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.

Andrea / Massimo / Olga, thank you for the hospitality! I appreciate it greatly that you offered to…read morehelp pick me up and drop me off at my Airbnb (which I learned was not at the greatest part of town). I had a great day exploring Bologna. From the food tours (Parmigiano-Reggiano, prosciutto, balsamic vinegar, and all of that wine pairings!) who knew that bad mix vinegar was delicious on vanilla ice cream?! The day ended with a 6 course meal in Modena. The restaurant and scenery was beautiful. The food was of course delicious, you can never have too much pasta. You'll get treated like family here! Andrea and Massimo were always helpful, offering to take pictures and checking to see if we needed anything. See attached pics for a preview of what the day was like! Highly recommend this tour!

Fantastic tour. Totally worth the money. The two of us were picked up early at our hotel, we then…read morepicked up one other couple and were off for a day of food and wine. Started at Prosciuttificio Nini Gianfranco which was as small operation but cranked out a ton of prosciutto hams. We saw the entire production and tasted some various pieces with the owner. Then went to Parmigiano Reggiano in Modena and saw how they make the giant wheels of Parmesan. Also had an opportunity buy a wedge at a fantastic price. Then went to Azienda Agricola Romano Boni where they make some of the finest aged balsamic vinegar in all of Italy. Really nice guy running the place. Then went to Chiarli 1860 winery and saw the operation and tasted various wines including an amazing Lambrusco. Finished with a long lunch with several courses at La Ca' Bianca in Modena. Went upstairs to meet the dream team of ladies making all the various pastas and tortellini. Then a ride in the early evening back to our hotel. Took a ton of pictures, ate all kinds of food and wine and had a great day. Our guide Andrea and driver Ricci were spectacular. Totally worth doing this 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.

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!!

Went into this wine tasting blind with a party of 12 and was quickly amazed by the owner Paolo and…read morehis shop/ tasting room. The tasting ( in my experience) was much more than wine tasting but a combination of cheeses, jams, mortadella, prosciutto, and of course wines which he makes. The first course included a rosé style wine and a few different cheese all of which were different ages, topped with different jams including a truffle blackberry jam and cashews which were absolutely incredible! I will not spoil the rest of the experience but if you're looking to go wine tasting in true Tuscany with generations of experience look no further. I can't wait to go back

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!

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.

We had three tours in one day... which is enough to wear one down. Artviva's team made each tour…read moreinteresting, fun and their lively attitude's made for a wonderful day. Our first tour was a walking tour with Florimda. We walked through down town to review the architecture and history of the city. The second tour was to the Uffizi, which included a fantastic review of the statues outside the Uffizi and the art within it's walls. (Or maybe the walking tour included the statues... either way, one of the tours did!) The Uffizi tour was good, and I recommend allowing yourself time after the tour to go through the museum on your own in case you want to see something again... for an art lover, this tour could be considered too short. Our last tour was with Angelo to see Michelangelo's David. Angelo is VERY charismatic and the tour included a good amount information about the statue itself. I'm not sure that a tour is needed for the University, as long as you have the information you want on the art. I felt that what I learned from Angelo was definitely worthwhile, and I probably would not have taken the time to learn it on my own.