Dario's Tours--A Different Opinion
 

I have read for months all the raves about Dario's tours in Tuscany. My wife and I took his Chianti tour last month and we weren't as impressed as others have been. Granted, he has a wealth of knowledge about the area and the tour was fairly interesting, but the whole day (not even a full day, more like 6 hours)came across as too scripted - I kept trying to find the teleprompter he was reading from. Maybe he was just having an off day, as we all do, but the whole time he seemed very disinterested in the tour and seemed to be just going through the motions. I know this can happen to anyone, but for the cost for 2 people - around $300 - I'm expecting him to be very interested in his own tour. Also, the first 30 minutes of the day he spent advertising his book. The lunch in a very quaint, very small town was good, not great and the wine was nothing to write home about. <BR>Anyway, this is just my two cents worth. I'm not looking to start a Dario war with anyone, I just figured some people might like to see that it is not always the absolutely incredible experience that others describe.<BR>

Thank you, its always good to read difference of opinions. Sometimes on these boards it sounds like the Stepford Wives or the Emporers New Clothes, with everything being perfect and everyone agreeing.

Did he read from his book during lunch?

Please tell us more, did he arrive late? was he rude? were the places he took you to very touristic? ( I always read posts saying that he takes you really off the beaten path)Did you have a very small meal? What wine did he serve you? Lets destroy the grease ball!

Took a tour with Dario last week, he picked us up at 8.30am in the hussle bussle in Florence, drove usto Chianti, he showed us a winery that he used to work for (very high tech) then some Etruscan tombs hidden in the middle of the forest that he excavated with a friend of his about 15years ago, drove on the most remote roads to a castle that belongs to an ancient local family, we then saw a village of 23 inhabitants, a one man winery that belomgs to a friend of his, he purchased an incredible 97 Chianti Classico reserve that he opened at lunch in another remote village (we had a 6 course home made meal prepared by an old woman including the most divine home made ravioli)then as it was the olive picking season he took us to see an olive press in function and drove us back to Florence. We returned at around 4.30pm. The only defect was that Dario talks all day, at the end of the tour I was exausted, all that history and dates explained with so much passion were to much to absorb in one day, he certainly loves the area. Oh nearly forgot, regarding the book (it had just been published) he gave us an autograhed copy free and told us that the profit from the sellings wouuld have gone to a humanitarian assosciation in Guatemala that he works for in the winter. On the contrary I was very very impressed and thank the Fodorites that highly reccomended him. Iagree that Dario proposes a &quot;different&quot; tour, he is certainly not the ordinary tour guide, he picks you up with a dusty van,he wears torn jeans and is definetely a bit hippie looking. I will never forget the great day he shared with us, the patience, the knowledge, the food, his upperclass English accent, the politeness were 5 star. Absolutely the highlight of our (me and my husband)vacation in Italy.

I would like to reply in defense of Dario's tours. We took an all day tour with Dario in October. He picked us up promptly at our meeting place in San G. Yes, we did visit some of the same places and yes many were off the beaten path,which we would not have found on our own. The countryside was gorgeous, our lunch delicious and we learned a lot about the history of the beautiful Chianti district. Our tour day with Dario was one of our favorite days on our trip (and we had many wonderful days),he was enthusiastic, entertaining and very knowledgable. On our next visit to Italy we would definitely take another one of his tours.

direct contact info for tour? website?<BR>thanks<BR>bkf<BR>

bfk:<BR><BR>The information you requested is:<BR>e-mail [email protected]<BR><BR>Web Site www.rasna.com<BR>

Got an olive oil site but sent an e-mail inq. Thanks ..will let u know<BR>bkf

Hi bfk,<BR>Did you ever hear back?<BR>Does this Dario really exist? I think this must be the ultimate troll post! Nobody ever gets an answer as to HOW to CONTACT Dario!<BR>If anybody out there knows, please advise!

What do you mean nobody ever gets an answer on how to contact him. It has been posted numerous times including twice in this thread. [email protected] is his email.<BR><BR>And yes he does exist. He lives 10 doors down from me.

As bfk states, the website is for olive oil. And I've never received any reply from that email address. Could you knock on that door 10 down from you, and ask him to post his current info?<BR>

<BR><BR>What a boring world if everyone felt the same about everything.

I had an e-mail from Dario yesterday. His e-mail address is [email protected], his web site is www.rasna.com.

Chicky-- I , too , emailed Dario at the SAME email site and yes, I got an answer within 24 hrs== Extrememly prompte and exceedingly nice-<BR>I ordered the book and hopefully it will be here before Xmas-<BR><BR>You will get a live email back from him and you can ask him any questions that you want-<BR><BR>Hope this helps=

If you want to pay by credit card for Dario's book (same price but you don't have to pay extra for postage) you can do so by following directions on this link:<BR>http://www.italywithus.biz/main_pages/offers.htm<BR>

Chicky,<BR><BR>Send him another email at [email protected] As others have stated, he has replied to them. I won't go knocking on his door as we are imn the middleof a rain storm so not venturing out today.

Danke. I finally did get a reply, and can say that is definitely his email! Christina: was only kidding about knocking on his door. It just tickled my funny bone that I was doubting his existance, and you live &quot;next door!&quot;

He did reply but have been so busy trying to plan the trip, and do Christmas i forgot to ay so. Seems interesting,i will persue and let u know! <BR>bkf