It has been a couple of years since I took this tour, but I had a dream about it last night and I…read moreremembered that I never wrote a Yelp review about it - which is crazy because it is the best tour my husband and I have ever taken! Our day with Italian Days Food Experience was the highlight of our one month in Italy. I don't say that lightly. We've traveled a lot and we've eaten a lot. Still this stands as an absolute top notch experience in our travels. I highly recommend it to anyone! (I have pictures of the factories (cheese, balsamic vinegar, ham) and also of the platters of food served during our feast. I even have video of the parmigiana reggiano cheese from the vats into huge cheese balls that will blow your mind! I'll try to attach them to this review.) The out-going, energetic, and extremely knowledgeable Alessandro is the owner and tour guide for the Italian Days Food Experience. It's important to mention him because his excitement and intensity make a wonderful day even more fun and special. First an early morning visit to a Parmigiano Reggiano factory - so interesting - like something none of us had ever seen before. Starting with the big vats of milk and watching each process, step by step until it is turned into stacks and stacks of big wheels of authentic Parmigiano Reggiano cheese - The King of Cheese! You will learn the importance of DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta) the European Union system of laws protecting the names of specialty food products with a specific geographic origin. For example, authentic DOP Parmigiagno Reggiano cheese can only come from the Parma / Reggio region of Italy. It's sort of a big deal. Next we visited a small "farm house setting" where we ascended to the attic to see the processing and aging barrels to produce balsamic vinegar - Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena. I had no idea that for most Italians, making balsamic vinegar is not about making money, it is a family tradition and labor of love. When a baby is born a new batch is started and the barrels are carefully tended to through the next 20 years or so until both the vinegar and the child becomes of age. Then when that adult has a baby, the cycle repeats itself. It is a lovely and of course delicious family tradition. Last we visited a ham factory to see the hams processing. This was my least favorite part, but many people enjoyed seeing the hams curing and also the refrigeration unit. After our busy morning, we were promised a "light lunch" - which I quickly discovered was actually a FEAST. It was the most food I have ever been served - at least ten courses. The servers just kept bringing out platter after platter of amazing dishes of food - different types of pastas, steaks, chicken, veal, vegetables, desserts and of course always bottomless bottles of wine. What an incredible feast! In addition, our relatively small group (of like-minded tourists from around the world) quickly became friends as we bonded over our passion for food and wine. All the while, our guide Alessandro dashed from guest to guest, making sure everyone was happy and satisfied with the food and the service. That man is a delight - so smart, hardworking and passionate about his work. I don't know where he gets all of his energy, but it is lovely - the man is nonstop and wonderful. At the end of the day we were given the opportunity to buy some of the DOP products at very affordable prices, and we did, but there was absolutely no sales pitch or pressure to do so.

Such a fun day exploring the foods of Bologna! First we were picked up promptly, first thing in…read morethe morning (the sun hadn't come up yet) at our hotel in a passenger van, and drove to the first experience which was the cheese factory/farm. We actually got to see how the whole processing of making Parmigiano Reggiano,from start to finish, which was very enlightening. I have to say their Ricotta cheese is the best I have tasted from all over the world. Next we drove to a family owned DOP balsamic vinegar vineyard where we were able to see the process of making balsamic vinegar. Did you know it takes years and years to make just a small amount of vinegar. Very fascinating to hear and to taste. We got to compare balsamic venegar that isn't DOP and some that is. We were also able to taste the 25 year old, and 50 year old vinegar. This is tightly guarded as it is quite an arduous process, and very, very, time consuming just to get a few bottles out of the 25 and 50+ vinegar. Let's just say it's yummy. Make sure you buy a bottle while you are there. I didn't, and I could kick myself as it's more expensive is the USA from the same vineyard. Then it was off to the place where the prosciutto di Modena is made. That was interesting as well all these ham hocks hanging up, and the process of how the most tasty prosciutto is made. Final stop was to have lunch at a cantina on a sprawling estate. Great views. Did I say FOOD, lots, and lots of Italian food and wine. Very tasty and a good variety of Italian dishes. Then off to our hotel we go. We had our driver drop us off closer to city center so that we could enjoy the city before heading back to our hotel since this was or last night in Italy. She was very happy to oblige us. Such a fun day. I highly recommend this tour.

My mom and I had a wonderful tour with Darren. The small group was fantastic and it gave the…read morefeeling of a group of friends exploring a new city. Darren was wonderful and provided excellent recommendations for other places to try in the city and was very knowledgeable. The food was fantastic and everything was well worth the tour price. It was about four hours and a perfect way to get to know the city!

Definitely, worth it!…read more Stumbled upon this tour, while doing some research for my trip. It had great reviews, so I was in. So I reached out to them on very short notice. The booking person, Andrea C. was so kind and went above and beyond to accomated our group so we could go the next day. Our total group size, upon arrival, was 10 total. We arrived at their requested meeting place, central location of the Basilica Petronia. Valentina was our tour guide, and she was so sweet. She gave us lots of fun facts and a little history, which I loved, along with each visit. They have several tours: Bologna Wine Tasting Tortellini Making Experience Cooking Class Sunset Food Tour Classic Tour We did the Classic tour. Includes yummy pasta tasting, with traditional broth, which tasted like a warm hug. We had several stops (dress comfortabld/sneakers), including traditional coffee shop, bread shop, and cheese shop, and farmers market. The group got along well, and enjoyed walking in and out of the cobble stone streets, and stopping to hear from Valentina. Great tour!

Great service! We were picked up at the car rental drop off at the Bologna airport and delivered to…read moreour rental swiftly and smoothly. Our driver was exceptionally helpful, carrying some of our luggage to our apartment as the street was car free on weekends, so we had a short walk. Pick up at 3am a few days later was easy and prompt. Communication was maintained easily and the early morning drive to the airport was great. A top notch company that we will use again.

Book this company! Giacomo was great to work with. When our driver canceled 1 hour before, I called…read moreand he got me driver. Thank you for saving our trip!

I've been to Italy many times before and I have never been so welcomed before as I did whilst…read moreattending a trip organized by italygate. Every details is cured to perfection... They are very detail oriented, yet cozy and flexible. No request is too big or too small for them! We visited the Acetaio Leonardi, the Caseificio Caretti and lastly, we visited Maranello for a dream car rental. The tour was personalized with detailed explanations of everything and we also got to eat in a beautiful emilian restaurant as the locals do.

From the owner: Italygate is an incoming tour operator that offers travel packages and daily excursions in Italy…read more We create and suggest exclusive tours for travelers  who love to socialize with the locals  and melt with natural environment, for people who always seek high quality service, unique emotions and attention to details. Our strength lies in personal attention and high quality services. We provide individual and complete travel solutions to our customers and we attend them, during their stay in Italy, with our detailed knowledge  of the destination.

An amazing experience!…read more We made the trip to this place & it was worth every curvy turn getting there! The kindness & creativity & education made us so happy. It was a quintessential experience we will never forget! From the initial course with all the delicate cheeses, fruits, then the lovely meats & breads to the amazing dessert bites! Don't hesitate to make this a part of your Tuscan journey. Worth every minute!

Best culinary experience of my life!…read more I don't take this review lightly and I mean every word of this title. I first met Paulo in Oct 2021. My wife and I were looking for an 'authentic' wine tasting experience near Florence (something close enough for my wife and I to ride a moped through Florence). Paulo didn't have the most reviews online but every review I saw was 5 stars. This piqued my interest..."there's something here". We find ourselves walking in the front door of an old mom and pop shop bodega/general store. Paulo greets us warmly and we walk down some stairs to his basement. We're greeted by a pre set up tasting table that just looks fantastic. Paulo goes on to teach us about the components of the tongue and how the various fruit, nut, cheese, combinations hit the senses that just so happen to pair perfectly with his Rose wine--and that was just the beginning. To this day we continue to recommend him without reservation to all of our friends (with 10+ friends being able to experience his tasting, and each agreeing this was one of their best memories in Italy). We also continue to order his wine and olive oil direct to the US and his wine currently occupies the top shelf on our wine rack. Paulo, you're awesome!!

Can't say enough positive things about Easy Touring and its owner operator Wolfgang. We met…read moreWolfgang by chance as he was our transfer arranged by a restaurant in 2013. Since then we have traveled with him for custom tours to Chianti, Bolgheri, montecarlo, and Montalcino as well as for many train station and airport transfers. He's the best. Professional, knowledgable, kind and very good at helping you coordinate your tour or transfer needs. A valuable resource for your trip in tuscany! He even planned transportation for our wedding, getting 75 guests to a hillside church outside of Lucca!

From the owner: I am a private-hire in Tuscany and can take you from your hotel to the airport for example but also…read morespend the day on a tour of your choice. I am fluent in English, German and Italian and like culture, history, good food and wines!

We did three tours with Artviva during our stay in Florence and each one was fantastic. Yes, the…read moresubject matter is wonderful, but what sets Artviva apart are the guides. Each tour was a different guide and each guide was as great as the other. All are super passionate about what they do and their town - it is impossible to not be inspired by the subject matter when the guides are so passionate. We did the David Walking Tour, Best of Tuscany and Uffizi Walking Tour. We had two of the tours set before we arrived, and signed up for another after our first experience. The groups we were apart of were small and easy to follow around. David tour was quick, but amazing. I was surprised by how moved I was by the subject matter. Best of Tuscany was a blast with our guide. We visited four locations, had an amazing lunch at a winery and had great conversation on the ride. Uffizi Tour was packed, but the passion from our guide made everything not just bearable, but really enjoyable. Artviva is highly recommended from this traveler!

ArtViva has really great ratings here and on that other travel review site, but our experience was…read moreunderwhelming. I found their pre-tour communication really unprofessional. I had reached out asking about a few different tours and inquiring whether we could bring our 4 year old. They responded promptly that we could, and offered us 10% off if we booked three or more tours. I responded yes, that sounds great, we want to book these three tours on such and such date. No response. I followed up, no response. Followed up again, no response. It was getting pretty close to our trip and I was nervous about things filling up, so I decided to just book online. It annoyed me that I couldn't get the discount they'd offered with an online booking, so I decided to only book two tours with ArtViva and get the third tour from someone else. So I booked the two tours online, choosing from their available dates and times, which seemed to track with reality (i.e., tours for museums weren't sold on Mondays when museums are closed). I almost immediately got an email that the date I had selected for our gelato making class wouldn't work and they would have to move it to some other date. Um, why did you sell us that date, then? I responded with some dates that worked and said we could also possibly do Monday if necessary. Of course they rescheduled us for Monday. Ok, fine, we moved some things around. Then right before we left for our trip they emailed us that actually it would have to be at 9 am on Monday. I was a little wary about that since it was our first full day and I thought we might be jetlagged and starting a tour that early wasn't a good plan. When I asked if we could keep the later time, they said they could keep our original date and time (Friday at 10 am). So much drama just to keep the times we had originally booked! I also asked them multiple times what the meeting point for the gelato class was, because I needed to know if we needed a stroller to get there. Our hotel was in central Florence, no more than a 15 minute walk from all major tourist attractions, so this was the only thing we would possibly need a stroller for. It was like pulling teeth to get a response. I think I had to email them three times before I finally got a response with the address, and it was indeed quite far from our hotel. The tours themselves were ok. We did a tour of the David and a gelato making class with ArtViva. In hindsight, we did not need a tour of the David. The tour only lasted about 30 minutes and cost about four times what museum skip-the-line tickets did, and while the David is amazing, but it's also impossible to miss. (A tour is much more important at the Uffizi, which has a much larger collection.) But I don't know that I can really fault ArtViva for that, it was kind of poor planning on my part. The gelato class was advertised by ArtViva as kid friendly and it is not. We did an actually kid friendly pasta making class at an agriturismo and the difference between them was like night and day. I knew it was not going to go well when we showed up and they told us they didn't have kid-sized aprons so my 4 year old just wouldn't get one (that went over like a lead balloon, as I'm sure anyone who has ever had a 4 year old can imagine). ArtViva had specifically requested our favorite gelato flavors in advance, and although we'd told them our favorite flavor was chocolate, the gelato chef had chosen to make a flavor that had wine, honey, mascarpone and orange extract as ingredients...not exactly kid-friendly. I'm also not sure what the purpose of asking your favorite flavor is if they totally ignore it? Fortunately they had some chocolate and caramel gelato in the freezer they kindly let us sample. The gelato chef was nice, and tried to roll with the situation, but it was clear she was not prepared for a kid and didn't have much if any experience cooking with kids. They really need to make it clearer this class is not set up for young kids. I know things are weird with Covid now, and I'm trying to cut them some slack, but I feel like the communication issues are not really related to Covid. Also I was mostly communicating with the owner, who is British, so this is not a language barrier issue at all. I would not rule out booking with ArtViva again if they had a tour I couldn't get anywhere else, but I would definitely not seek them out.