My husband and I will be in Florence for a few days in May and would like to take a guided day-trip (not overnight) to Tuscany. Who do you recommend? We're interested in learning more about the wine and countryside. We want as authentic/non-touristy as we can find. Thank you!
You can book a tour of the Tuscan countryside with Hills and Roads. Florence is located in Tuscany.
Maybe a bit touristy, but we took a day tour with Walkabout Florence. We took a bus from Florence to Siena and had a couple of hour tour and time to wander. We then went to a vineyard for lunch with pasta and wine. After lunch, we went to San Gimignano for a couple of hours and then headed to Pisa. It's a long day, but the 2 hour bus ride back to Florence from Pisa allowed for a decent nap!
My husband and I used Walks of Italy for a guided day trip. We were very happy with the tour. We stopped Piazzale Michelangelo for some quick pictures overlooking Florence, then on to Siena. After a cathedral visit and walk around, our quide took us to a wonderful little bakery where we all purchased snacks to eat on the van to our next stop. We had a wonderful small group and we all ended up sharing our treats and making fast friends. Next stop was a vineyard were we sampled wines and had a great lunch. We then headed to San Gimignano where we shopped, ate gelato and took in this beautiful little town. Then off to our last vineyard where there was a working farm that we got a brief tour of and of course, wine sampling and olive oil. Great tour, wonderful memories, it may be a little touristy but we really enjoyed it. (We also used this company for a tour of the Colosseum while in Rome too)
https://www.walksofitaly.com/florence-tours
There's also Tours by Roberto, mentioned in Steves' book. Took one of his small group tours several years ago and had a great time. I think size is limited to about 8. See toursbyroberto website for descriptions.
Thank you all so much for your help!! I’m grateful for the ideas and look forward to booking this weekend.