Museo Galileo — Attraction in Florence

A unique museum in a city filled with museums! I love museums, Italy is full of them and in Florence you can hardly turn a corner without walking headlong into another museum. Many are art, sculpture and religious museums, but the Galileo Museum is something completely different! Not a museum about Galileo himself but more a museum about the history of science around the Renissance era and beyond. Globes, telescopes, microscopes, maps and clocks make up large sections of the museum, but the real highlights for us were the physics, chemistry and electrical toys exhibits. These are all from an era where electricity was new and interesting and used as parlour tricks to amuse wealthy patrons. We had great fun watching the video screens and seeing how some of them worked or trying to work out what they did ourselves. 4 stars, not 5 reasons: As with lots of Italian museums we've visited, we find that English writing is often a direct translation and sometimes hard to understand. Often there is little/no information about the exhibits at all, but we had good fun going home and googling/youtubing the objects later to see how they worked. We wished there were more screens showing how the machinery worked, as these were sometimes few and far between. Seating in the museum to rest or watch the exhibits is limited. There is a free audio guide you can download and listen to with headphones, so remember to bring them! (We didn't) There is an interactive section on the ground floor (possibly for small children and big children alike to play in), but this was unfortunately closed when we visited. It's not a large museum, spread across 3 floors, and if you took your time and watched/read everything as we did it might take 2-3 hours which is worth the €10 entry. Overall, a really unique and cool museum, great for all the science lovers out there. BONUS: right at the end of the tour on the top floor, look out for Thomas Eddison's own phonograph he gifted to a friend along with the handwritten...

I had high expectations for the Galileo Museum in Florence, but my experience was deeply disappointing, both with the museum itself and its service.

First, the museum is underwhelming. It feels more like a storage room for antique scientific instruments rather than a proper museum. Many items are repetitive, and there’s little to no explanation or context provided for the exhibits. It’s hard to learn or appreciate much without guidance.

The worst part—and why I wish I could give negative stars—is the service. I bought tickets online for my family of five, spending €70. Unfortunately, the museum's website is buggy and poorly designed. Switching to English didn’t work properly, especially on the ticket purchase page, which was stuck in Italian. Confused and unable to find any other options, I ended up paying full adult prices for all my family members.

When we arrived, I discovered there was a “Family” ticket option that would have saved us at least €21. I politely asked at the ticket booth if I could be refunded the difference, but I was curtly told that refunds were not allowed under any circumstances. This felt like an unfair and predatory business practice that I’ve never experienced in the U.S.

Adding insult to injury, I noticed some visitors entering the museum without even scanning their tickets. This wasn’t an isolated case; it’s a pattern I observed in Florence, where many people don’t pay for the bus, unlike my family. It’s frustrating to see such inconsistencies in enforcing rules.

Overall, my experience left me feeling cheated and disheartened—not just by this museum, but by how tourists are generally treated in Florence. The city seems to suffer from over-tourism, and the lack of care or respect for visitors is palpable. I cannot recommend this museum or this city based...

Must visit for anyone interested in astronomy and science. Really cool collection of scientific instruments, experimentation setups, and surveying tools throughout the years.

Takes about 2-3 hours to see everything. There's little to no crowds at all, unlike the adjacent Uffizi Gallery. There is a free app that explains most of the exhibits on display very well with accompanying videos and visuals. It's actually worth downloading the app just to watch those videos.

The entire museum is not about Galileo. In fact, there's only one or two rooms dedicated to Galileo's telescopes, lenses, and astronomical instruments (and some dealing with his dabbles in equilibrium, motion, gravity, and hydraulics).

The first floor houses the Medici collection of instruments (for science, war, art, and more) and then the second floor has the Lorraine collection that displays the progression of science through complex machines with the discovery of electrostatics, electromagnetism, and all sorts of advanced instruments leading up to the 18th and 19th century's golden age of science.

Overall an excellent museum and wonderful collection. Definitely use the app to get the historical context on some of the more...