Villa Bardini and Bardini Gardens

Picture yourself as a noble from days past, strolling through your private garden overlooking Florence’s main monuments: the Cathedral with its imposing dome, the Palazzo Vecchio, and the National Library. As you admire these beautiful buildings that seem to compose a painting crafted by great artists, you can smell the fragrant flowers and plants that create a unique ambiance. The good news is that today, this special place is open to all residents and visitors of Florence. Here’s how to organize your visit.

What you’ll find at Villa Bardini and its Gardens

Nestled in the heart of Florence, between Costa San Giorgio and Borgo San Niccolò, the Bardini Garden is a treasured relic that was given back to the city in 2006. Restored by the Bardini and Peyron and CR Florence foundations, Villa Bardini has evolved into an oasis of culture, art, and nature. Today, it is a place filled with stories waiting to be explored.

The Bardini Garden is more than just a garden; it’s a mosaic of three distinct gardens, each representing a unique era and style. The lush Italian garden, the English woodland filled with exotic elements, and the agricultural park home to a newly planted orchard and a beautiful wisteria pergola. This blend of styles makes the Bardini Garden a notable example of restoration and preservation.

Villa Bardini, once known as “Villa Belvedere” due to its magnificent panoramic view of Florence, dates back to the “Casini di Delizia” that were common in the city between the late 16th century and the first half of the 17th century. These were spaces created for leisure and rest, usually surrounded by both productive and ornamental crops.

Since the Middle Ages, the land of the Bardini Garden has belonged to several wealthy families, transforming over the centuries from an agricultural space to a sophisticated Italian garden. In the early 20th century, it was acquired by the collector Stefano Bardini, known as the “prince of antiquarians”. He used the garden as an impressive setting to entertain his affluent clientele.

Among the garden’s wonders is the wisteria, one of the most loved plants by visitors. This fragrant plant, covering the pergola entirely with its purple clusters, leads visitors to the Loggia del Belvedere, where you can enjoy a panoramic view of Florence and San Miniato al Monte. The wisteria, besides its beauty, carries a long history and a distant origin, having been brought from China as a rarity by Marco Polo in the 18th century.

The wisteria flower, with its shades ranging from lilac to violet, from mauve to pink, provides a blooming spectacle in spring, between April and May. Its particularity is the rapid and constant growth, symbolizing the development of human consciousness that, just like the plant, expands in a spiraling movement, embracing the outside world.

When to Visit Villa Bardini and its Gardens

Special exhibitions are organized at Villa Bardini at certain times of the year.

From May 7 to October 18, 2026, Villa Bardini hosts Firenze ’50 ’60 ’70. Immagini dall’Archivio Foto Locchi, a photography exhibition built around 150 pictures of Florence taken across three decades.

If you have only seen Renaissance Florence, this is the other city: the flood of 1966, Sunday afternoons at the stadium, the first supermarkets, Hollywood stars walking through town, and the Florentine tailors and buyers who invented what the world now calls Made in Italy. One room is given entirely to the football club, Fiorentina.

The photographs come from the Archivio Foto Locchi, the studio that has been documenting the city since 1924 and holds more than 5 million images of it. The exhibition is curated by Giovanna Uzzani and promoted by Fondazione CR Firenze.

Free guided tours of the exhibition run every Saturday and Sunday at 5:00 PM and are included with your exhibition ticket. No booking is required, but places are limited. On Sundays at 3:30 PM, until October 18, 2026, there are also free workshops for families with children aged 6 to 12.

Florence and the U.S., in the garden

Also until October 18, 2026, and worth the detour if you are visiting from the United States: Florence and the U.S. The Story of a Friendship is an open-air display of ten photographs in the garden itself, marking 250 years of American independence.

The pictures trace the liberation of Florence by the U.S. Fifth Army in August 1944, the work of the Monuments Men, and the arrival of the Mud Angels after the 1966 flood, the first international volunteer effort mounted to rescue a city’s art. It is promoted by the Consulate General of the United States in Florence together with Fondazione CR Firenze.

As for the Gardens of Villa Bardini, although they are open all year round, the best period is between April and September, the warmest months of the year in Italy.

The gardens and the exhibition open daily from 10:00 AM to 7:30 PM, with last admission one hour before closing. Villa Bardini closes on the first and the last Monday of every month. Hours are extended into the evening on some dates, and the garden can close at short notice for safety reasons, such as a weather alert, so it is worth checking the official Villa Bardini website on the morning of your visit. (Last updated: September 11, 2026)

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Bardini Villa and Gardens Tickets

You can book a ticket for the exhibition only, for the Bardini Gardens only, or a combined ticket covering both, which costs €15 full price or €8 reduced (plus any applicable presale fees). Bought separately, the exhibition and the gardens are €10 full price and €5 reduced each. (Last updated: September 11, 2026)

Villa Bardini: the Firenze ’50 ’60 ’70 Exhibition

Category	Fee***	Online Tickets
Full	€ 10.00	buy here
Reduced*	€ 5.00	buy here
Free**	€ 0.00	buy here

You can also purchase open date tickets for Villa Bardini here, which let you skip picking a day when you book.

Villa Bardini Gardens

This changed in 2026, and it catches people out: a Bardini Gardens ticket no longer includes the Boboli Gardens. To see both on the same day you need the combined Boboli + Bardini ticket, which costs €15 full price and €4 reduced.

That combined ticket is sold only at the physical ticket desks of the Uffizi Galleries, on the day of your visit. There is no online option, and it is not sold on days when the Boboli Gardens are closed or when state museums are free to enter, such as the first Sunday of the month. The rule is set out in the official Uffizi Galleries notice. (Last updated: September 11, 2026)

Category	Fee	Online Tickets
Full	€ 10.00	buy here
Reduced*	€ 5.00	buy here
Free**	€ 0.00	buy here

Entry ONLY to the Villa Bardini Gardens is free, no reservation needed for residents in the Città Metropolitana di Firenze, in the Comune di Arezzo and province, in the Comune di Grosseto and province showing a document proving this requirement.

Villa Bardini belongs to a private foundation, so it is not part of the free first-Sunday scheme that covers Italy’s state museums. If you have read that entry here is free on the first Sunday of the month, that information is out of date. The free entry for residents of Florence, Arezzo and Grosseto, on the other hand, applies all year round.

Groups can have a maximum of 28 participants including the guide.

Ticket sales are closed one hour before the garden’s closing time.

How to Get to Villa Bardini

The main entrance to Villa Bardini is located at 2 Costa San Giorgio.

There is a second entrance to the Villa Bardini Gardens at 1/r Via dei Bardi, which is open exclusively during the garden’s opening hours.

By Car

For those traveling by car, it’s recommended to use a GPS such as Waze or Google Maps. Search for Villa Bardini or Forte Belvedere (which is just a few steps away from Villa Bardini). There is free parking available for visitors. From the parking lot, you will find signs indicating how to get to Villa Bardini on foot. As of September 2026, Villa Bardini warns that city maintenance work may reduce the number of spaces at the Forte Belvedere car park.

By Taxi

A taxi ride from the center of Florence to Villa Bardini costs between 7 and 10 euros.

You can call a taxi in Florence by dialing the number +39 055.4242 or 055.4390.

On Foot

From the center of Florence, you can reach Villa Bardini on foot, enjoying a pleasant walk through the hills. Yes, there is an uphill stretch, but with a bit of determination and a bottle of water in the summer, it will be a wonderful experience.

For those coming from the Ponte Vecchio, it’s possible to go up via Costa San Giorgio (the “costas” are small streets with steep inclines), leading directly to Villa Bardini.

For those coming from the picturesque and lively San Niccolò neighborhood, there’s a road just beyond the Gate, called Via di Belvedere, that extends for 1 km (0.6 miles) and takes you straight to the entrance of Villa Bardini.

Finally, Villa Bardini can also be accessed by crossing the Boboli Gardens: once past the gate, you’ll find yourself immediately within the splendid confines of this location. Bear in mind that since 2026 this route requires the combined Boboli + Bardini ticket, bought at the Uffizi desks on the day.