Since today was a free day for me, I worked with my hotel to book two tours. The first one was at 10 and it was a walking tour of Florence. It was great, there were 14 of us and we all got to know each other while we were walking. The history and the knowledge of these guides are amazing. I would recommend you give them a try. We finished our tour with gelato! I took an afternoon class on cooking -pasta and gelato. The class was hands on and it was fun and delicious! Thank you Tommaso and Serena! read more

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Had gone here for a vespa class and it was the best experience I ever had. Fantastic teachers that actually try to teach you how to ride, and then they take you on an amaizng trail on the country side of tuscany. Afterwards, you get to go to a very local gelato shop that was honestly so amazing we lined up twice for their gelato, followed by two wineries and a nice group dinner. Afterwards, I decided to book their pizza and gelato cooking class for my family, and again we had a wonderful experience. The teachers were very professional and gave us tips on how to adjust our pizza and gelato making at home with different ingredients and equipment. Would recommend any of their tours! read more

Do not book their Florence bike tour! I had arrived in Florence at 2 PM and thought bike tour would be a good way to get acclimated . If I had any idea what a madhouse, the center of the city was I would've never signed up. I also don't believe anybody should be doing bike tour thru the city when there isn't even any room for pedestrians to move about! It was impossible to enjoy anything when you were trying not to run into a pedestrian or get hit by a car. It all seem pretty dangerous for the riders and the walkers. There was no bell on my bike to warn the pedestrians... There were bells on some of the bikes, but not mine. Secondly, I don't know if it was the regular tour guide or not but this guy had absolutely no personality. Not friendly, not engaging with the group. He didn't tell any interesting stories, he didn't do anything to make the tour fun or entertaining. he made a bunch of random stops that really were not tied together in anyway. I didn't learn anything, except about the Medicis in Michelangelo, nothing about Florence itself . Additionally, due to all the noise and chaos in the city, the headset was a good idea. Unfortunately, mine was full of static, and I couldn't understand half of what the guy was saying. Then we spent 20 minutes of our tour standing in line to buy gelato... Why did we go to the gelato place with a 20 minute line? I went on a walking tour in the next morning, with a different company, had a wonderful, engaging, entertaining, and knowledgeable guide. I learned a lot, had fun and felt safe. I would definitely stay away from this company's bike tour. I let them know about my concerns and they were completely uninterested in my feedback. Find another company.! read more

We booked the pizza & gelato cooking class for the family. In 2.5 hours we were taught by very enthusiastic teachers how to make dough and gelato, made our own pizza (base & topping) and did eat the pizza and gelato with a glass of wine. Time extremely well spent. read more

FlorenceTown Tours does great tours and our guide this morning was very informative and professional. She showed the passion that she loves what she does. She really keeps everyone engaged and we asked plenty of questions, which she answered all of them. Our tour was on 11/14/22 at 9:45am. Great tour! Thank you read more

We used Florencetown for 2 tours in Florence. One for the Breakfast in the Ufizzi Gallery and the 'One Hour with David' tour. For the 3 Hour Ufizzi Tour, we had a blast. Our tour guide was clearly passionate about the subject and was great explaining to art lovers and non art lovers of the fine nuances of the pieces of art in the museum. If you get Valentina G as your guide, then you are in for a treat! We were so happy to have her as our guide and would be more than happy for her to guide us in the future. The one hour with David tour was a bit of a misnomer for me. It was an hour overall but not an hour with The David. The statue was impressive and I spent a lot of time just staring at it. But I didn't get a great passion from our guide and I felt it was a bit phoned in during our tour. Would I use the company again? Of course! I'd just say it would depend on your guide. read more

Excellent, excellent, excellent!! The booking process for our cooking class was seamless. They answered our questions via email right away. The day of we were running a little late due to parking and it wasn't a problem. David, our chef, was superb! I'd likely ask for him by name the next time. He was funny and personable. The class was a great time and our food tasted amazing! Who knew making pasta from scratch was so easy!! My only complaint was after tasting the homemade tiramisu from the class, no other tiramisu in Italy came close! They set me up for failure!! I will use them the next time I'm in Florence for a different tour or maybe another cooking class. read more

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Great vineyard tour booked via Viator. Met at city center by our guide Serena who was extremely knowledgable and friendly. Visited 3 vineyards and had a delicious buffet dinner at the last one. Our group consisted of 7 people and we all immediately clicked. I highly recommend it. read more

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I took the tour Uffizi Gallery and Vasari Corridor in the afternoon. The museum was quite crowded, but our guide Giulia made the visit pleasant and gave some interesting information, not only about the artworks but also about the artists' lives. The visit to the Corridor was great. The views from the passage are lovely and I love the Portraits gallery where you cam admire some impressive self-portraits of David, Balla and Fattori. FlorenceTown is one of the few companies to have daily tours to Vasari Corridor that is not open to the public regularly. I should say that our guide was nice and kind, but the museum's staff wasn't at all, being quite rude. Things I liked about the tour: kindness, organization, given information. Things I didn't like: time was too short read more

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We are SO lucky that our travel agent booked this company for our tours! Far and away, the wine tour with Valero, a sommelier, was the best part of our Italian honeymoon. He turned my wine-fearing, Miller-Lite-swigging husband into a well-versed wine snob in a matter of hours--something I had been trying to do for three years! Our tour met near the carousel in Florence. An employee checked us in on her list and let us know that our guide would arrive shortly. She then pointed us upstairs to check in, where we were surprised with a gift of biscotti in honor of our honeymoon! :) We were then introduced to our tour guide Valero, who gave us a briefing of what our tour would consist of. We were surprised to learn that only one other person would join us on the tour, a gentleman from Tennessee who said he wanted to learn how to identify the best bottle of wine in a restaurant. Off we went in a Florencetown van, across the river and into wine country. The views were spectacular, somehow even prettier than the dreamy photos you may have seen of the Tuscan countryside. We stopped at a vineyard that also consisted of a B&B, which we took note of for a hopeful future trip. A local tour guide showed us the facility where grapes are turned into bottled wine. We learned all about the winemaking process, from how the type of wood for the barrels is chosen to how blends are created. We tried two wines there and were off the next destination. We stopped at the end of the vineyard to learn how the plants are grown, shaped, pruned, harvested and maintained. Throughout the tour, we learned about the Italian wine classifications, history of the wineries and much more. Valero is a serious wealth of wine knowledge--he had well-informed answers for any question we threw at him, and he spend six hours with us! After visiting two more vineyards, we made our final stop at a castello where all of Florencetown's wine tours stop for a wine exhibit, more wine tasting and a delicious meal. Oddly, it was my favorite of the trip--I couldn't get over the delicious offerings of bruschetta, veggie pasta, salad, bread, cheeses and the best dish, pappa al pomodoro. I can't say enough for the entire experience! The next day, we took the Uffizi Gallery/Vasari Corridor tour with Caterina. She seems to really enjoy her tours and is quite entertaining with her singing, dancing and funny commentary. It was a much bigger group this time, but still enjoyable. She led us through many of the rooms in the Uffizi Gallery, speaking about the significance of the pieces on display, before reaching the Vasari Corridor. We were the only group in the corridor, which added to its mystique. Without Caterina's insight, I don't think we would have made it through the rather crowded museum, and definitely would not have been able to visit the Corridor. Next trip, we will definitely book Florencetown for as many tours as we can fit! read more

Florencetown - The best wine tour guide: Valero! - Food Tours Near Me - Florence, FI

Good views from the river. The tour guide kept yawning on her own tour. She gave us more details about the city on our 10 minute walk to the river. Once on the river it was more of a river ride than a tour. The place is hard to find. Go up the stairs next to the Hot Pot restaurant. read more

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Definitely a highlight of our trip to Italy. We did the class outside of downtown Florence at the winery and had a great time. Before we went to the winery, we stopped at a market to learn about the culture, taste some meats, cheeses, and fruit, as well as buy some ingredients for the day. The fruit we had was some of the best we've ever had. Matteo our guide/chef was excellent and helped us make some amazing food during the day. It didn't hurt that wine was included too. Highly recommend taking a day to take this class. ​ ​ read more

We took the "wanna be Italiano" cooking class on May 21,2019...what a blast!!!. Both chefs, Niccolo and Catarina, were fantastic. Not only did we have a wonderful meal but we learned alot. I would highly recommend this activity. We also did the wine and olive oil tasting tour that we loved. All of the staff from Florencetown tours were wonderful. You will not be sorry with any tour that you take with them. read more

Abysmal experience. We bought the tickets in advanced, we arrived early and checked in with the front desk. The guide did not arrive. We waited more than an hour for another guide to arrive. This left my elderly mom and two young child waiting around in the hopes that someone would show up to give us the tour. Of the hundreds of tours I have taken over the years, I have never worked with a company which did not have a back up tour guide. read more

We visited statue of David. I couldn't get a regular ticket because the museum was sold out but FlorenceTown had this tour so I decided to spend the $$ because why miss this one of a kind experience. Anyway, our guide was very informative and had great insights to Michelangelo that we wouldn't have discovered or thought about ourselves. He was great at involving people of The tour by asking questions. It was nice rather than just listening the whole time. Thank you FlorenceTown!! read more

I unfortunately booked the Super Tuscans tour and paid a pretty penny for a 'VIP' small group, semi-private tasting experience. I was not impressed. As an avid wine drinker who strives to strengthen my palate and develop my knowledge, It did not meet these criteria in my tour with Matthew (sp?). We were greeted and lead to the 8 person van that was surprisingly spacious, also surprisingly with no AC. After a quick 40 minute journey to the first stop, we had a quick tour, where our guide talked and imparted little knowledge, unless you're entering this as your first tasting ever. Gabbiano is a mass-produced wine. We tasted 4 wines. Nothing that impressed me. Some were more drinkable than others. Our second winery, Ruffino, is a 'boutique' winery according to our guide, though I d purchased it at the grocery store, even at Costco. Another factory. Pretty views and sampling 2 wines followed. Whenever I asked a question, I was brutally rebuffed and made to look like an imbecile. Not how you get people to write rave reviews. We arrived at our third 'winery' where we learned they produce 2 organic wines. The cooking school provided an adequate meal. Though they made vegetarian entrees for everyone at my table, despite only 1 vegetarian present (me). I felt so badly for my comrades who hoped for beef or a protein. The sales pitch came during lunch, where we could order any wine from any of our visits at 1 stop. Not how normal tastings work- you buy from the vineyards, not the tour company. Lunch included 2 small pours of red wine. All additional wine was 'pay as you go'. I get more wine included at my hotel's nightly Apertivo. Dessert is a small biscotti to dip in an amaretto-esque liquor. Not what I'd call dessert or appetizing. I would rather take the almost $400 I spent on this tour for 2 people, to shop, have a nice dinner or just about anything else. I would NOT book with this tour, or guide, again. It ruined my day. I had hoped for small, intimate wineries, with quality wine, quality education and an amicable host. I got none of that. read more

My daughter and I took the "Cooking Class in Florence" with chef Giovanni. We made a memorable Italian meal: Pappardelle with bolognese sauce, ricotta and parmesan ravioli with butter and green sage sauce (Mouthwatering!), and tiramis u' (Mascarpone just doesn't taste like that in the states). It was probably the best meal I had in Italy and it was pulled together by a class that was mostly Americans - under Chef Giovanni's watchful supervision of course. We began the class with an entertaining and instructional tour at the Central Market. The market was filled with delicacies from Tuscany, all my senses were stimulated. I learned a lot about the various vinegars, olive oil, and cheeses and how to make selections and pairings. The truffle honey was delicious! We purchased the ingredients for our meal and then walked to the Food & Wine Academy to prepare it. The set up at the academy is perfect for instruction. Over the course of three hours we prepared our meal, which we feasted on at the end of class with plenty of wine and good conversation. Chef Giovanni and his assistant, David, were both thorough, helpful and patient. I have big plans to master making those raviolis - the best I've ever tasted. I would give five stars, but... We were instructed to arrive at 9:45 for the 10:00 class, which we did. It was freezing, windy and raining and we had to wait outside for our class until 10:00. Also, Chef Giovanni's angle for teaching us was first to point out (with satisfaction) how Americans prepare Italian food wrong, then he'd demonstrate the proper way, the Italian way. Trust me, I get it. Most of the Italian food in the US is a far cry from authentic; that's why I paid to experience the real deal in Firenze. I didn't think it was necessary for him to continually mention how we have it wrong. I was starting to feel like I needed to apologize for all Italian food made in the US. Just teach us the joy of Italian cooking, forget about how Americans approach it. read more

An agency with a thousand resources: bike and boat tours, guided visits to museums, food and wine experiences in and around Florence. But above all: professionalism. And really good and pretty people. You can see immediately when there is mastery in a situation and this is exactly the case. Good management even during bad weather and however smiling and highly trained. In short, here you will find an atmosphere pleasant and fun, ideal to visit Florence at its best! read more

Have you ever tried looking at your own city with different eyes? all of a sudden the things that you have always had in front of yourself appear different and, in some kind of way, magical. that is what happened to me yesterday during the visit to the Uffizi gallery and the Vasari corridor with Florencetown. Amazing experience full of details and passion for the art and for the city of Florence. Unfortunately the museum was packed with people so we couldn't experience it fully. what can I say about the Vasari Corridor? it's been funny looking at the Ponte vecchio from a different perspective and also getting to know all the different stories about the Medici family who built it and also some anecdotes from more recent times. Giulia, the guide, is definitely the most passionate and experienced guide I have ever met. in her words we can hear all of her love for the city, and I think this is definitely a winning point when it comes to guided tours. the afternoon included also a visit to their cooking school in St. Lorenzo area, which I also found fun, where they organize cooking classes. we tasted some schiacciata and pizza made on the spots by the cooks. I think it's definitely worth a try! pur visit was supposed to ebnd with a boat tour but unfortunately due to bad weather we couldn't make it. we enjoyed an aperitif in the historical seat of "Canottieri Society" by the river. read more

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While on our honeymoon, My wife and I booked two wonderful tours with Florencetown. We greatly enjoyed both. The first: TUSCANY WINE TRAIL €120.00 (about $160.00) I highly recommend this trip. A half day tour with about a dozen other people split between two minivans. We visited two vineyards, learned a lot about Chianti and the wine produced in the region, and had a wonderful lunch and pair of wine tastings. I loved the whole thing from start to finish (It probably didn't hurt that I was a little buzzed at the finish). The second: CINQUE TERRE DISCOVERY €150.00 (about $200.00) This was more of a ride to the Cinque Terre, then taking boats and trains to different towns of the region. The guide gave a little bit of information, but really it was a ride, lunch and a snack, plus some free time for picture taking and shopping. Still, it was quite a memorable day. read more

Florence based tour agency that offers cultural and gastronomical tours, both in the city and the countryside. I tried a mix of them with a group of yelpers, unfortunately we could not do the bike and boat tour due to bad weather conditions. We started out with a pit-stop at their cooking class place, a very home made experience, with a chef explaining how to make the famous salt schiacciata and pizza, tasting them and sipping red wine. We also tried the delicious tiramisu. Regular classes teach you how to make pasta and you'll the one you made on the spot! Cool! Afterwards, went to the Uffizi museum. Apart from the line, which there is no way of skipping because of the security check, we went across the isle and listened an intro of the exposed art pieces, history and gorgeous sights over the city. Then went to the Vasariano Corridor and explored the beautiful collection of the autoportraits. The visit was beautiful, but the people working in the Uffizi were very rude, like they had enough of tourists! No way to go! We ended our tour having a small refreshment a the Canottieri on the Arno river, which it's a very rare place to see if you don't know anyone inside. The overall experience was amazing and fun. Very much recommended! read more

My wife and I are spending a week in Florence on Honeymoon and did two tours today with FlorenceTown which we're top notch. I found them randomly online when looking for walk and talk tours of the city. I booked some tickets on a whim and we showed up at 9:45 for our 10am tour. They we're well organized and had our names on a list. Our tour guide, Barbara, was really fun and knowledgeable. She knew all the history of the town, the main families, and the buildings. Instead of just walking around and looking at buildings, we got a great discussion of their various aspects. We found the pacing just right. 2.5 hours with a short 10 minute break for a mystery treat we all enjoyed :) We enjoyed our guide so much that when she said she was continuing with a tour of the David exhibit at the Accademia dell'arte we signed up for it! Trust me, the David exhibit is better with a guide. We learned things looking at David as well as Michellangelo's unfinished statues that we'd never have know just gawking at them. Finally, based on our experiences with the tour company, and a discount on booking future tours, we signed up for Tuscany wine tasting through them too. Thanks for showing us Florence! read more

My wife and i did the cooking class and it was fantastic. It was well worth the money. We were late so we missed the market tour but I heard it was nice and informative. The cooking class itself lasted about 5 hours and we made desert and two types of pasta. hand. Everything turned out soooo good. The chefs, I think Martina and Jon were great and we have only good things to say about the experience. read more

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Beyond worth every penny! We had the best time and were greeted with many smiles. We went to the market and not only picked up all the yummy supplies to cook, but we got a tour and learned a lot of fun facts and history about Italy. The class was hands on and you could tell that that everyone there was not only passionate about food but about sharing culture and knowledge with others. I would have to say this was the best part of our week in Italy by far! The food was amazing and I loved that the recipes were simple and will be easy to recreate at home with minimal ingredients. We learned how to choose the right ingredients and the way to tell the difference between olive oils and what they were used for. We learned about different regions and what they are famous for as far as wine and food. We learned a lot, laughed a lot, and made amazing memories and new friends. read more

Went to their headquarters location instead of their service site, ended up running 15-20 minutes late. They refused to let us transfer our reservation to a later tour in the day, unless we wanted to pay an additional 30€+ fee for the transfer. In a city that is otherwise super inviting and complimentary to their cash cow tourist industry, the customer service here was lacking. However, they did honor our free postcard included with the cost of the tour. So they have that going for them. read more

We did the Tuscany by Vespa tour today. The reason I gave it three stars was because we were told at time of booking that if I was not able to pass the driving test we were to only pay 200 dollars instead of 130 per person. We paid 130 per person and I was not able to pass the driving test. I had to ride with my husband and when we returned they did not refund us the difference when they specifically told us they would charge us 200. So I have this to say.... if you really think that you cannot ride the Vespa on your own, pay for being a passenger. They will not refund your money if you pay for a bike and you cannot manage to ride it. Other than that, the tour was great!!! read more

I signed up for the tour of the Galleria dell'Accademia. It was amazing. Sara Fabbri was our tour guide. She was excellent. She has a PhD in Art History and she shared her knowledge in way that kept me interested. She was so good that I decided to sign up for the Uffizi Gallery tour following this tour. She pointed out street art that I would have missed and she talked about those artists too. Definitely take both tours. The lines are so long for both museums that booking a tour helps you get in quicker. And ask for Sara! read more

Took my granddaughters, age 5 and 7, to the pizza/gelato class and had a wonderful time. If you're traveling with kids in Florence I would definitely recommend this experience. Lots of fun chatter and bantering from the chefs. And they engaged with the little ones really well. read more

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My wife and I took a pizza and gelato cooking class from Chef David. The class was alot of fun and we learned a lot. The pizza was very tasty and the info was relevant. Chef David taught us how to find good resturants in Florence and evaluate gelato. The only reason I am not give the 5th star is because of the location. The meeting place was very difficult to find, not only for us but other groups as well. Chef David did a great job, I would reccomend you start your stay in Florence by taking this class. read more

We booked with Florence town initially just for a cooking class but shortly before our trip we realized that all tickets for the uffitzi and the accademia were sold out! We visited during a holiday time (after Easter and liberation day) which meant the city was much busier than normal for this time of year. We enjoyed all 3 tours, their staff are great, fun and friendly, all spoke great English and had mastery of the subject matters (food and art). I do think the pizza class was simple for our level but it was beautiful in the country side and a fun activity! The tours of the museums were impressive, the details, and perspectives are not something you would get on your own. The best part of it though is skipping the insanely long lines, so if you visit off season you can probably just show up and wait in line, but during peak season it makes life so much easier and I did learn a lot. Doing both museums in one day though was a lot and by the end I was exhausted, so if you can spread it out a bit I'd recommend that. Overalls though I did think this company was excellent!!! read more

Lisa, our tour guide to the Accademia, was one of the most knowledgeable and interesting with clear expertise in all areas of art and art history. We scheduled our tour late so the only way to see the museum without waiting in line was to schedule a tour and we are so grateful for this because Lisa's guidance made the experience richer and more memorable. She was also kind and flexible when it came to accommodating my parents who needed a slower pace and to meet us midway as well as holding the interest of our large family ranging in age from 9-71. read more

I took the Pizza and Gelato class today with Chef David for pizza and Kevin for Gelato. Great class; I enjoyed the class with three other ladies from Perillo Tour Company. You get to eat pizza you made with complimentary red wine and for dessert chocolate Gelato of course with a cookie. Highly recommended. read more

If you sign up for the Vespa tour and you are not at least 5' tall, it is very possible you will not be able to handle the Vespas used by this tour company. In my case, i had driven Vespas prior, but unknown to me these are bigger. My feet could not touch the ground while seated. This meant that every time i came to a stop, (or even just waiting in traffic) i would have had to get off the seat and straddle the bike to maintain it upright. I felt I should have been informed of this prior to paying the extra 60$ to ride solo. If FOR ANY REASON, you sign up & pay as a single rider, but once you get there, you cannot ride solo, you will be required to ride on the back, AND THERE WILL BE NO REFUND. Also there is no height requirement available ahead of time. read more

This was absolutely terrible - the company is irresponsible and unresponsive. Despite paying a hefty amount for a full-day Chianti Wine Tour, we experienced a poorly executed half-day tour in a hot van. The countryside was absolutely beautiful, but the heat of the van (whose air conditioning was faulty and soaked the seats of the passengers in the back) detracted from the experience. Avoid - you are much better off searching TripAdvisor and using top-rated tours. read more

We did the Florence the Magnificent: Best of Florence Walking Tour, which was excellent. About 2.5 hours with a friendly and knowledgeable guide. Learned about history, art, architecture. She pointed out details we never would have noticed on our own (and would have continued to just walk past). She also gave us tips on how to visit places in more detail, and even suggested things we could skip. A wonderful way to be introduced--or in our case, re-introduced--to this magnificent city. read more

I toured the Accademia with a Florencetown guide, and it was a fantastic experience. She really loved the art, and seemed very happy to be able to share it with us. She was very patient with the other guests on the tour, who were rather difficult. You can book your own entry, but it's worthwhile to have someone navigating the lines for you because it's chaos outside the museum (at least in the late afternoon in July). read more

We did the 3pm sunset bike tour toward the end of October. We forgot the name of our guide, but she was young with shoulder length brown hair. She was a lot of fun and full of energy. Our group was about 8 people and we rode through Florence on these bicycles that had comfortable wide seats and a basket in front. We stopped at several locations on our tour and had opportunity to take pictures. We really enjoyed our tour and thought it was worthwhile and fun to fly through the town by bicycle. The tour also includes a stop at a gelateria as well. read more

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We used Florencetown Tours for two tours first a tour of the Accademia museum and a VIP excursion to Siena and San Gimignano and finish with a dinner and wine tasting at their facility just outside town. It was a perfect afternoon and evening. read more

We took a pizza and gelato-making class. The instructor was super friendly. And the class delivered on its promise of cooking pizza and gelato. However, I thought it was just average. First, not nearly enough wine served. No wine was offered for first 2 hours. Second, no salad or side dish. Just pizza. Gross. Last, the location is a full 15-20 minute walk from the meeting point. Felt like a bait and switch in terms of location. read more

What an awesome time. We recently took a family vacation and the five of us decided to take a pizza and gelato making class. The chefs were great. My son (9) is an aspiring chef and he soaked it all up! Not only did we learn to make Italian pizza and gelato but the chefs gave us a lot of interesting backstory too and was really entertaining. They kept the wine flowing for the adults and the class was well paced. Not too fast and the help was at the right level for both my wife and I as well as our kids. read more