While my wife and I have never taken a Rick Steves tour, we have watched (numerous times) his televison series about Italy. In particular, the Tuscany and Hill Towns episode that includes Cortona. During the Cortona segment, Rick was met by Giovanni Adreani, a local Cortonese, who discussed many aspects of the famous hill town and was generally very humble and gracious to Rick. Prior to our trip to Italy in May 2017, we contacted Giovanni to schedule a 1/2 day tour of Cortona (he's available for all day tours, too) and arranged for the itinerary which included a trip to a local oil olive press, a walking tour of the sights of Cortona and a few of their churches and to Le Celle, the monastery where St. Francis lived a portion of his life in the 1200's. Giovanni was our 'best man' for our wedding vow renewals in a private room in Le Celle; a day my wife will NEVER forget. We plan on meeting up with Giovanni when we head back to Italy this coming October. If you haven't seen the Rick Steves episode, you will see what we're talking about. Finally, you will experience first-hand why Giovanni is the friendliest Italian in Italy. Ciao
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32813 posts
While i understand that you are in love with the man, I'm curious how you can objectively say that he is the best private tour guide in Cortona unless you tried all the rest.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Nigel,
I appreciate your response. Giovanni is a great man and very knowledgable about his craft. If you don't want to rely on me for advice, please refer to the Rick Steves episode to see why he vetted a number of tour guides in Cortona and chose Giovanni.
You should try his tour and you will see what Rick and I have; 1/2 day of history and fun.
Scott