The view
The terraces and what you see from them
The two stretches of rooftop walkway this tour opens, and what's actually visible from the dome once you've made the climb.
Check availability ↗Two viewpoints on the same tour
| Where | What it looks over |
|---|---|
| North and south terraces | The dome's base, the cathedral roofline and the streets of the historic centre directly below |
| The top of the climb | Florence's rooftops and the hills beyond, with the piazza you started in visible far below |
A part of the building rarely seen at all
Narrow stone walkways running along the north and south sides of the roof, opened exclusively for your group of 19 on the way back down from the dome — one of the cathedral's most rarely visited corners.
Close enough to touch the brickwork
From the terraces you're near enough to the dome's base to see the individual courses of brick Brunelleschi's masons laid by hand in the 1420s, rather than viewing the dome from the piazza below.
The climb changes what you're looking at
Reaching the terraces means climbing to the top first — by the 463rd step you're above the dome's base, looking down on Florence, before the route brings you back down to the terraces a few flights lower.
What's visible from the top
At the top, the view runs over the terracotta roofs of the historic centre to the hills that ring the city — the same skyline painters have climbed up here to sketch since the dome was finished.
Looking back down at where you started
Piazza San Giovanni, where you met your guide less than two hours earlier, is visible directly below — a reminder of how far the climb has actually taken you, in a building you can't normally get this high inside.
Evening light changes the colour of it
Because the tour runs after the cathedral's daytime closing, the terraces and the view from the top catch evening light rather than midday glare — the terracotta roofs read warmer, and the crowds below have mostly gone home.