Museo Ideale Leonardo da Vinci — Attraction in Vinci

This museum is in two adjacent locations, on two floors in the main part and in the Castle next door, don't forget to visit the Castle as that's where the flying machine models are. There's are lots of models of the mechanisms and machines that Da Vinci postulated and (maybe) even constructed. None of the beautiful models on display (modern historic artefacts in their own right) can actually be seen working although they obviously are constructed to function as intended by Da Vinci. This is a bit disappointing and actually quite frustrating but understandable as the models are almost too valuable to become damaged or worn out, it's very tempting to turn a handle but not allowed! To compensate there are a number of GGI animated models on nearby screens which do show the workings very well. There is also a large informative caption dedicated to the model makers and talented technicians who produced the models from the original drawings which was good to see.

In the castle there's a room which shows how the drawings, from which we know so much about his work, were made with details of ink, paper and pen methods.

There are also sections on Da Vinci's contributions to the study of anatomy, physiology and medicine.

Descriptive captions are numerous and informative in Italian and mostly translated to English with a few exceptions.

It's not a huge museum but exhibits are well presented with enough information and explanations.

The same ticket for 9 euro also gains access to the church on the same site where you can see the font that (most probably) was used in Da Vinci's christening. You can also go up to the top of the castle tower which has fantastic views of the town and the surrounding countryside.

I visited in late July 2023 in the heatwave and there was a short queue for tickets and no queue to get in. Parking outside was full up so I parked just up the road on the way out of the town, 5...

Even if you are not a fan I think it is a must to visit Vinci village if you are traveling in Tuscany. The museum really didn’t influence me that much, I am not into mechanics, but I was shocked by what wonderful inventions he made at that time, there are some replicas of his paintings with explanation. But what I most was effected by was his house where Leonardo lived with his grandfather until he left when he was 17 years old, you can also visit the church where he was baptized. It was an incredible experience to look out the window Leonardo was looking out of. I recommend buying tickets from an official website of this museum, spend a little time and you’ll figure it out there. We bought the tickets for the first session at 10.30 I think and there was no one when we came so no lines. After little after tourist groups started arriving, so it became a little more crowded. If I were you I would go there first thing in...

Leonardo da Vinci’s birthplace is just a 5-minute drive away, and I visited it together with the museum. It turned out to be an even more wonderful place than I had imagined. The exhibits showcasing da Vinci’s cross-disciplinary inventions were all creatively designed and truly exciting. I thought I already knew quite a bit about his inventions, but seeing so many of them brought to life and in motion right in front of me was a completely different experience.

The museum is divided into two buildings, and even with a thorough visit, it takes about two hours. On the ground floor of one building, there’s a hands-on area where children can learn through experience.

Also, walking through the town that includes these two buildings was delightful. There were monuments, art paintings, and souvenir shops scattered throughout, all showing deep respect for da Vinci.

I truly hope more people will come and...