Driver/guide or wine tour to Montepulciano from Arezzo

We are staying in Montepulciano, but will be doing day trip to Montalcino. I LOVE Brunello.

I realize there are so many to choose from. We will hit Enoteca la Fortezza to taste, but I want to do one vineyard tour. However, we want an experience. I've heard Banfi is large, impersonal - that's not what we are looking for. Yes, I want a good Brunello (is there one that isn't?) but I want more of an experience. We want a beautiful cellar (the older the better), views and a family feel. If I could compare it to Napa/Sonoma in CA - we loved Kuleto (not a very good tour, but the views were unbelievable) and Pride (amazing tour and in the cellars showed us the wines at different ages), but our favorite was a little vineyard in Alexander Valley where a family ran it. As one of the brothers told us stories and even gave us some vegetables from the garden.

We won't want to just taste wine - we want to remember the place, the people, the food, the wine and tell the story for years to come. I've read on TripAdvisor that Tornesi is family run and you can have a meal - seems right up our alley. Pordere il Cocco looked interesting.

What's the one experience/tour that you would recommend ???

We'll be in Florence at the end of June for 5 days. We would like to spend a few hours in the afternoon at a winery in the Tuscany countryside. We are not wine connoisseurs and are not looking for a tour, but are more interested in a very pretty winery with beautiful views so we may drink some wine and have a bite to eat. We are looking for a place that's within 45 minutes of Florence as we will take a cab. Thank you.

Hi everyone! I’m trying to find a good food and wine tour out of Florence. Specifically one that goes to San Gimignano and allows enough time to try the famous Gelateria Dondoli! Thanks for any suggestions :)

We are arriving in Bologna tomorrow and want to do a day trip to Ravenna this week. We have a rental car so can drive there ourselves. I would love your recommendations on who to use for a day tour that covers all the most important sites. Would be great if it covered all admission tickets as well so that we didn’t have to deal with that. Could be a group tour or a private tour. Anybody you recommend?

I'm interested in taking a full day bus tour from Siena or Florence to the Italian countryside villages and then walking around on my own. I'm not interested in wine tours or meals. What are my best tour options for visiting 3 or 4 villages in a day via bus?

We were notified today that we were able to get a reservation for a scavi tour on Friday, September 3! While excited, because the time is assigned by the excavations office, it has impacted the schedule originally planned. Originally we had a large gap between basilica and museums to return to hotel and rest a bit/eat but now the schedule is tighter.

Scavi tour is at 12:30 - so we need to be to excavation office by 12. Tour lasts 1.5 hours which takes is to 2:00 pm

We have Happy Hour tour tickets for the museums at 5pm, so need to get there ~4:30pm.

Question 1 - That means we have a 2.5 hour gap. Weighing going back to hotel (campo d’ fiori) to rest/eat vs finding a restaurant around the Vatican - recommendations?

Question 2-4 - we had planned to get to Basilica before 8am to get in. Do the Dome climb first and then self tour of basilica. With the lines - anticipate this take us until 11 (depends on lines)? Leaving a small gap between that and scavi tour.

- recommendations for a restaurant to have a snack/sit in?

- more a comment/question - I assume the lines (including dome climb) would be too long to do basilica between the scavi tour and happy hour?

- we planned trotting basilica ourselves with audio guide, but give. The scavi tour, would we be better to book a tour (ie walks of Italy) to guarantee quicker access

Thanks for your thoughts on the above

Hi all,

I am in the beginning stages of making plans for my late May, early June trip to Rome. I have decided on two side trips from Rome, Naples and Florence. While I am sure Florence is beautiful, and I will spend time roaming, I am also using Florence as a base for a few days, to take some bus day trips., to enjoy the countryside of Tuscany, and smaller towns. The one that I really want to go on will include Cortona, and Arezzo.

is this a good tour group to research ? if not, any suggestions, and also is it ok just to wait until I get to Florence to book these, or better plan more ahead.

Thanks for any help....

https://www.viator.com//tours/Florence/Tuscany-in-One-Day-Sightseeing-Tour/d519-5070TUSCANY?mcid=61846

Hello we are planning a drive from Taormina to Palermo in a few days and would like to make a full day trip out of it by stopping at sites on the way. Do you have any recommendations or a recommended tour route for this trip?

My husband and I are retired and we and our son are planning to travel from Rome to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum for two or three nights in late September or early October and had several questions:

Which is preferable as a base - Naples or Sorrento?

When you visit Pompeii - what can you reasonably expect to be able to do after the visit such as a museum or walking tour - same with Herculaneum.

Any recommendations for a tour guide for each place.

I sort of geek out on financial & economic history (think "Ascent of Money" if you have ever seen the documentary). Venice has played such an important role in the history in areas of trade, banking, bond markets, shared ownership/shareholders, insurance underwriting, currency exchange, public/private partnerships, joint ventures, negotiation, original/unique government systems/structures, and a lot of innovation over the years. I would regret going to the city and not being able to experience a tour that covered at least some of this. I understand this is a fairly specific request/interest, but I feel like its the equivalent of someone into political science showing up in Athens or Rome without any tours doing a deep dive into those early significant political institutions. .... Does anyone know a tour that may remotely fit with this? Or even a friend that really knows there way around some of these subjects that wouldn't mind playing tour guide for a day?