butnotrmpt

Hi all - I am in the process of planning for my 5 nights in Florence this April. My husband did not want to do a separate Tuscany stay outside of Florence, so I gave us enough time there for 2 day trips out of the city. We have booked with Accidental Tourist for a cooking class and winery tour, on the last of our full days - this is described as a winery at a large estate in Chianti and then the class and lunch which is at a monastery.

I am now looking for a second, more customized day of travel in the countryside. Based on reviews on these boards, I have contacted Luca, Allesandro, and Nathalie. Alessandro offered a trip to Sienna including stops at a winery, castle, and quaint villages. Nathalie is offering a trip on the 'Chianti classico scenic wine road', including castles, wineries, quaint hill towns and Greve. Luca described a day visiting the Vicciomaggio castle and winery, Montefioralle, Greve, Barberino Vil D'Elsa and Certaldo (the last 2 are described as medieval villages). He was obviously more specific in his descriptions. Does anyone have recent experiences with these tour guides? And can you recommend particular areas that we should see? I am pretty sure that any of these guides would customize the day based on our requests.

Thanks in advance to all who respond.

butnotrmpt

I know that many of the Fodorites have worked with these tour guides. I hope you will chime in with suggestions.

Flame123

I can HIGHLY recommend Luca Garapa and you will find that many others on this board will too (do a search under his name and see how many recommendations you will find).

Indeed he will customize your day as you like it. If you have specifics you want to see or do, tell him. If you do not (as was the case with us) tell him what you are interested in, what are you likes and dislikes, what are your limitations, etc. and he will put together one or more itineraries for you to choose from.

He is a fun guy to spend the day with, he is smart, funny, an excellent and safe driver and completely and totally in love with his country (he "infected" us to the nth degree!!!).

As for what to see, have you been before? I would choose the Val d'Orcia area because in my opinion it is was more beautiful than the Chianti area (which is gorgeous in itself but....). Let him take you to the beautiful small villages such as Montalcino, Pienza, San Quirico, Monterrigioni, etc. You will LOVE them. If you go to Montalcino (we spent a week there 6 months after being there with Luca and falling in love with it!!) try to have a lunch at Grappolo Blu - fabulous!!!

Book early because he has become quite popular. Let me know if you need any more info and have a great time.

Fenima

Hi there, we were very lucky to have had Alessandro for our private driver. He was wonderful. Nothing was a problem. He is a very experienced driver, we felt comfortable, he took us to lots of little out of the way towns, he speaks wonderful english, and he is a handsome italian.(I had to put that one in). He promptly answered our email of many questions, and made suggestions that were welcomed. Sorry I cannot remember how much we paid for the 8 hr private tour but there were 4 adults and the guys really got on well with Alessandro. As we were from Sydney and he had a former girlfriend from Melbourne he knew a little about Australia which we all loved. He is well recommended on the fodors as are the others mentioned. Good luck enjoy and have fun. If you have time I can recommend a wonderful restaurant that 3 sisters run, we dined here twice and the food is tdf. Acquacotta, via dei Pilastri 51r. tel 055 242907. The lamb cutlets sensational. We stayed at Il Villino Residenz, our host Sergio was like family.

SCFoodie

To those of you who have used Luca, Allesandro or Nathalie as a tour guide, can you please post their websites? I am planning a trip that includes Tuscany and would like to contact them to see what they offer and at what rates.

Thank you!

dawnnoelm

I met Alessandro one night in Florence eating gelato..he is very entertaining...VERY flirtaous as was his friend - said husband's should not leave their wives alone with him - oh my!

bfrac

bookmarking for fall trip, thanks.

kybourbon

SCFoodie - Luca is at www.hillsandroads.com.

tropicalkerry

we LOVED Luca! I couldn't decide between Florence and Tuscany, went with florence, and Luca made sure we saw the beautiful little town of San Gimgiano(?SP), as well. He is SO knowledgable, and truly loves the countryside.

butnotrmpt

Thanks for your responses. I'd love to hear from someone who worked with Nathalie recently.

To Fenima - we are also staying at Il Villino. Can you recommend other restaurants in the area?

To Flame123 - can all of those places be visited in one day without it feeling like a road race?

Flame123

butnotrmpt - no they cannot, unless you want to spend 30 minutes in a place and that's it. We took 2 separate touring days with Luca Garapa. The way we scheduled it, he came for us at our hotel in Florence at around 9:30, we drove out of Florence and into the gorgeous Tuscan countryside. We went into one village, had a morning coffee, walked around, visited the area. Drove to another village, where at the end of the visit we had a leisurely lunch. In the afternoon we visited a winery and another village before he returned us to our hotel in the late afternoon/early eve. We did this twice, as I said, on 2 separate days.

rlm346

I will just add my voice to how much we liked Luca's company, driving and tour plans. We used him in 2005 from Cinque Terra to Florence & then later to Room with full day tours in between.

SCFoodie

kybourbon - Thanks for the link to Luca!

Linda431

I think Luca must be overwhelmed by requests. I can't get a reply to my emails. Anybody have a fax number?

Flame123

Linda,

This is what I have :

Fax-telephone : 00 - 39 - 0577 - 716076

Hope it helps. And keep trying though by e-mail, he is indeed very busy and sought-after and he just doesn't have enough time to catch up quickly on the e-mails. Perserverance though will be worthwhile in the end !!

Flame123

Topping for Linda
See Luca Garrapa's fax number above in my previous post.

Linda431

Thanks, I'll keep trying.

Fenima

Hi butnotrmpt, apologies for not being on line we just returned from Bali. Definitely ask Sergio for his recommendations, we did dine twice at another restaurant he recommended, it had a fine dining room downstairs and a good cafe upstairs. We dined at both but preferred upstairs. Both are in walking distance to the Villa. Enjoy your trip.

j_999_9

It's been my experience that Luca doesn't respond immediately. How long since you contacted him?

I 2d what others said about him. Prompt, courteous, friendly, efficient, speaks excellent English.

Linda431

I never did hear back from Luca (started emailing on March 5) so I finally got the hotel concierge to arrange someone. I hope it works out.
I will report back