We had a great time on our tour with Roberto from We Drive You Tuscany! We did the 8 hour San…read moreGimignano and Chianti Classico as well as the Pienza, Val d'Orcia, Montalcino wine and Pecorino cheese private tours with Roberto. This was my first trip to Italy, we enjoyed a comfortable ride throughout the countryside in the clean, air conditioned van! Roberto was so knowledgeable and made sure we knew all the best places to visit along with the history of the beautiful Tuscan countryside! He even gave us recommendations for our second leg of the trip to Rome. We will definitely use this service again!!

We had the pleasure of touring Tuscany with We Drive You Tuscany. Roberto was our driver and we…read morehad a beautiful Mercedes van that was new and comfortable. Bottled water was provided and he even stopped to get Fresh pizza for us. By the time we finished touring with Roberto for two days we felt that we knew so much about the area, history and culture of the region. Roberto's knowledge or art, history, food and culture was so impressive. The tour we did with Roberto was much more than him driving us from place to place. Each place we went was so carefully planned and curated. We visited wineries, vineyards and a sheep farm that makes cheese. With his help, we were able to visit every place we wanted to see as well as some smaller unknown, hidden gems. We saw so many beautiful landscapes and Roberto stopped frequently for us to take in the views! I cannot say enough wonderful things about Roberto. We hope to go back soon to tour Umbria and Florence with Roberto.

If you're fortunate enough to have your travels take you through idyllic Tuscany, then add the…read moremedieval town of Siena to your places to visit. It's one of the most visited, if not the most visited cities in Tuscany, and for good reason. It's also a UNESCO world heritage site. Inside the medieval city, you'll see the beautiful Duomo di Siena (admission charge for a visit inside), plentiful nice shopping and good places for food. Most importantly​, don't leave without visiting the Piazza del Campo. This is THE landmark site! It's a huge circular piazza where Il Palio, the famous horserace, takes place twice a year. It's also the main reason why Hubby, who loves horseracing, wanted to come see Siena. The riders all ride saddle-less in this four-day​ long race. It was also a part in a scene from James Bond's movie, "Quantam Solace". If you too are into horseracing, there's a fabulous little store, Luciano Valentini, that sells amazing prints of photos taken during Il Palio. They can ship their beautiful prints, or you can take them with you, as they will pristinely​ pack them. For Foodies and dessert aficionados​, you must try the ricciarelli cookies, which originated in Siena! Since my first visit to Italy after right college, these have been my favorite of all Italian cookies (and there are so so many different kinds!!!). And actually my favorite of all cookies! Yes, I like them better than even chocolate chip cookies. Sadly, the versions in the U.S. pale sadly in comparison, and I've tried them everywhere I see them. (Review forthcoming for A. Nannini, where I purchased great ones). Siena gets extremely touristy! We're here in later September, and there are still a good amount of tourists from all over the world. I've been here on previous visits during the peak of summer and it's almost unbearable. One of the best times to get a real sense of Siena is to see it late at night, about 11 pm and on when the hoards of tourists visiting for the day have all gone. Although the shops will be closed, it's very quiet, and walking through the streets in this medieval city will feel like you've gone back in medieval times. I did it once during my previous visits, and it was my most favorite and memorable moments in Siena.

We went May 1st, first of all, the restaurant truly carries that Tuscan brick-stone tavern, charm…read more The staff was accommodating, knowledgeable about wine selection, the food was absolutely delicious, walking down to the cellar definitely had an awe factor. The staff cut us up a platter of their cheese in the cellar. Tiramisu for desert topped the 5 star experience. EXTREMELY IMPORTANT: You need reservations that can only be made by calling them, no online reservations capabilities. You should call 5 days in advance. Worth it. Our bill came out to less than $250 + Tip for 2 bottles of wine, 6 main entrees, 2 appetizers, 3 Tiramisu, and cheese platter - NOT BAD if you ask me. Because we gave them a nice tip - they gave us a bottle of wine as a thank you gift.

Taverna di San Giuseppe was a disappointing meal for us, especially in a city with so many great…read moredining options. We ended up here by mistake (confused it with another spot), and unfortunately it didn't live up to expectations. The restaurant fills up with reservations for two seatings, and from the moment we sat down the pace felt rushed. We ordered drinks and a starter while deciding on the rest, but multiple staff members kept coming by trying to take our full order. It felt like they were pushing to move things along quickly. There were a couple positives. The chicken livers to start were quite tasty and something we didn't see often on other menus. The primi were underwhelming. The pasta didn't taste fresh like many other trattorias in Siena, and the dishes overall were just average. The lasagna in particular was mushy, and the sauces didn't stand out. The secondi were slightly better -- pork ribs, Barolo-braised beef, and a "small chicken" -- but still nothing that justified the higher prices. They do have an underground wine cellar built into a cave, which is interesting to see, but there are other places in Siena with much larger and more impressive cellar spaces. Also worth noting, they add a "10% tax" charge rather than the typical €2 coperto per person. Overall, a rushed and fairly mediocre meal at a higher price point. With so many better places to eat in Siena, this is one I'd skip.

Definitely overrated. Very nice atmosphere. Good food presentation, but the food itself was…read moreaverage. No wow factor for the expensive price and the service was bad. We did not have one dedicated waitstaff, but instead we had 4 over the course of our meal.

A delicious & memorable meal! Highly recommend! Everything we had was yummy and the experience of…read moreeating in a cave like setting was very cool.

We were excited to try this restaurant, especially because of the reviews, maybe it used to be…read morereally good. The pasta was good, we got the Pici pasta, which is a Siena speciality. Then we ordered the pork, but after we ordered it found out somebody had ordered the last one, so we ordered the chicken which was extremely dry, overcooked and left in the convection oven for far too long. We also got the peas and prosciutto as a side which was ok and gave us something with a bit of moisture for the overcooked dry chicken. I could see how this could be a charming place but it didn't charm us last night. We look for these small mom and pops, and unfortunately this was not a good meal.

We had the most incredible experience here today, served authentic perfect food made by the…read morewonderful lady who has cooked here for 23 years (and cooks it right in front of you!). Chatted for ages with the wonderful friendly staff. Great prices, great food, great people. Avoid the disgusting tourist traps nearby and give your money to somewhere that deserves it.

We had a great time. I recommend this cooking class. It was booked by our travel agent.read more

We had an absolutely delightful experience cooking with Lella and her staff at her Scuola di…read moreCucina! My new husband and I were honeymooning in Italy, and being the foodies that we are, we wanted to try our hands at preparing some of our own Tuscan cuisine. We found Lella through our travel agent and loved every second of our time in her kitchen. We enjoyed a private cooking experience - just us, Lella, Guilia (her assistant) and Angela, our translator. We prepared 5 courses of delicious, authentic Italian food: soup, pasta, meat, side dish and dessert. The soup course was a deliciously simple pappa al pomodoro, a bread and tomato soup with basil, garlic and olive oil. The pasta course was a handmade (by us!) pici pasta with a cheese and black pepper sauce. The side dish was an artichoke souffle made with fresh baby artichokes. We grilled up a delicious veal chop for the meat course, served with baby arugula and a balsamic vinegrette. Finally, we made our own cantuccini, a delicious almond cookie with a delicate orange flavor. Every single dish was very well explained and full of fresh, local ingredients - not to mention incredibly delicious! We've already made the pappa al pomodoro and the cantuccini at home and they turned out ALMOST as good as they did with Lella. As wonderful as the food was, we were most smitten with Lella and her wonderful team. They were all absolutely fantastic, very attentive and happy to have us in their kitchen. We enjoyed a wonderful meal together when the class was over, talking and learning about each other and our favorite foods, recipes and ingredients. The team even took the time to write down some favorite things to do in Tuscany so we could experience a real, local Tuscan experience without the typical tourist traps. As we were preparing to leave, Lella bagged up the rest of the cantuccini for us to enjoy throughout the rest of our trip and at home - and enjoy, we did! Both my husband and I would highly, highly recommend any kind of cooking class you can take with Lella. If you're looking to experience a REAL Tuscan cooking lesson in the heart of Sienna, this is it! Be warned: the school is a little bit tricky to find. Park near the stadium, just outside the Sienna city walls, and call beforehand to ask for specific directions to the school.

The food was absolutely delicious. Enjoyed every single bite. The waiter was very knowledgeable…read moreand friendly.

This is a very good restaurant very close to Piazza del Campo, yet away from the very touristy…read morerestaurants at the piazza, and close to the duomo. We went for an early lunch and had the pici carbonara, pappardella with meat sauce and the bread soup. We all enjoyed our dishes and the service was very good. Definitely worth a a stop here.

We read good reviews online for this place, but it was a bit disappointing. Service was super…read moremediocre but they charged us $5 euro for service gnocchi was so so so salty. Like is salt free here or what? Plenty of space in this restaurant. Cheese plate was good with some cheese I never had before. Out of all the pasta places I been to in Italy, this is my least favorite

This place is delightful! Great, friendly staff, and the food was spectacular! Quick service,…read moredelicious wine and a nice vibe. We both had the beef stew with black pepper along with a green salad. The salad was simple, but delicious and the beef stew was fantastic! Super tender meat on a rich (yet surprisingly light) red wine sauce with veggies that were broken down into the sauce!! I found this spot on Yelp, and I'm happy to say that it definitely did not disappoint!

One of the finest meals we've enjoyed anywhere in the world. The ambience, service, and menu are…read moreexceptional. The food is creatively and perfectly prepared and presented.

Let's get the best part out of the way: eating on a sloping backstreet overlooking the rooftops of…read moreSiena is an ideal setting that could vindicate most any food. Regrettably the setting had a lot of heavy lifting to do to balance out the sad salad I had. The beets were altogether undercooked and not even the respectable feta could lend enough flavor to the bland ingredients. A college cafeteria salad bar could offer a similar meal, but still, it's hard to argue with the atmosphere.