Ponte Vecchio hosts Friday corridor openings until 20 November

Ponte Vecchio and its elevated Vasari Corridor remain linked by a current Friday evening opening programme in Florence, with visits scheduled until 20 November 2026. The route crosses the bridge between the Uffizi and Palazzo Pitti, giving travellers a dated cultural option in Italy beyond a daytime crossing.

Friday evening opening crosses Ponte Vecchio

The Uffizi Galleries announced special evening access to the Vasari Corridor from 3 July to 20 November 2026. The programme runs every Friday from 7pm to 11pm, with the final admission at 9.50pm, according to the Uffizi programme.

The passage is accompanied by Uffizi staff rather than tour guides. Visitors enter near the Uffizi at Piazzale degli Uffizi, pass through the elevated route above the shops of the bridge, and leave in the Boboli Gardens at Piazza Pitti. Reservations are required, and the special opening uses a dedicated access arrangement.

Ponte Vecchio connects a 1345 bridge with the corridor

The bridge was built in 1345, probably to a design by Taddeo Gaddi, according to the official tourism website of the Municipality and Metropolitan City of Florence. Its masonry shops now house goldsmiths, replacing the butchers and fishmongers established there before 1593.

That history gives the evening programme a precise physical setting: the public crossing below carries visitors over the Arno, while the Vasari Corridor runs above the shops. The route is therefore not a separate venue in another district but a passage through one of the bridge’s defining architectural layers. The Florence tourism authority identifies the bridge as part of the city’s historic fabric.

A World Heritage setting above the Arno

Ponte Vecchio stands in Florence’s historic centre, where the Arno runs east to west and bridges connect the two banks. UNESCO describes it as a fourteenth-century bridge lined with shops and includes it within the Historic Centre of Florence World Heritage property.

The historic-centre inscription dates to 1982. The bridge’s surviving shops and the corridor above them show two different layers of Florence’s built history: a medieval commercial crossing and a sixteenth-century passage associated with Giorgio Vasari and Cosimo I. UNESCO’s World Heritage account places both the bridge and the Arno within the wider cultural landscape.

Visiting Ponte Vecchio: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• The special programme runs every Friday from 3 July to 20 November 2026, with the Vasari Corridor crossing Ponte Vecchio between the Uffizi and Boboli Gardens.
• Access requires a reservation for the special opening. The Uffizi states that staff accompany groups, while the bridge itself forms part of the route rather than the meeting point.
• The meeting point is at the Uffizi entrance beside the Loggia dei Lanzi, and the exit is in Piazza Pitti through the Boboli Gardens.
• The route includes an elevated passage above the bridge’s shops, while the public bridge crosses the Arno between Florence’s historic centre and the Oltrarno.

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Frequently asked questions about Ponte Vecchio

When does the Friday evening opening take place at Ponte Vecchio?

The Uffizi’s special Vasari Corridor programme runs every Friday from 3 July to 20 November 2026. Evening access is scheduled from 7pm to 11pm.

What is the Vasari Corridor above Ponte Vecchio?

It is an elevated passage linking the Uffizi and Palazzo Pitti through the historic centre. The route crosses above the bridge’s shops and ends in the Boboli Gardens.

Where is Ponte Vecchio and how do you get there?

The bridge crosses the Arno in central Florence, linking the historic centre with the Oltrarno. The special corridor route begins near the Uffizi and exits at Piazza Pitti.