Museo Stibbert

Frederick Stibbert — the one responsibile for this incredible collection of over 36,000 artifacts must have been one kind of character to be able to create this wonderful place with every last detail in Florence. We finally used a rainy day as a great excuse to visit and wow, if I knew it was this nice, I would have gone a lot soon.
Very accessible by bus or car, you will notice a huge (and beautiful) park in front of the vast villa itself. The ticket costs 6 euros and it is a guided tour to make sure you don’t take any pictures or pocket the armory.
The tour itself last around one hour and what hour that is. You will be wandering from one amazing room to another filled with 14^th-​18^th century armory, tapestry and even a ferragamo collection throughout the years. Our guide was knowledgable and friendly and let us roam around to gawk and stare in the huge rooms.
My personal favorite room was the middle eastern collection, not just for the armory itself but also because of the room’s beautiful detail. It felt like being in the middle east and it was really interesting to see all of the different styles these soldiers once used.
This is the perfect place to take someone who perhaps has seen enough renaissance art and needs a refreshing break. I want to go back again when the weather is a little warmer to take advantage of the adjacent huge park — a tranquil oasis from the busy city streets.
If you go in the winter, bundle up! The villa itself is absolutely freezing!

A truly singular experience.
This museum showcases the art and artifact collections of Frederick Stibbert, who inherited the villa and tons of money from his grandfather. After inheriting it, Stibbert never had to work again and instead spent the rest of his life finding awesome things to fill his new mansion with… that is, until he ran out of room. But oh wait, he just added a bunch of new rooms and continued collecting and filling them up! After he died in 1906, the property and its collection were given to the city of Florence.
Small, personal tours are given into the afternoon. It goes something like this: you take a bus to this less-​touristy section of the city and walk up the winding road until you get to the estate’s gate. You enter and walk down the driveway. Since you didn’t want to risk missing your scheduled tour, you are probably early so you grab a cold drink from the cooler, have a drink at the bar, or order an espresso in the small museum café. You then take a bit of time to wander along the picturesque, park-​like grounds (gazebos, ponds, fountains, birds, turtles, cats!) until your tour guide is ready for you.
The tour itself is incredible: room after room of meticulously collected art and artifacts. The number of weapons here is completely staggering… armour, swords, bows, arrows, daggers… you name it. This collection spans continents and centuries and is – if I’m not mistaken – one of the largest in the world. And as if this weren’t enough to look at, each room is simultaneously filled with tapestries, paintings, and furniture. Stibbert DID live here, after all!
The tour guide brings you through each room, pointing out objects of particular interest and blowing your mind with the amount of knowledge they have. There is SO much to look at, I’d definitely go back again because if you took the time t look at each object, you’d be there all day. Small, intimate tours, incredible history, and a unique setting make this a museum not to be missed!