Travel independently to the Pitti Palace in central Florence. Admire the imposing exterior of the vast palace, home to Florence’s ruling Medici family from 1549, and show your skip-the-line ticket to bypass the main entrance lines.
Make your way inside to the Palatine Gallery, housed in the west wing of the palace. Then, explore the magnificent artworks in your own time. The gallery houses more than 500 examples of largely 17th-century European art, all displayed in the sumptuous private rooms of the former ducal apartments.
See works by Titian, Rubens, Van Dyck, Caravaggio, and Velazquez, perhaps specifically seeking out masterpieces like the 1514 Madonna and Child by Raphael and portraits by Botticelli. Other works by Bronzino, Fra Bartolomeo, Piero del Pollaiolo, and Filippo Lippi are also on view.
Afterward, walk around the Gallery of Modern Art on the Pitti’s second floor. Wander through the rooms, occupied by Italy’s royals until 1920, to see collections by Italian artists from the late 18th and early 20th centuries. Perhaps pay most attention to the paintings by the Macchiaioli movement, considered precursors of the impressionist school.
Leave the Palatine or Gallery of Modern Art whenever you wish, bringing your experience to an end.