Things to know before booking a free walking tour
In your inbox search for La Bussola Tours, if you still cannot find it please email us and we will resend the confirmation email.
Yes, respond to your confirmation email asking to cancel your booking.
Yes, you can reschedule your booking to a different date up to 12 hours before the tour by responding to your confirmation email with a request to transfer your booking to a different date.
The tour starts at Piazza Strozzi and ends at Piazza Santo Spirito. Detailed instructions will be provided in your confirmation email.
This tour is great for rainy days as most of it is covered. Bring an umbrella or raincoat for comfort, just in case.
Unfortunately, due to the narrow streets and historical sites, this tour is not wheelchair or stroller accessible.
Yes, this tour includes visits inside the landmarks, so you won’t have to stand outside listening to a 20 min speech while not seeing anything.
The maximum number of participants is 10. This allows our guide not to wear a loudspeaker with a mic, and ensures you won’t need an earpiece.
Currently, the Vasari Corridor is closed for public visits, but we’ll walk you through the exterior and explain its fascinating history.
While we don’t go inside the Pitti Palace, we’ll describe its historical significance while standing outside.
The tour lasts approximately 2h30m, including a 20 min bathroom break.
This tour is best for children over the age of 8 due to echoing inside the churches which makes babies cry.
This tour focuses on hidden gems and non-touristy areas. Unlike introductory city tours, it has a chronological storyline that feels like watching a movie.
No. Our tours are in English only.
Please check your email. You will be informed in advance if the guide is late or the tour is cancelled. Currently, a new tram line is being built in the city, and people arriving at the historic centre can spend up to 30 min waiting for a bus that never shows; however, our guides ALWAYS write an email to the tourists when this happens.
Please respond to your confirmation email requesting to cancel the tour. Even if you realise you won’t make it to the tour 5 min before the tour starts – please let us know.
Respond to your confirmation email asking to cancel the booking, then book the right date.
January through April – the tour starts at 15:00
May, June and September – the tour starts at 17:00
July and August – the tour starts at either 18:30 or 19:00
Both the Medici Tour and the Genius Tour cover the Renaissance period, the first one explains what did the Medici family do for the renaissance and the city of Florence and the afternoon tour talks about what did Dante, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Brunelleschi and Donatello do for the Renaissance and Florence.
No. We have two completely different and interdependent tours that each cover half of the city, together they show you the best of Florence in 1 day. The morning tour – the southern half, the afternoon tour – the northern half.
In summer (1st of June till 15th of September) the afternoon tour runs at either 5 or 7 pm because in the hours between 1 pm and 5 pm it is dangerous to be outside, there is no shade, no trees and the temperature can reach 48°C [118 °F]. Those hours are best spent inside any museum. The rest of the year the afternoon tour starts at 3 pm.
The Medici Tour covers the southern part of the city, takes you off the beaten path, and talks about the Medici Family and Michelangelo. The Genius Tour shows you the northern part of the city, takes you to the main landmarks and talks about the beginning of Renaissance told through biographies of Donatello, Leonardo and Brunelleschi.
No. Sadly, there is no infrastructure for wheelchairs or baby strollers in the Florentine historic centre. The city is preserved stuck in the 1500s, before urban planning was invented.
Send us an email: ‘Request new dates’ specifying WHEN you would like to participate. We will send you a notice once your date is available.
The meeting point is Piazza Strozzi in front of Strozzi Palace. The guide will approach you, just position yourself in front of the Colle Bereto Restaurant
The tours in July and August will be scheduled and made available in July and August one week at a time, based on the weather conditions in summer 2024.
Booking is essential. If you show up without the booking, your place is not guaranteed. We accept a maximum of 10 people for the Medici Tour and a maximum of 6 for the Genius Tour. We also need you to provide an email address that you check regularly since this is the only way for the guide to let you know if the tour gets cancelled or if the guide is late.
Yes. A lot. The Medici Tour takes you inside 3 churches, 2 stores and a bar. During the Genius Tour you visit 3 places, 2 of them require you to do the stairs.
You will be provided with a private tour that normally costs 250 euros. The guides will never ask for or even mention any payment, but he/she is expecting a generous tip.
La Bussola Free Tours is promoting a private free tour concept. We do not accept large groups, our Medici Tour goes sold out with 10 participants, while the Genius Tour has a maximum of 6 people per tour.
5 minutes late – the guide is showing the map to the group on the benches of the Strozzi Palace;
more than 5 min late – respond to your confirmation email with your WhatsApp phone number, the guide will share his/her location, but it’s not guaranteed, because once the tour starts, guides rarely check their phone, as it is perceived unprofessional by other tourists.
Both tours are suitable for children 12+. Kids below that age will not enjoy our tours. Both tours are not accessible for baby strollers.
Medici Tour – minimum 2 people, maximum 10 people. Genius Tour – minimum 2 people, maximum 6 people.
Always. Rain or shine, the tour will run.
Very comfortable shoes, and bring an umbrella if it is cloudy. You must be covered from shoulders to knees, to be able to enter churches. During the Medici Tour you visit 3 churches.