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Giotto's Bell Tower
Pay for the Bell Tower if you want the best view of the dome and 414 narrow steps do not scare you off. Skip the climb if all you really want is the marble exterior, because that part looks great from the piazza and costs nothing.
Giotto's Bell Tower is the square marble campanile that stands right next to Florence Cathedral, built from 1334 and finished in 1359. It is 414 steps with no lift. What you pay for is the one thing the dome climb cannot give you: a straight-on view of Brunelleschi's dome from the outside.
Worth it for
- Travelers who want the classic view of Brunelleschi's dome across the rooftops
- People picking one Duomo-complex climb and caring more about the view than the engineering story
You can skip if
- You have vertigo, claustrophobia, heart issues, or limited mobility
- You already paid for the Dome climb and do not care enough to do a second set of stairs
Our pick for Giotto's Bell Tower
Book the Bell Tower ticket if you want the best view of Brunelleschi’s dome: it rises almost close enough to touch, then the city opens out from the top after the climb. Go for the most Bell Tower-focused option first, and choose a morning slot if you can, because those narrow stairs feel much better before the heat and crowds build.
If our pick doesn't fit
The Giotto Pass on the official Opera del Duomo site also covers the Baptistery and museum, so you get the wider complex for one direct rate with no reseller fee.
Official ticketsTakes you up Brunelleschi's Dome rather than the bell tower, for a different climb and a close look at the frescoes.
See all options for Giotto's Bell Tower
What travelers flag about Giotto's Bell Tower
We weighed recent Florence traveler opinion on Giotto's Campanile against the provider reviews. These are the themes that came up again and again.
- Pick this OR the dome, not bothReported by many
The bell tower and the dome give a very similar rooftop view, so climbing both is a waste of legs for most people. The tower's one real advantage is that Brunelleschi's dome is in your photo from up here; the dome's advantage is the frescoes and being the icon itself. Choose one.
- No separate reservation, but still 414 stepsReported by several
Unlike the dome, the campanile does not need its own timed slot on top of the pass, which makes it the easier climb to fit in. It is still 414 steps with no lift, so go on a morning slot before the heat, and the landings give you breaks and progressively better views on the way up.
Sourced from recent traveler discussions, not provider reviews. We only flag what several visitors independently reported, and the bars show how widely each point came up.
Which ticket should you buy?
What you actually get
Treat this as a climb, not a sit-down visit. You go up a tight stone stair, catch your breath at a few landings, and come out on the top terrace looking straight across at the dome, with the cathedral roof and Piazza del Duomo below and the city behind it.
So the tower earns its ticket if the dome is the shot you actually want. Climb Brunelleschi's Dome instead and you get the engineering and the frescoes inside, but you never see the dome from outside, because you are standing on top of it.
The climb
The official figure is 414 steps and no lift. It paces better than the number suggests, since there are landings where you can stop and let your legs recover, but the stair stays narrow and busy the whole way up. If enclosed spaces or heights bother you, this is not your climb.
Leave medium and large bags behind. The Opera del Duomo makes you store luggage first, and people who turn up with prohibited items get turned away. Wear proper shoes too. In summer the stone steps and the crowd in front of you make the whole thing slower than you expect.
Tickets and value
There is no official ticket for the bell tower on its own. What you buy is the Giotto Pass, which covers the Bell Tower, Baptistery, Opera del Duomo Museum, and Santa Reparata, one entry each across 3 calendar days. The 2026 price from the Duomo ticket office is 20 euros full, 7 euros reduced for ages 7 to 14, and free for ages 0 to 6. Confirm it before you book, because the rules do shift.
The thing to watch is third-party resale, not the tower. Some reseller listings charge a lot more for plain entry or pad it out with audio extras you did not ask for. Book through the official Opera del Duomo site unless you actually want a guided tour.
Bell Tower or Dome
Go for the Bell Tower if the view of Brunelleschi's dome is what you came for and you want a slightly shorter climb. The Dome always needs a strict reserved time slot, and the Bell Tower only frees you from that on the Brunelleschi Pass (on the Giotto Pass you still keep to your chosen slot). Go for the Dome if you care about how the thing was built, the Vasari and Zuccari frescoes, and the strange feeling of climbing up between the inner and outer shells.
The Brunelleschi Pass gets you both climbs, but it costs more and the Dome runs on tighter timed entry. If your time or your legs only stretch to one, a first-time visitor chasing the classic view should take the Bell Tower. If you are here for the architecture, take the Dome.
Giotto's Bell Tower: FAQs
Yes, but go in with eyes open. It is the best paid climb for seeing the Duomo dome up close, and it is also 414 stairs with no lift and a timed slot if you go in on the Giotto Pass.
414 steps, by the official count. No lift.
The official FAQ says the strict dress code is for the Cathedral and Baptistery, not the other monuments. The Giotto Pass still covers places of worship, so come ready to cover shoulders and knees, and leave the flip-flops if you plan to go into the Cathedral or Baptistery.
Yes. The marble exterior sits right on Piazza del Duomo and costs nothing to look at. If you would rather skip the climb and the terrace, walking a slow loop around the tower and cathedral is plenty.
No, there is no show. It is a timed-entry climb, and most people should set aside about 30 to 45 minutes, more if the stairs are packed or you stop a lot.
Depends what you are after. The Bell Tower wins on the view of the dome. The Dome wins on the architecture and gets you up near the interior frescoes.
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