Italy’s world-renowned museums are making a playful pivot to attract more visitors—by catering to their furry friends. With free dog-sitting services now offered at major cultural landmarks, including Rome’s MAXXI Museum and Florence’s Uffizi, art lovers no longer have to choose between culture and their canine companions.
Last weekend, Rome launched the initiative at four cultural landmarks: the MAXXI museum of contemporary art, the National Etruscan Museum, the Castel Sant’Angelo, and the Museum of the Arca Pacis. Forty visitors participated, leaving their beloved pets in the hands of expertly-trained handlers.
The dog-sit services, spearheaded by the company Bauadvisor, will continue to tour 15 cultural hotspots Italy, stopping at tourist attractions like the the Peggy Guggenheim in Venice (on February 2) and Uffizi in Florence (September 7) for one day only every month between now and April 2026. Museum-goers are encouraged to book their spot in advance, online or via the app.
After basking in Botticellis and admiring antiquities without a yapping companion at your side, you will return to find a thoroughly pampered pooch, fed and fresh from a long walk.
“This project means owners can enjoy culture without being separated from their pets for long, and dogs will suffer less stress than they would if left at home,” explained Bauadvisor’s director Dino Gasperini. “It is significantly improving lives.”
Other participating museums include the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Museo Ducati in Bologna, Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan, Galleria d’Italian in Naples, and the National Archaeological Museum in Verona.
While the free offer from Bauadvisor is an exciting one-off, the company has already been offering its services for a few years at some 290 cultural sites in 53 Italian cities, at a cost of €10 ($10) per hour. According to Gasperini, it’s the hounds of Mantua, a city in northern Italy, who are most often handed over to a sitter. This frees up their owners to ogle splendid frescoes by Mantegna at the Palazzo Ducale or take more than just a passing peek at Giulio Romano’s Palazzo Te.
This isn’t the first time Italian museums have considered the canine in their visitor engagement strategies. The project Musei a 4 Zampe, or 4-Legged Museums, ensures access for visitors and their furry friends to museums in the central-western region of Maremma. As long as all pups stay on a lead, they can accompany their owners to a long list of local venues, which includes several archaeological museums, the Museum of Cast Iron Arts of Maremma, the Museum of Mining Art and History, and the Orsini Palace Museum.
Meanwhile, in 2023, the National Museum of Contemporary Arts in Athens celebrated World Stray Animals Day on April 4 by inviting visitors to bring their dogs inside the museum. Looks like Lassie better brush up on her arf- history!
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