Florence: Palazzo Vecchio Tour with Medici Secrets & Tower

4.65

(17 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

I almost missed the meeting spot because I got distracted by a street musician in Piazza della Signoria — his accordion echoed off the stone, and for a second I forgot why I was there. Our guide, Marta, found me scanning the crowd and just grinned, “You’re not the first.” She handed out earphones (honestly, a lifesaver with all that echo) and led us straight into Palazzo Vecchio’s courtyard. The air inside was cool and smelled faintly of old paper and something floral — maybe from those painted ceilings? I’m still not sure.

Marta had this way of making the Medici family sound like neighbors you’d gossip about over coffee. In the Salone dei Cinquecento she pointed up at a mural of Cosimo de’ Medici looking impossibly grand. “He wanted everyone to remember who was boss,” she joked. There were statues everywhere — Michelangelo’s Victory looked so much more alive than I expected. We wandered through private rooms where velvet ropes kept us from getting too close; I tried to imagine what it felt like to live here, hearing footsteps echo late at night.

The climb up Arnolfo Tower was… well, my legs are still mad at me. But standing on that walkway above Florence — wind tugging at my shirt, bells ringing somewhere below — made it worth every step. Marta pointed out rooftops and told us which ones belonged to old rival families (she had stories for everything). If it rains you can’t go up the tower but they let you walk along this covered path instead — honestly, probably less scary if you don’t love heights.

I left thinking about how many layers Florence has — power games hidden behind painted walls, laughter echoing in empty halls. Sometimes history feels close enough to touch here. So yeah, if you want to see more than just art on a wall, this Palazzo Vecchio tour from Florence is worth it.