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TOURING TUSCANY
FLORENCE
City Walking Tour: Cobblestones & Piazzas
This general walking tour will introduce you to this remarkable city that witnessed the birth of the Renaissance.
Depending on your hotel or starting point, our guide will walk you through many of the streets, piazzas, churches and monuments of Florence, discussing the city's history from the time of the ancient Etruscans and Romans through the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and up to modern day.
Popular sites include the Duomo or Cathedral complex, Piazza Signoria and Palazzo Vecchio, Santa Croce, Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Medici, San Lorenzo, the Arno River and much more.
Time permitting, we can also include a visit to view Michelangelo's magnificent sculpture of David, one of Florence's greatest treasures.
Highlights of the Uffizi Gallery
An in-depth visit to the Uffizi Gallery, Florence's great museum of Renaissance painting. Tour the gallery's vast rooms of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque painting with our expert, who will focus on the “best of the best” while giving you a mini-lesson in art history and the history of Florence.
Included are works by Giotto, Filippo Lippi, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Pontormo, Titian, Caravaggio and many more.
With our private guide and priority tickets you will avoid the long lines.
Michelangelo and the Medici Family
These two legendary names combine for a comprehensive tour of Florence's High Renaissance years.
Michelangelo, a Florentine native, left many works in his hometown including the magnificent David, Prisoners, Florence Pieta, Medici Tombs, Laurentian Library and more.
The Medici family ran the city for more than 300 years, a span that included the High Renaissance when Michelangelo, who had close connections to the family, was also working in Florence.
We can usually combine three monuments into a half-day tour that meets your interests.
Other ideas include the Medici Palace (Chapel of the Magi), Convent of San Marco and Basilica of San Lorenzo.
Cathedral Complex 101
On this tour you will explore the many aspects of the Florence Cathedral or Duomo Complex and its 1000 year history.
The tour includes visits to the Cathedral itself (currently the 4th largest Christian church in the world) as well as the ancient Baptistery consecrated in 1059.
We will also walk through the incredible Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, which houses many sculptures and objects from the various cathedral buildings, including the original Gates of Paradise bronze baptistery doors, Michelangelo’s Florentine Pieta intended for his own tomb and Donatello’s haunting wooden Mary Magdalene sculpture.
Truly one of the most spectacular church complexes in the world!
Artisans and Craftsmen of the Oltrarno
This fascinating tour will wind you through the backstreets of the Oltrarno, or other side of the Arno River, traditional home of the many artisans still working in Florence.
While strolling through the most characteristic quarter of the city, you will visit a variety of workshops to view artisans at work, such as marbleized paper, printmaking, wood carving, silver and metal work, jewelry crafting, furniture restoration and more.
Actual demonstrations will be provided just for you... a peek into the hidden city far from the tourist track!
This tour runs on weekdays only due to opening hours of the artisan workshops.
SIENA AND SAN GIMIGNANO
This extraordinary day-trip will take you to the quintessential Gothic city of Siena, located about an hours' drive south of Florence.
Siena is famous for the spectacular fan-shaped Piazza del Campo where the Palio horse race is run every summer, as well as an impressive Gothic Duomo.
Walking up and down the steep, narrow streets of this medieval city is a delight. Sit down for a lunch of local Tuscan fare at one of many trattorias.
On the way back to Florence the driver will stop off for a quick visit to San Gimignano, a smaller hilltown village noted for its cluster of medieval towers. Be sure to grab a gelato in the main piazza, one of the best around!
CHIANTI WINE TOWNS
The countryside between Florence and Siena - called the Chianti wine region - provides the typical Tuscan scenery that most of us are looking for when we come to Italy: gentle rolling hills, rows of vineyards and scattered farmhouses.
Your driver will drive you along the picturesque wine roads, stopping at small wine towns along the way which may include Greve, Panzano, Radda, Castellina and more.
Depending on your interests, most days feature a stop at a winery or two for wine tasting, as well as a stop for lunch at a countryside trattoria.
Considering the amount and quality of wine available in this wine region, you will be glad you have a driver to take you home at the end of the day!
MONTALCINO
AND PIENZA
The Val'Orcia region located south of Siena is one of the most dramatic in Tuscany. While this provides stunning scenery on the drive down, what really brings folks to Montalcino is the spectacular red wine Brunello di Montalcino, one of Italy's finest reds.
Visit a local winery and learn about what makes this wine so special. You will visit the hilltown of Montalcino with a chance to climb the walls of the Fortezza, with amazing panoramic views over the countryside.
The day will include a visit to the nearby hilltown Pienza, planned in the 15th century in perfect Renaissance architectural style and famous for pecorino sheep's milk cheese which you can sample as you like. Pick up a wheel to complement the Brunello wine you bought in Montalcino. Or, dive in deeper by visiting a local sheep farm that produces the tasty cheese to learn how it's made and sample it firsthand.
