4 independent reviews for Tuscany culture holiday
Reviews for Tuscany culture holiday
Heidi Hayes review 22 Nov 2024
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
Finally experiencing the beauty of Tuscany and Umbria. The cities, the small towns, the rural areas, the wineries, the views - all were charming and peaceful. This holiday fulfilled a long-held desire to see these areas.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
Be prepared to enjoy delicious food and wine! Now is not the time to watch your weight. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Absolutely. We stayed in locally-owned hotels, ate at locally-owned restaurants, and purchased locally-made products from local owners. By taking the train when possible, we reduced our carbon footprint.4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Fantastic! Better than anticipated! Giovanna at the tour operator created the ideal itinerary for us, and also found excellent accommodations, experiences and drivers for us. Her service was topnotch. To give an example - one of our trains experienced a mechanical issue which caused us to have to get off the train. Within 5 minutes, Giovanna contacted us to see if we needed assistance. We intend to book with them again, and highly recommend them to other travelers.Blair Hamilton review 4 Nov 2024
1. What was the most memorable or exciting part of your holiday?
We saw so much that impressed us, it is hard to pick one thing. I think the Medici Chapel in Florence stood out as an impressive site in particular. We are so glad that we didn't restrict our trip to the large cities and chose the option that included a tour of various villages and the countryside. We also added on extra days in Florence, somewhere you can easily spend a week and still have things to see.2. What tips would you give other travellers booking this holiday?
We highly recommend the tour operator, as we found the communication with them was excellent. This made it much easier to make plans, but also to adapt those plans. Our tour was built around a mobility disability, and we found that this tour, along with the city of Florence were pretty accessible. A mobility scooter was essential, although the cobblestones can be a bit jarring. Taxis are tough to find on the move, so a centrally located hotel can let you scooter to a dozen different attractions and countless restaurants. One last tip, most of the musuems offer free admission to those with a disability, but a few require that you have some sort of documentation to support this.3. Did you feel that your holiday benefited local people, reduced environmental impacts or supported conservation?
Well, we must have benefited the local economy, we left a lot of our money behind! Our decision to include the car-and-driver tours in the countryside ensured that some of the benefit landed outside the major cities. We will now be purchasing carbon off-sets for the days we used the car in order to balance things out ecologically. Because we planned out holiday around a mobility disability, we stayed in Florence for eight days rather than trying to travel to Venice or Pisa (for example). This kept our emissions reasonable. While in Florence, we used an electric mobility scooter and only needed to use a taxi twice. so we think this was relatively low impact.4. Finally, how would you rate your holiday overall?
Excellent holiday. We are very, very pleased with our experience.ESTHER DOMINIQUE review 10 Jun 2022
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 memorable2. 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 impact4. 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 GiovannaDaniel Pickering review 13 Oct 2019
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
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