Jim W.
Yelp
We had reserved tickets over a month in advance for 2 p.m. on a Friday. This combo ticket included all the major sites associated with the Duomo, which I'll detail in turn. I think it allowed you access for 48 hours from the start time. The ticket company also noted that you could download an audio guide to go with your tour. Two of us tried loading this on 3 devices without success.
It was sprinkling rain as our tour time approached. The ticket directed you around the left side of the church (facing it) to a side entrance. There somoene with an orange umbrella would meet the ticketed group and provide the actual tickets, etc. We were the first to arrive and found our contact. She was very nice. As she gave us the tickets (with us providing shelter under our umbrellas as she dug around in her bag), she asked if we had got the audio guide. We told her that it failed to download. She was enthusiastic about trying to download it again now. However, to me, given this process failed consistently in a dry hotel room with WiFi, and that we're currently standing in the rain in a random spot in Florence where we may or may not have a strong cell signal, it seemed optimistic to try this further. Plus, other ticketed people started queuing up behind us, so we politely dissuaded her from further I.T. assistance. She then noted that we'd need to check our bag in a location just down the block (specific for this purpose, run by the church, I guess). We accomplished that and got the bag check token on a string to wear around a neck.
The rain increased until our tour time came. we were then ushered inside the side door to the Duomo. It was dark inside initially. We did a bag check for purses and cameras. And then we were immediately directed up the stairs on the dome climb. My wife had been on the fence about wanting to do this, but the decision got made for her. I guess you could probably have deferred, but it seemed expected that you'd go. We climbed about 1/3 of the way up and stopped in a room with sculptures and signs. After lingering for 30 seconds, a staffer informed everyone that you could not stop here. I felt like asking why they had signs to read then, but I just hiked on. It takes a while, but you eventually come out at the base of the dome (inside) and circle around to where you ascend inside the dome itself. Finally you emerge at the top of the dome where you have a great view of Florence. You have time to circle it once or even twice to take in the views. We did this and took some photos, but then we wanted to descend (it was chilly and the rain seemed to be re-starting). We were stopped by the staffer and everyone had to wait a while. It was some up/down traffic control. After getting a bit wet, we descended and exited on the opposite exterior side of the church.
We next stood in a 10-minute line to enter the church itself. Entering here is free. The inside is impressive, more so if you haven't visited St. Peter's in the few days prior. We wandered around for a while.
They also have a lower level here where you can see the floor plan of prior churches on the same site. It gives a good overview of how things changed over the centuries. This was included in our pass and is not free.
We next visited the Baptistry, which is just a few yards in front of the Duomo. Apparently this pre-dates the church and may have started as some sort of Roman temple. It was under extensive renovation when we visited, so some parts were screened off. We didn't stay long, but it was interesting.
Our final stop of the day was at the museum of the Duomo, which is located behind the church and across the street (next to the bag check place). This is fairly extensive and I wish I'd had more energy at this point. They have the original Ghiberti bronze baptistry doors (Gates of Paradise), an original Michelangelo Pieta, plus a lot of other sculptures. I wish they had devoted a bit more to the construction of the dome, but they at least had a room that touched on parts of it. It was highly worth a visit. We then retrieved our checked bags next door.
The following afternoon, I used the tickets for the final site: the bell tower. It is a similar height to the dome, but slightly shorter. Also it is just a vertical square tower, so the stairs are just a long series of right turns until you get to the caged in top. It has nice views, but the wires obstruct photography somewhat.
This site should be one of the centerpieces of a visit to Florence.
