Artviva tours

It's a big tour operator which sells day tours and packages all over Italy. I wouldn't book too many tours as it's nice to have a bit of time to do your own thing.
Because it is so large and takes big groups it is very unlikely to get booked up, even more so in the off season, so unless you plan on visiting during the peak summer months you'd be fine waiting to book until you arrive in Italy.

I did 3 of the Artviva tours last September - I was in Florence for a week. I did the half day Florence tour the first morning I was there. It lasted 3 hours, the guide was very knowledgeable and I thought it was good value and a good way to familiarise myself. A few people who were on the morning tour had booked to do the Uffizi tour in the afternoon and then the Accademia tour (David) in the evening. It seemed far too hectic for me to do all in one day (and I'm pretty fit) - but some only had 2 days in Florence to cram everything in. I did their Uffizi tour later in the week and don't think I got much out of it, I had a Florence guidebook and that was much more use after the guide had finished and I went round again. The third tour I took was the one day bus tour the Best of Tuscany - we went to Monteriggioni, San Gimignano and Siena. Lunch was at a winery. It was a good way to get round a lot in a day and overall I am glad I did it. But would like to go back and spend a lot more time in all towns, especially Siena - would want to spend a few days there. Guide was not very informative, dropped us off at the various stops and told how much time we had before getting back on the bus etc.
I plan to do Artviva's original Venice and Rome city tours when I next get the opportunity to go to those cities but not sure if I would do any more of their other tours.

Need a better understanding of your question? What kind of tours are you interested in doing? Day trips, walk tours, which cities, etc.???? Very hard to give a reasonable response given the lack of information that you provided.

I saw that they had a special tour package of 9 tours for RS readers for 320 Euros that included tours in Venice, Florence, & Rome. I was also interested in the "Best of Tuscany" tour. I hate to book too many tours without some idea if they are any good or not. Do they give plenty of info without it getting boring, and that sort of thing. Do they start on time, end on time, etc.? Do you feel its a good use of limited travel money, or should I just try and figure it all out on my own using my RS guide book? I'm not sure I want to spend my whole trip with my nose in a book reading about where I am and not really seeing or experiencing it, KWIM?

HI Angela, I am currently in Italy and last week was in Florence where I used their services for four tours: First Original Florence Walk, then Masterpieces of the Uffizi Gallery, Original David Academia Tour and last Best of Tuscany with Volterra. I cannot say enough good things about them. The guides were native English speakers, they were highly knowledgeable and experienced about their subject, and all were very pleasant and helpful. None of the groups I was in last week were very big the largest about 13 or 14. When there was a larger group they split it in half and brought in another guide. They used a radio type communication device in all but one of these groups which worked extremely well for me, since I have a hearing problem and wear hearing aides. The "Best of Tuscanny with Volterra" tour had only three participants even though the minimum states at leasts four. It was the best tour of their offerings and all were great. This is the best company I have used in all my traveling. I am in Sorrento as I write this heading for Rome tomorrow and will be engaging their services for their two tours there. David

I wouls stay away from any company that reactivates a year old thread to tout their service. Business must be bad. The user has only one post, claims to be in Italy using their service. Please, be more creative!

ArtViva tours are rated exceptionally high on TripAdvisor, including some quite recent reviews. I read a handful of them and they don't have the feeling of being canned or planted. In addition to any replies here, you may want to have a look over there. Lonely Planet also calls them "excellent." Just saying... in the interest of fairness and objectivity. I have no personal experience with their tours, but anything is better than the guide I once had in Florence who took us into the Accademia, said 2 sentences to describe Michelangelo's 'David', then left us to "think about how it makes you feel." :)