Although it is possible to visit most museums and tourist attractions in Italy without reservations, there are some that you should book in advance to avoid long waits, and others where reservations are mandatory. If you buy tickets online, you should be careful to avoid scams and resellers, who can charge you much more than the official site. This is the case with two sites called “uffizi.com” and “uffizi.org,” which look very official but are not; the official site is uffizi.it.
One useful tool is the National Museum System, a project coordinated by the Italian Ministry of Culture that aims to create a network for the nearly 5,000 Italian museums and places of cultural interest–public and private.

Below we present a list of some important Italian museums and cultural sites. If you decide to visit those in the “most popular” section, buy your ticket in advance on the suggested site.

Most popular museums:

• Galleria Borghese, Rome.
• Cappella degli Scrovegni (Giotto’s Frescoes), Padua.
• Cenacolo (Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper), Milan.
• Colosseum and Roman Forum, Rome.
• Leaning Tower of Pisa.
• Uffizi, Florence.
• Vatican Museums, Rome.

Other museums:

• Piero della Francesca’s frescoes, Arezzo.
• Basilica papale e Sacro convento di San Francesco d’Assisi, Assisi.
• Accademia Carrara, Bergamo.
• Museo Schifanoia, Ferrara.
• Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence.
• Musei del Bargello, Florence.
• Palazzo Pitti, Florence.
• Palazzo Ducale, Mantua.
• Castello Sforzesco, Milan.
• Gallerie d’Italia, Milan.
• Museo del Novecento (Museum of the 20th Century), Milan.
• Museo Poldi Pezzoli, Milan.
• Pinacoteca Ambrosiana, Milan.
• Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.
• Triennale, Milan.
• Galleria Estense, Modena.
• Musei Ferrari, Maranello (Modena).
• Museo e Real bosco di Capodimonte, Naples.
• Museo archeologico nazionale, Naples.
• Archeological site of Pompeii, Pompeii (Naples).
• Complesso monumentalde della Pilotta, Parma.
• Certosa di Pavia, Pavia.
• Galleria nazionale dell’Umbria, Perugia.
• Galleria nazionale d’arte moderna e contemporanea, Rome.
• MAXXI (Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo), Rome.
• Musei capitolini, Rome.
• Palazzo Barberini and Galleria Corsini (National Gallery of Ancient Art), Rome.
• National Museum of Musical Instruments, Rome.
• MART Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea, Rovereto (Trento).
• Museo Civico, Siena.
• Pinacoteca nazionale, Siena.
• Villa Adriana, Tivoli (Rome).
• Musei reali, Torino.
• Museo egizio, Torino.
• Museo nazionale del cinema, Torino.
• Museo nazionale dell’automobile, Torino.
• Palazzo Madama, Torino.
• Venaria Reale, Torino.
• Castello del Buonconsiglio, Trento.
• MUSE Science museum, Trento.
• Palazzo Ducale di Urbino, National Gallery of Marche, Urbino. [Do not buy tickets from “palazzoducaleurbino.it”]
• La Biennale di Venezia, Venice.
• Palazzo Ducale, Venice.
• Gallerie dell’Accademia, Venice.
• Casa di Giulietta (Juliet’s house), Verona.
• Museo di Castelvecchio, Verona.
• Teatro Olimpico, Vicenza.
• Villa La Rotonda di Palladio, Vicenza...