Tuscany culture holiday, tailor-made

Explore the landscapes, cities, villages and wine cellars of the inimitable Tuscany region, the Val d’Orcia and the Crete Senesi.

Chianti Val d’Orcia Crete Senesi Pienza Siena San Gimignano Florence Wine tasting

Price

€1330To€1400 excluding flights

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Duration

5 Days

Type

Tailor made

Reviews

Accessibility

More info

Transportation by private car with driver and private guided tours

Description of Tuscany culture holiday, tailor-made

This five-day tailormade tour of Tuscany is a delectable immersion into one of Europe’s most beautiful and culturally rich regions. Based in a hotel close to Siena, you’ll explore the wonderfully scenic Val d’Orcia, so photogenic that it has appeared on film on numerous occasions, from ‘Gladiator’ to ‘The English Patient’.

Sample fresh Pecorino cheese in the hilltop village of Pienza, wine in Montalcino, and enjoy tours of both Siena and Florence, both famed for their astonishing beauty and treasured works of art and architecture. Admire Siena’s Piazza del Campo, the ‘hundred towers’ of San Gimignano, the romantic Piazza Duomo and the Piazza della Signoria with the Palazzo Vecchio of Florence.

This is an accessible holiday, suitable for those in wheelchairs or with limited mobility, and also travellers that are blind or have limited vision. Everyone ought to be able to drink in the landscapes of Tuscany, the clay-coloured hills of the Crete Senesi area dotted with farmhouses, the vineyards and olive groves, charming little villages with their churches and stone buildings.

Gain a taste of Tuscany with an idyllic tour with an itinerary that can be tailormade to your own passions, and learn first-hand what makes this beguiling region of Italy so enduringly popular.

Price information

€1330To€1400 excluding flights

Convert currency:

Transportation by private car with driver and private guided tours

Contact Us

If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one, we're very happy to help

01273 823 700

Call us Monday after 9am

Calling from outside the UK rosy@responsibletravel.com

Departure information

This trip can be tailor made throughout the year to suit your requirements

Contact Us

If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one, we're very happy to help

01273 823 700

Call us Monday after 9am

Calling from outside the UK rosy@responsibletravel.com

Travel guides

2 minute summary Best time to go Map & highlights Walking & hiking

2 minute summary Best time to go

Italy inspires awestruck sayings more than perhaps any country in Europe: 'All roads lead to Rome'; 'See Naples and die' (referring to its intoxicatin...

Accessibility

Accessible overview:

We have learnt from people with disabilities not to arrange different holidays for them but to adapt the way our regular tours are organized. That is why our itineraries are the same anyone would do but with attention to the accommodation facilities and transportation when required. The guides and drivers are aware that they need to take some small measures to make sure that travellers with disabilities can benefit from the tour experience like anyone else would do, for example by selecting the appropriate route to the accessible attractions.

Limited mobility:

We use private cars or minivans that are allowed to get to the town centres as far as any taxi can get. This means that we can reduce the distance to attractions. The guides follow a selected path avoiding uneven areas as much as possible. We can advise on accommodations, organising ground floor/even levelled accommodation when required.

Wheelchair accessible:

Besides the measures in place for reduced mobility travellers, we have a minivan equipped with a lift platform which is suitable for transportation of people on a wheelchair. The drivers are knowledgeable about the best pick up and drop off points and are very helpful in providing information about getting around. The guides are aware of this and therefore they follow the accessible routes to museums and monuments. We are also able to advise on appropriate accommodations.

Blind or limited vision:

When accompanying blind or impaired vision travellers, the drivers and guides are attentive to descriptions. We are also able to tailor our activities, for example organising truffle hunting with dogs which focused on touching rather than seeing making it a very special experience.

Reviews

2 Reviews of Tuscany culture holiday, tailor-made

5 out of 5 stars

SHOW

Reviewed on 10 Jun 2022 by ESTHER DOMINIQUE

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Most memorable was the excellent choice of accommodations and the warmth with which we were greeted. The wine tours were amazing with excellent hosts. Also memorable was our driver Dario and his enthusiasm and genuine friendliness. Shoutout to Giovanna for constantly checking expectations were being met.

The friendliness of the people made the visit even memorable

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Be ready to appreciate the original architecture and structures of the accommodations compared to a brand name hotel. Breakfast may not be what you’re used to but it’s a regional one. Enjoy it. Walk around the areas rather than use taxis. Try the local dishes. Try using the odd Italian word now and then. It’s ok to say good morning/evening to people you meet.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?

Yes. The family run / local hotels benefited. The transfer company would have benefited. The transfer vehicles were very quiet and possibly because they were green? The personal tours by the guides on foot helped to reduce the environment impact

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

Memorable. Excellent. Giovanna did a fantastic job choosing the right hotels and
planning the tour from start to finish. The transfers were without problems and we were informed if the driver would be a little late. The hotels were great choices. The tour guides were knowledgeable and passionate about their location.

I would definitely recommend this tour and this company to family and friends. It is worth 5* and more. Thank you Giovanna

Reviewed on 13 Oct 2019 by Daniel Pickering

1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?

Without much advance notice, Giovanna Consonni worked with the staff at the restaurant (near Rapalano Terme) to prepare an outstanding anniversary evening! The chef and restaurant staff were superb! An event we will cherish forever!

2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?

Personal drivers and small-group tours take away the stress of driving in a new country and learning a new language. Using local trains reduces cost and is
environmentally friendly.

3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?

The benefits were largely due to the efforts of local Italians to provide enjoyable experiences using local resources and practicing responsible use of
resources.

4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?

We are seasoned travelers. We have traveled to Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, France, UK, Switzerland, Turkey and Tahiti. The personal touch of Giovanna and the friendliness of the local people we met made this a truly unique and outstanding vacation!

Read the operator's response here:

Dear Dan and Sandra,

thank you for your comments about your holiday in Italy. It was so nice planning this holiday together and I am glad that your travel experience was up to your expectations. When I started to design your itinerary I thought about what I would like to see and do myself and in the end you visited both famous places and lesser known ones really travelling like a local.
Great credit goes to my suppliers, I invest a lot of care into building a relationship with drivers, hotel staff and guides, because they are the ones who make a difference to our guests as you could experience directly.
It was a real pleasure having you here and you will always be welcome to my beautiful Country.
A presto!
Giovanna

Responsible Travel

As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we've screened this (and every) holiday so that you can travel knowing it will help support the places and people that you visit, and the planet. Read how below.

Planet

We select our partners and suppliers among those paying special attention to protect the environment. After decades of pesticide usage in agriculture, constituting a serious risk to human health and making our planet more and more arid, some farmers have turned to organic and in the Chianti area we partner with a winery that has embarked on an organic road with all of their vineyards and olive groves. The harvest is a ritual, a celebration of the season, and a step towards the long-awaited wine that will come. The grapes are carefully selected and only the best bunches are picked, those that have reached full maturation. The cutting of the vines is done manually. The grape is placed in a little basket, the stalks are separated from the fruit and the best grapes are carefully selected on the sorting table. Everything is done by hand, everything is done with passion. This is how they achieve the best results from every harvest.

In our daily activities, we separate plastic, paper, glass, tins and organic waste in different waste bins that are collected separately becoming part of the recycle system. We want to raise awareness among the visitors of Florence regarding the separate collection of waste. The municipality of Florence has been pursuing a differentiated collection policy for waste recycling and approximately 60% of the waste is collected according to the recycle principles. Unfortunately, the city centre is the area that has the lowest rate of separate collection and that is the area with more tourists and businesses that cater to their needs. Hotels, shops and restaurants in the centre have to make the biggest effort but we raise awareness among our customers to enable them to contribute to and support the waste recycling policy

People

We are a local company and we cooperate with local businesses and local professionals. The guides who will accompany you are professional people passionate about their work and who will share unique details and stories which you cannot find on guidebooks. The transportation is provided by a local company, the drivers are friendly and happy to show you around. Hiring local people means that the economic benefits will impact directly on the local community. We establish partnerships with local suppliers because in this way we are directly supporting the local economy and people.

We invest a lot in the relationships with the local providers because it is important for us that our guests feel welcome and are able to enjoy their visits not as tourists but as travellers. For this reason we partner with small businesses that focus on providing a personalized service and not on making big numbers. Our aim is that both the providers and the visitors enjoy a mutual exchange of their experiences and benefit from their knowledge. In order to achieve this we work to establish relationships with our providers that are based on respect and fairness and we highlight the importance of sharing with their visitors their daily life and cultural background.

Tuscany culture holiday, tailor-made