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.

Great tour of the Tuscany area! Greg & Mono very knowledgeable of the area / would highly…read morerecommend taking their tours.

We had so much fun on our gelato & pizza making tour in Florence! The walkabout tours staff member…read moregreeting us at the meeting point was a bit harsh, did not seem like she wanted to be working in customer service of any kind, and made it a rough start to our tour. After the rude greeting, the experience itself went smoothly - the farm has great views and the chefs did a nice job shuffling us between rooms for maximum efficiency as we prepared our meal. It was a bit of a bummer to not be able to choose our own gelato flavor to make (the were 30ish people total so they wanted us to divvy up flavors). We also had to wait a while to make our pizza since there were so many people in our group, but there was wine and good company for the wait! They were running out of some of the pizza toppings by the time we got to making ours at the end, but they still turned out delicious! The chefs were so entertaining and the food tasted great - it was nice to learn the process to make such a delicious Italian dinner. I can't wait to receive the recipes to make this meal all over again!! Thank you for a lovely experience!

I love love love booking these free walking tours…read more Elisabetta was our tour guide and she was beyond amazing. She was fun, and funny, and knowledgable and witty. Super cute! We went for the morning tour and learned a lot about Florence and the history of the city. She gives recommendations of places to visit and places to eat for the best of the best. I would have loved to come back for an evening tour bc you see an entirely different area in Florence. But time constraints prevented this. I highly recommend this walking tour to kill a few hours and learn. So much fun!

Thank you the Guide Daniele! Your passion for history and the story of Florence made this tour one…read moreof the highlights on my holiday in Florence. I recommend this tour at all the people that don't know anything about the city and it history...

We were a group of 10 visiting Florence. We were very lucky to meet up with Francesca from…read moreFantastic Florence! I found her through a recommendation from a friend. She was very flexible with our schedule and Mother Nature raining on our tour day. We were able to go a few days later. We did a three hour late afternoon tour. Francesca is friendly and knowledgeable. She arranged a boat tour that was incredible! The highlight of the tour! We also walked over to see David. Ask her anything and she knows the answer! Highly recommend!

Francesca was amazing. Her morning tour for our family was perfect! She is very knowledgeable…read moreabout the history of Florence. We had a fun and enjoyable morning tour with her and then she connected us with a pasta cooking class with Chef Vary.. it was a perfect combo and one of the best parts of our trip to Italy!

I visited Lucca with a friend that was visiting me. Our tour guide was Linda, who has been…read moreabsolutely fabulous. Her talk was so interesting and informative; she's engaging and patient. Even though I live in this lovely city, she made me discover many interesting things I didn't know, and I was really excited! I'm so glad we chose La Giunchiglia guided tours!

All of our transportation as well wine tours, and walking tour were arranged seamlessly. Our guides…read moreand drivers were punctual, friendly, and well informed. They often shared other tips for the rest of our stay. It made a wonderful vacation perfect!

We visited Cortona in late June of this year, and Do It In Tuscany was our "concierge" for the…read moretrip. Every aspect of the experience was excellent, including planning and communication, lodging, and tours. Check out wine-tasting in the Tuscan countryside and cooking classes with Chef Elena. The company has much to offer. We were not disappointed!

My wife and I had the opportunity to spend Christmas Day with Giulio and Magga the truffle hunting…read moredog! We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and listening/learning the importance of truffles in the ecosystem and how they benefit the trees in a symbiotic relationship. Oh, and they are good to eat, too! Giulio has had many experiences in the dining and food service business and enjoyed his stories of his experiences and travel. It was so gracious of Giulio to offer to take us on the "hunt" for the truffles on the mountainside of Florence near his home on such a special holiday. Magga is a delight to be around as she hunts the truffles and listens to Giulio's commands, such a sweet dog. We found 4 black truffles in about 30 minutes! We returned to his home and he prepared a delicious meal, with truffles of course, and delicious wines. I can highly recommend a great time with Giulio and his charming home. The views were fantastic and you won't meet a nicer gentleman! Giulio, thank you again for your kindness and hospitality, we hope to meet again someday! -Steve in Magnolia.

We made our reservation about a week before we left for this amazing experience. Our drive was…read moreabout 2 hours from where we were staying in Montalcino. We were making great time until we hit a stint of traffic and got stuck for a half hour. Giulio and Christina were gracious when I called to let him know we were late. We arrived to the truffle house and listened to Giulio about the truffles over some white wine, pecorino with truffle honey and bread, then we went out with Eda to search for the truffles. Since it's been so rainy, there weren't as many truffles as there usually is, but Eda found two after our walk which was great. We went back to the house, learned how to clean the truffles and then Giulio's partner Christina made us a fabulous meal. We started with white pizza with truffle, then a delicious bean soup and ended with ice cream topped with truffle honey and balsamic vinegar. I would certainly go back at another time of year to search for the white truffles with Giulio and Eda, I feel like we learned a lot and had a wonderful lunch!

Since today was a free day for me, I worked with my hotel to book two tours. The first one was at…read more10 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!

Had gone here for a vespa class and it was the best experience I ever had. Fantastic teachers that…read moreactually 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!

The price tag is a big hefty, but a wine tour with Tuscany Private Tours is oh so worth it…read more I was staying in the Castellina area of Chianti and was having a lot of trouble finding a company that would provide a private transfer to and from the hotel. Most tours leave from the Florence / Siena area, or have you meet them right at the winery. My feeling was that if I was spending a few days in Tuscany I wanted at least one day of not having to worry about driving to and from wineries. Thankfully we found Tuscany Private Tours and all was good. It is an extra 40 euro to add pick up and drop off at the hotel. But if you are going to all the trouble to arrange a private tour it would be the worst to have to drive 15-20 minutes to actually get to the tour. So again, you can really alleviate all driving with this if you want to. We took the 'Safari Tour' -- basically like a regular wine tour, except you get to cruise around in a super cool land rover. Our guide Paolo was awesome. He was super friendly and knowledgeable of wine and the area, and was overall just a really cool person to spend the day with. You visit three different wineries, tastings included at each and also have an included homemade winery lunch at your last stop. I liked that all three wineries have very different vibes. Our guide also mentioned that he chooses to do this on purpose. First stop -- a big commercial winery. Very cool to tour their production facility and then compare that to a production facility at a much smaller winery. Second Stop -- more of an urban experience. We visited a tasting room on the main street in Castellina. Paolo explained that he purposely takes people to this winery because it is one of the oldest in the area. After visiting several wineries in the rolling hills it was cool to also check one out in more of an industrial setting. Third Stop -- by far the best! Paolo took us to a very small winery. So small, that you'd probably only be able to find them if you have a tour guide that is friends with their family (ahem, Paolo). The grounds were absolutely gorgeous -- insane views of the Tuscan hills and gorgeous plants and greenery everywhere. We enjoyed a fantastic multi-course lunch -- pasta (of course), assorted crostinis, cheeses, meats and dessert. Because it's lunch (and maybe because it's the last stop?) we also had way more wine than just a taste. I'm here for it. If you want to try all wines before deciding which bottle to buy, they have every bottle available at the Tuscany Private Tour office. Tips for the tastings are included, but tips for your guide aren't, so be sure to bring some cash. Long review, but in short -- if you are not staying in the city and want to wine tour without worrying about driving then just do this. It's pricey but worth it for an incredible day. We will truly remember it forever.

Awesome wine tour! We had the best tour guide/driver GAIA! She was so sweet and we had the best…read moretime at all 3 wineries. We tasted a good mix of Chianti, Rosé, White blends, vin Santo (dessert wine), and a new fav Vermentino wines which you definitely can't find in the states! Ended the tour at a family farm house/ winery. We had a delicious farm to table lunch with limoncello and tiramisu to top it off. At the end of the tour you can "make your own box" of wines from each winery and ship it right to your house! Overall, excellent experience with the best views of Toscana, would def recommend to anyone looking for a private wine tour!

Spent a great day with Fabian in Montalcino drinking Brunellos. We made stops at three wineries…read morewith tastings including a great lunch at one of the stops. It was great meeting the wine makers, hearing their stories, and drinking their wines. Fabian is very knowledgeable and great with sharing his knowledge of wines, the places you visit, and his knowledgeable of the area. As and added bonus, he takes pictures along the way to capture your day. I would highly recommend.

Thank you Fabian! My wife, daughter and I had the most incredible day touring 3 fantastic vineyards…read morein the beautiful Tuscan countryside. It started with the the ease of booking, and the personal approach Fabian took towards creating our collaborative and specialized itinerary. Coordination was seamless, and while we we were touring some incredible boutique wineries we were tapping into Fabian's deep knowledge of the region and wine. He made our first ever wine tour in Italy a truly special day. We strongly recommend Fabian to anyone wanting an authentic wine experience and we will certainly be seeing Fabian again on our next visit!