Hours for Visiting the Duomo Sights in Florence

A visit to the Duomo in Florence is free but tickets are required for the baptistry, the museum, and the campanile, while time-slot reservations are essential for climbing the cupola (dome).

The sights associated with the Duomo in Florence — the cathedral, cupola, bell tower, baptistery, and museum — are traditionally seen on a combination ticket valid for 72 hours. Time-slot reservations are essential to climb the dome (and the campanile during peak periods) but no other skip-the-line tickets are available. Opening hours are long. Guided tours, especially those including several sights, are an easy way to obtain tickets and focus only on the highlights.

Visit the Duomo Sights in Florence

Duomo di Firenze seen from the Palazzo Vecchio

The Duomo di Firenze has been dominating the skyline of old town Florence ever since the completion of the beautiful Giotto campanile and the magnificent cupola designed by Brunelleschi. These mostly Gothic buildings are also worth exploring inside to enjoy the panoramas from the viewing platforms.

A visit to the complete Duomo complex includes the following:

Duomo — the cathedral itself, enter from the West.
Cupola — climbing the dome, enter from the northern apse
Campanile — climbing the bell tower
Battistero — the baptistry
Museo dell Opera — the cathedral museum, across from the east end of the church.

Tickets and Opening Hours for the Duomo Sites in Florence

Admission to the Duomo di Firenze, which is frankly disappointingly bare inside, is free — the long queues are for security. A surprisingly small number of visitors are allowed inside at any given time. Admission to the other sights requires tickets. Guided tours are optional but a good way to get direct entry into the Duomo and tickets for other sights during busy periods.

In 2023, the previous system of combination tickets returned to see the sights associated with the cathedral — tickets are not sold for individual sites. Three passes are available (with the rivalry of the artists returning in the names of tickets):

Ghiberti Pass — baptistery, museum, Santa Reparata (crypt of the Duomo).
Giotto Pass — bell tower (time-slot reservation essential), baptistery, museum, Santa Reparata (crypt of the Duomo).
Brunelleschi Pass — dome (must be the first site visited!), bell tower, baptistery, museum, Santa Reparata (crypt of the Duomo).

Tickets are sold on the official website where reservations for climbing the cupola must be made for the Ghiberti Pass and a timeslot reserved for the bell tower for the Giotto Pass. (Brunelleschi Pass holders may enter the bell tower freely within 72 hours and no reservation is needed, or possible.) No time-slot reservations or skip-the-line options are available for the other sites. However, note that all passes allow easy entry into the Duomo (to see Santa Reparata) by entering the church from the entrance near the bell tower. Tickets are also available from the ticket offices near the baptistery and to the south side of the transept but online purchases are simpler and the ticket prices are the same.

The Firenze Card is a wonderful savings deal with easy time-slot reservations for the Uffizi and Accademia but no longer includes the Duomo sights. For Duomo admission tickets, there is really no need to use any intermediaries, except when taking full guided tours, or if the better cancelation conditions (and sometimes availability) of approved ticket resellers appeal.

Opening Hours of Duomo Sights in Florence:

As before, admission to the Duomo (cathedral) remains free and without a ticket reservation option, while ticket reservations are obligatory and only possible for climbing the dome and the campanile (during peak periods). The previous combination ticket system was reintroduced:

Duomo (Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore) — 10:15 – 16:30, Monday to Saturday; closed Sunday except for services.
Brunelleschi Dome — 8:15 – 18:45 on weekdays, 8:15 – 16:30 on Saturday, 12:45 -16:30 on Sunday. (Time-slot reservations are always essential.)
Campanile of Giotto — 8:15 – 19:00, Monday to Sunday. (Time-slot reservations are required, except when using a Brunelleschi Pass.)
Museo dell’Opera del Duomo — 8:30 – 19:30, Monday to Sunday; closed first Tuesday of the month.
Baptistery — 8:30 – 19:45 Monday to Sunday.

Free Admission to the Duomo in Florence

Full cupola ceiling painting by Vasari and stained glass windows in the drum

Admission to the Duomo di Firenze is always free — the queue is for security and a surprisingly small number of visitors were allowed in at any given time even before the Coronavirus. If the queue is long, think twice. Any church charging admission in Florence, and many that don’t, have more impressive interiors and especially more art than this cathedral. The church is massive but rather austere inside. The best art was moved to the museum. If visiting the cupola — take a good look at the interior of the church on the way in or out — there is not much more to see, except when taking a guided tour, which will also ensure quick entry. (More comprehensive tours may give better value and include the terraces, dome, and admission to all sites.)

Admission to the Santa Reparata (in the crypt) with archaeological excavations and Brunelleschi’s tomb is from inside the church. Admission is included in all the passes and it is often possible to skip the lines at the western side by entering through the side door near the bell tower.

Mass is said several times per day — attendees enter directly but no sightseeing is allowed. The English mass is usually Saturday at 17:00.

See also: Visit the Cathedral of Florence for more on the famous Duomo.

Climbing the Brunelleschi Cupola Dome in Florence

Cupola of the Duomo seen from the Campanile in Florence

For many visitors climbing the cupola of the Duomo is one of the highlights of visiting Florence — 463 steps but worth it. Advanced time-slot reservations are essential and this is easily made when buying tickets online from the Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore.

Climbing the cupola is in dedicated time slots but it is not a guided tour. Guided tours of the terraces are available — these tours usually use the same first steps as the cupola climb for a close-up view of the ceiling painting but then exit the building at the height of the side naves for a close-up look at the rose windows, the apses, and the facade. Some allow for a visit to the cupola immediately after the tour without further queuing.

Guided tours for climbing the cupola and further sights are available and a good way to secure tickets during busy periods — these tours usually include the admission tickets to other Duomo sites to visit later. A good combination is to add a visit to the Accademia to see David — another site with ticket availability issues at busy times. The Firenze Card no longer includes the Duomo sights.

See Climbing the Brunelleschi Dome in Florence for more details.

Climbing Giotto’s Campanile in Florence

Giotto's Campanile in Florence seen from the Cupola

Climbing the campanile is easier than scaling the cupola. Not only is it a bit lower (414 steps) but it is a simple sturdy staircase all the way to the top — no narrow areas or waiting for others to descend first.

There is not much to see inside the bell tower, it is all about the view, and in contrast to climbing the cupola, the view includes the full dome and the baptistry that can hardly be seen from the top of the dome.

Reservations are needed to climb the campanile but except during the peak season, these are far easier to obtain than for climbing the dome. Slots are often available early morning or in the early evening. (Brunelleschi Pass holders may enter freely without reservations.)

As the visit simply entails climbing the 414 stairs to the top, taking in the view, and descending, the line often moves fast anyway.

See Climb Giotto’s Campanile Bell Tower in Florence for more details.

Visiting the Baptistery (Battistero) in Florence

Ceiling Mosaic of the Baptistry in Florence

The baptistery is the oldest building of the cathedral ensemble and one of the oldest in all of Florence. Although possibly based on a Roman temple for Mars, the current structure is from the 11th and early 12th centuries.

Highlights of the baptistry in Florence are the three sets of bronze doors, especially the Gates of Paradise facing the Duomo, but these copies may be seen for free on the outside. (The original doors are inside the museum.)

Inside the baptistery, the main attraction is the 13th-century cupola ceiling mosaic —the most significant picture cycle in Florentine art predating Giotto. (Much of the vaults may be hidden by scaffolding due to ongoing restoration work in 2023.)

The queues for the battistero are usually not long — seeing it at night is a good option as the ceiling is beautifully lit and without the glare of sunlight streaming through the lantern.

The baptistry and museum are usually seen on the same ticket, except on the first Tuesday of the month when the museum is closed. It is also frequently included in guided tours that also include the museum and/or climbing the cupola.

See Visit the Baptistry in Florence for more details on the battistero.

Visit the Duomo Museum in Florence

The Museo dell’Opera del Duomo (Museum of the Works of the Cathedral) in Florence is home to most of the original art that was originally inside the buildings of the cathedral complex, as well as many that were previously used on the exteriors too.

Absolute highlights in addition to the usual displays in cathedral museums are the original bronze doors of the baptistry, the original sculptures from the exterior of the baptistry, the cathedral’s Gothic western facade, and the exterior of the campanile. The original reliefs from the bell tower are also inside the museum.

Top individual works include the silver altar from the baptistry, several sculptures by Donatello including the wood-carved Repenting Mary Magdalene, and a pieta with a self-portrait by Michelangelo. (His David never made it up to the buttresses of the cathedral nor to this museum, it is now in the nearby Galleria dell’ Accademia.)

The museum is included in all duomo passes and often included in guided tours too, as it gives visitors an opportunity to see many of the original art close up.

See Visit the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo in Florence for more details.

→ See 2023: Florence New Opening Hours of Top Sights, Museums, and Churches for the latest information and current opening hours.

Florence Resources

The official Firenze Tourist Office website is a bit cumbersome but has very useful information. Especially the pdf (alternative link) with the opening hours of all major sights. Unfortunately, it is only available for the current month but it is the second last line on opening hours — the final say is the guard at the door, NOT the ticket window!
Get Your Guide offers tours of all major sights while Tiqets sells online tickets for many top sights in Florence.
Book luggage storage online and explore Florence easier on foot.
Omio is good for online train tickets in Italy and most of Europe.

Tickets and Opening Hours for Visiting the Duomo Sights in Florence