Uffizi luggage storage

About Uffizi

The Uffizi Art Gallery in the Italian city of Florence is a work of art both inside and out. The 16th-century building took over twenty years to construct and was originally destined to be magistrate's offices with only one floor dedicated to artworks. The art collections belonging to the Medici banking family who commissioned the building grew over the decades and included many rare examples of paintings and sculptures by grand masters of the Italian Renaissance.

The once private gallery was eventually opened to the public after it was gifted to the city and it has become the most visited art gallery in Italy. Over two million people a year queue for hours to enter the Uffizi and admire the works of artists like Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Botticelli, and Caravaggio, plus others that date back to the 14th century. While it is possible to view the extensive collections of the Uffizi online, it's not an experience that can be compared with viewing them up close, even when elbow room is of a premium.

Things to do around the Uffizi

The Uffizi may house some of the most outstanding and valuable artworks of all time, but it's not all there is to do in Florence. The city center itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with an enormous plaza and a cathedral containing more paintings by the grand masters. As the Uffizi is right in the center of Florence, you won't have far to go from there to discover the other wonders this amazing Tuscany city has to offer.

• Go historic shopping by walking over the Ponte Vecchio, an ancient stone bridge over the Arno River that's lined with small shops and boutiques.
• Sip a glass of Prosecco while cruising the lazy waters of the Arno River in a barchetto, a traditional type of wooden boat similar to a gondola.
• Sip an early evening espresso martini in a pavement cafe in the Piazza della Signoria, then take a cheeky selfie in front of the handsome statues adorning Neptune's Fountain.
• Admire how art and nature come together to create a unique landscape by taking a stroll around the ornate Boboli Gardens.  
• Head up to the hilltop Piazzale Michelangelo at dusk to watch the sunset over Florence.
• Forget all about museums and art galleries for a day and take a food or wine tour of Florence to sample all the local delicacies.
• Escape being overdosed on history by hitting Florence's urban beach for an hour or two. There's no sea but plenty of sand and showers to freshen up with.

Transit options in Uffizi, Florence

• The closest airport to the Uffizi is Florence Airport which is known as the Aeroporto di Firenze-Peretola which is twelve kilometers from the city center.
• The Santa Maria Novella is the nearest train station to the Uffizi.
• The C1 city bus route serves the Uffizi and the nearest stop is two hundred meters away in front of the Galleria Degli.

Luggage storage in Uffizi, Florence

Florence is full of galleries and museums that you'll want to visit but you can't go into any of them with big bags. Public transport in the city is often crowded too, so carrying bulky suitcases while using a bus or tram will make you very unpopular with the driver and the other passengers. You'll find Bounce luggage lockers in Florence are a low-priced, convenient, and secure way of storing your bags that allows you to travel around this historic city totally stress-free.

Attractions and activities near Uffizi

Pistoia: If you haven't had enough of museums after you've visited Florence, go to Pistoia. Pistoia is reputed to be the location where pistols were first made back in the 16th century and is still medieval in parts. Wander the cobbled streets and you'll come across immense Gothic cathedrals, churches, plazas, and more ornate building facades than you can photograph and fit on a single camera memory card. Outside of the city is the Monte Simone, a popular summer hiking destination and wintertime ski resort. Also in the suburbs of the city is the Pistoia Zoo which houses four hundred species of animals including the endangered red panda and giant turtle.

Vinci: Vinci is a rural town around an hour's drive from Florence and the birthplace of Leonardo de Vinci. The town sits high on a hillside and is dominated by the tall bell tower of the Conti Guidi Castle. Climb to the top and you'll see sweeping views of the Tuscany countryside where there is grove after grove of olive trees. More fascinating is exploring the streets of the town and in particular the Piazza Guidi where there are replicated symbols of di Vinci's work. To find out more about the life of the genius artist and inventor, a visit to the Museo Leonardiano is an absolute must. There you can ponder over model-sized copies of his inventions and browse some of his original books.

Grizzana: Grizzana, or Grizzana Morandi as it is also called, is a place which will give you a sense of deja vu if you're familiar with the works of artist Giorgio Morandi who depicted the local landscapes in his paintings. Even if you're not, you may well have seen images of the stunning Rocchetta Mattei, the impressive, multi-turreted castle that towers over the countryside there. Underground and almost as impressive as the castle are the Caves of Labante. The caves are a unique, explorable, karst complex full of dense greenery with cascading waterfalls, subterranean lakes, and rock pinnacles that have to be seen to be believed.