Latest news with #UffiziGalleries
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Daily Mail
World's most walkable city has stunning cathedral and five major tourist attractions within 10 minutes of each other
The world's most walkable city has been revealed and luckily for British tourists, it's just a short flight from the UK. According to a new study, Florence is the world's easiest holiday destination to explore on foot. The study looked at air quality and safety levels as well as where the city's top attractions are. Florence's compact city centre means that tourists won't have to wander far to tick off many of its major attractions. Tourists can start their day at the Galleria dell 'Accademia di Firenze, the location of Michelangelo's David. The five metre high marble sculpture is one of the world's most famous artistic masterpieces. From the gallery, visitors will have just a seven minute stroll to the city's cathedral. The 1200's cathedral is a major feature of Florence's skyline. After exploring the cathedral, tourists can take a break in Piazza della Signoria, one of the city's most captivating squares. Highlights of the square include the Fountain of Neptune and a replica of Michelangelo's David. The square is just a five minute walk from the cathedral. It's then just a short hop to the Uffizi Galleries, another of Florence's must-see art galleries. Tourists will find a mix of Renaissance paintings as well as art dating back to the Middle Ages. And then tourists will have just a two minute walk to the city's iconic Ponte Vecchio, one of Florence's most visited attractions. The medieval bridge was the only bridge in Florence to survive WWII and is famed for the shops that line its sides. Visitors can also join one of the city's main walking tours if they want to discover some of Florence's hidden secrets. The only major attraction that's a little harder to reach on foot is the Piazzale Michelangelo. But although it's a half an hour walk from the Ponte Vecchio, the piazza is worth the trip. It's the best place to enjoy panoramic views of the city. Insider Monkey, which produced the study, looked at many of the world's major cities to find the globe's most walkable. How to get to Florence British tourists can fly direct from the UK to Florence with flights generally taking just over two hours. Brits can also fly to Pisa with many major UK airports offering direct routes to the Italian city. Pisa Airport is just under an hour's train ride from Florence. It's also possible to take the train. Britons will need to take the Eurostar to Paris, change to Milan and then catch a train to Florence.
Sydney Morning Herald
02-07-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
After another selfie gone wrong, Europe's museums have had enough
It's another summer of European selfie snafus. On Saturday, a visitor to the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, Italy, stepped backward into a painting while trying to pose like its subject, Ferdinando de' Medici, a 17th-century grand prince and patron of the arts. For the Uffizi's director, that was the last straw, and he isn't alone in his frustration. This spring, in the Palazzo Maffei in Verona, Italy, a visitor broke a chair covered in Swarovski crystals. This, too, was the result of a snapshot gone wrong: a man apparently waited for the guards to leave before posing, in an ill-fated attempt at squatting. And this month, the staff at the Louvre Museum in Paris went on an unauthorised strike to protest, in part, overcrowding and the headaches caused by selfie-taking tourists. 'The problem of visitors who come to museums to make memes or take selfies for social media is rampant,' Simone Verde, the Uffizi's director, said in a statement. Europe's museums are struggling to cope with the problematic side of their large-scale appeal and protect their collections from summer visitors who flock to their galleries to make social media content and cool down in rare continental air conditioning, whether or not they gain a deeper knowledge of art and culture. The recent episodes, at the start of the high tourist season, have called attention to a long-standing problem: too many tourists toting too many phones. Museums have not been able to find a foolproof compromise, despite their best efforts. 'This problem, with tourists damaging artwork, is something that is increasingly happening,' said Marina Novelli, director of the Sustainable Travel and Tourism Advanced Research Centre at Nottingham University in England. Previously, Novelli said, tourists might have had paintings that they wanted to see in person. Now, she said, they come with a 'selfie bucket list' of paintings or places they want to photograph — or be photographed in front of — essentially creating personalised postcards from the trip.
The Age
02-07-2025
- The Age
After another selfie gone wrong, Europe's museums have had enough
It's another summer of European selfie snafus. On Saturday, a visitor to the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, Italy, stepped backward into a painting while trying to pose like its subject, Ferdinando de' Medici, a 17th-century grand prince and patron of the arts. For the Uffizi's director, that was the last straw, and he isn't alone in his frustration. This spring, in the Palazzo Maffei in Verona, Italy, a visitor broke a chair covered in Swarovski crystals. This, too, was the result of a snapshot gone wrong: a man apparently waited for the guards to leave before posing, in an ill-fated attempt at squatting. And this month, the staff at the Louvre Museum in Paris went on an unauthorised strike to protest, in part, overcrowding and the headaches caused by selfie-taking tourists. 'The problem of visitors who come to museums to make memes or take selfies for social media is rampant,' Simone Verde, the Uffizi's director, said in a statement. Europe's museums are struggling to cope with the problematic side of their large-scale appeal and protect their collections from summer visitors who flock to their galleries to make social media content and cool down in rare continental air conditioning, whether or not they gain a deeper knowledge of art and culture. The recent episodes, at the start of the high tourist season, have called attention to a long-standing problem: too many tourists toting too many phones. Museums have not been able to find a foolproof compromise, despite their best efforts. 'This problem, with tourists damaging artwork, is something that is increasingly happening,' said Marina Novelli, director of the Sustainable Travel and Tourism Advanced Research Centre at Nottingham University in England. Previously, Novelli said, tourists might have had paintings that they wanted to see in person. Now, she said, they come with a 'selfie bucket list' of paintings or places they want to photograph — or be photographed in front of — essentially creating personalised postcards from the trip.
Straits Times
30-06-2025
- Straits Times
Tourist selfies threaten artwork in Europe's museums
Europe's museums are struggling to cope with the problematic side of their large-scale appeal and protect their collections from summer visitors. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI LONDON – It is another summer of European selfie snafus. On June 21, a visitor to the Uffizi Galleries in Florence, Italy, stepped backwards into a painting while trying to pose like its subject, Ferdinando de' Medici, a 17th-century grand prince and patron of the arts. For the Uffizi's director, that was the last straw, and he is not alone in his frustration. This spring, in the Palazzo Maffei in Verona, Italy, a visitor broke a chair covered in Swarovski crystals. This, too, was the result of a snapshot gone wrong: A man apparently waited for the guards to leave before posing, in an ill-fated attempt at squatting. And in June, the staff at the Louvre Museum in Paris went on an unauthorised strike to protest, in part, overcrowding and the headaches caused by selfie-taking tourists. 'The problem of visitors who come to museums to make memes or take selfies for social media is rampant,' the Uffizi's director Simone Verde said in a statement. Europe's museums are struggling to cope with the problematic side of their large-scale appeal and protect their collections from summer visitors, who flock to their galleries to make social media content and cool down in rare continental air-conditioning, whether or not they gain a deeper knowledge of art and culture. The recent episodes, at the start of the high tourist season, have called attention to a long-standing problem: Too many tourists toting too many phones. Museums have not been able to find a foolproof compromise, despite their best efforts. 'This problem, with tourists damaging artwork, is something that is increasingly happening,' said Professor Marina Novelli, director of the Sustainable Travel and Tourism Advanced Research Center at Nottingham University in England. Previously, she said, tourists might have had paintings that they wanted to see in person. Now, they come with a 'selfie bucket list' of paintings or places they want to photograph – or be photographed in front of – essentially creating personalised postcards from the trip. 'It's more about sharing, not necessarily the experience, but the fact that 'I was there,'' she said. It is not just museums that are straining under the weight of their own appeal. European cities are also trying to find a balance between welcoming visitors and protecting residents in the age of mass tourism. Museums face competing goals. Part of their mission is to allow the public to see art that for generations was hidden away from view in the homes of aristocrats and other elites. They want visitors and often need ticket revenue to survive. But museums also have a duty to protect their art and preserve it for the future. Cellphones are a major part of the challenge as tourists crowd, climb and stunt for the camera. The devices can distract parents from their curious children, who have also damaged art in recent months, and turn museums into protest theatres. Climate demonstrators have targeted pieces with paint, glue or soup to raise awareness about the dangers of unchecked carbon emissions, and then used their phones to document the protests on social media. 'Museums walk a very fine line between accessibility and preservation,' Prof Novelli said. She suggested that institutions should approach the problem with a range of measures, like 'subtle but effective' physical barriers, selfie zones, warning alarms and better signage. In Verona, museum officials released a video from closed-circuit television cameras showing the sparkling chair as it collapsed under the tourist's weight, hoping to identify those behind the destruction and encourage better behaviour. They also said they planned to protect the chair with plexiglass. Mr Verde of the Uffizi pledged to 'set very precise limits' and move towards 'preventing' such behaviour. The gallery did not share footage of the episode with The New York Times and declined to specify what limits, if any, it might impose on tourists in the future. For now, the episode has marred what was supposed to have been a festive month for the Uffizi, which just celebrated the dismantling of an unsightly crane that had loomed over it for nearly two decades. But the painting is expected to survive. The museum said the work had been 'lightly damaged' and would need to be restored. The Uffizi said the artwork would soon take its place again in an exhibition about the 18th century, which has been temporarily closed . NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Japan Today
26-06-2025
- Japan Today
Surging travel in Europe spikes concerns over tourism's drawbacks
Demonstrators march shouting slogans against the Formula 1 Barcelona Fan Festival in downtown Barcelona, Spain, on June 19, 2024. By SUMAN NAISHADHAM Suitcases rattle against cobblestones. Selfie-snappers jostle for the same shot. Ice cream shops are everywhere. Europe has been called the world's museum, but its record numbers of visitors have also made it ground zero for concerns about overtourism. Last year, 747 million international travelers visited the continent, far outnumbering any other region in the world, according to the U.N.'s World Tourism Barometer. Southern and Western Europe welcomed more than 70% of them. As the growing tide of travelers strains housing, water and the most Instagrammable hotspots in the region, protests and measures to lessen the effects of overtourism have proliferated. Here's a look at the issue in some of Europe's most visited destinations. What's causing overtourism Among factors driving the record numbers are cheap flights, social media, the ease of travel planning using artificial intelligence and what U.N. tourism officials call a strong economic outlook for many rich countries that send tourists despite some geopolitical and economic tensions. Citizens of countries like the U.S., Japan, China and the UK generate the most international trips, especially to popular destinations, such as Barcelona in Spain and Venice in Italy. They swarm these places seasonally, creating uneven demand for housing and resources such as water. Despite popular backlash against the crowds, some tourism officials believe they can be managed with the right infrastructure in place. Italy's Tourism Minister Daniela Santanchè said she thinks tourism flows at crowded sites such Florence's Uffizi Galleries that house some of the world's most famous artworks could be better managed with AI, with tourists able to buy their tickets when they book their travel, even months in advance, to prevent surges. She pushed back against the idea that Italy — which like all of its southern European neighbors, welcomed more international visitors in 2024 than its entire population — has a problem with too many tourists, adding that most visits are within just 4% of the country's territory. 'It's a phenomenon that can absolutely be managed,' Santanchè told The Associated Press. "Tourism must be an opportunity, not a threat — even for local communities. That's why we are focusing on organizing flows.' Where overtourism is most intense Countries on the Mediterranean are at the forefront. Olympics-host France, the biggest international destination, last year received 100 million international visitors, while second-place Spain received almost 94 million — nearly double its own population. Protests have erupted across Spain over the past two years. In Barcelona, the water gun has become a symbol of the city's anti-tourism movement after marching protests have spritzed unsuspecting tourists while carrying signs saying: 'One more tourist, one less resident!' The pressure on infrastructure has been particularly acute on Spain's Canary and Balearic Islands, which have a combined population of less than 5 million people. Each archipelago saw upwards of 15 million visitors last year. Elsewhere in Europe, tourism overcrowding has vexed Italy's most popular sites including Venice, Rome, Capri and Verona, where Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' was set. On the popular Amalfi Coast, ride-hailing app Uber offers private helicopter and boat rides in the summer to beat the crowds. Greece, which saw nearly four times as many tourists as its own population last year, has struggled with the strain on water, housing and energy in the summer months, especially on popular islands such as Santorini, Mykonos and others. The impact of overtourism In Spain, anti-tourism activists, academics, and the government say that overtourism is driving up housing costs in city centers and other popular locations due to the proliferation of short-term rentals that cater to visitors. Others bemoan changes to the very character of city neighborhoods that drew tourists in the first place. In Barcelona and elsewhere, activists and academics have said that neighborhoods popular with tourists have seen local shops replaced with souvenir vendors, international chains and trendy eateries. On some of Greece's most-visited islands, tourism has overlapped with water scarcity as drought grips the Mediterranean country of 10.4 million. In France, the Louvre, the world's most-visited museum, shut down this week when its staff went on strike warning that the facility was crumbling beneath the weight of overtourism, stranding thousands of ticketed visitors lined up under the baking sun. Angelos Varvarousis, a Barcelona- and Athens-based academic and urban planner who studies the industry, said overtourism risks imposing a 'monoculture' on many of Europe's hotspots. 'It is combined with the gradual loss and displacement of other social and economic activities,' Varvarousis said. What authorities are doing to cope Spain's government wants to tackle what officials call the country's biggest governance challenge: its housing crunch. Last month, Spain's government ordered Airbnb to take down almost 66,000 properties it said had violated local rules — while Barcelona announced a plan last year to phase out all of the 10,000 apartments licensed in the city as short-term rentals by 2028. Officials said the measure was to safeguard the housing supply for full-time residents. Elsewhere, authorities have tried to regulate tourist flows by cracking down on overnight stays or imposing fees for those visiting via cruises. In Greece, starting July 1, a cruise tax will be levied on island visitors at 20 euros ($23) for popular destinations like Mykonos and 5 euros ($5.70) for less-visited islands like Samos. The government has also encouraged visitors to seek quieter locations. To alleviate water problems, water tankers from mainland Greece have helped parched islands, and the islands have also used desalination technology, which separates salts from ocean water to make it drinkable, to boost their drinking water. Other measures have included staggered visiting hours at the Acropolis. Meanwhile, Venice brought back an entry fee this year that was piloted last year on day-trippers who will have to pay between 5 and 10 euros (roughly $6 to $12) to enter the city during the peak season. AP journalists Laurie Kellman in London, Derek Gatopoulos in Athens and David Biller in Rome contributed. © 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
