Florence Wine Tours

We took a tour, it was pricey, but good and included wine/olive tasting and a 3 course lunch that was amazing. A tour will have the added bonus of you actually being able to drink the wine too :) We went through www.winetourintuscany.com - Donatella was awesome. We booked for two - which would have been 160 eu pp, but were open to others joining. A few weeks later, some did and we only payed ~100 eu pp. We also caught a bus from Siena and spent the night in Montalcino to sample wines and "hang out" some, which would be another way to do it, as Siena has a pretty good bus system. You definityel could do it yourself, but knowledge of where to go, where to park, etc in addition to dealing with unfamiliar roads, customs, etc - I wouldn't do it, personally. But if you had multiple days, you could split it up and see more than we did.

I like the idea of the tour, and have heard good things of the one you mentioned through other websites, but I also think that 100 euros per person seems very high. Does anyone know how much it would cost to do it on your own, with a rental car, going to a couple wineries in a day?

No idea what the car rental would be, but the interweb is quite nice for that :) - I was quoted at 20 eu pp for a sampling of 3 wines in Montalcino, while at a place in the Cinque Terre, we paid 5 euros for 2 glasses (and was given 2 more glasses free after we bought a bottle). So it really probably depends. If you plan to visit cities like Volterra/San Gimigiano, etc that are quite touristy, you will have to account for parking as well, while other towns you would have no trouble in (Montalcino, for one).

A challenge when renting a car to tour the Tuscany wine region - if you're sleeping in the historic center of Florence - is to figure out how to avoid the big ZTL fines when picking up or returning the car. It can be done, but to avoid the fines it is something that should be planned for, since renting a car in Florence has been a problem for many posting here.

Christy, I did a wine tour with lunch at Verrazzano Winery in Chianti. The tour was fantastic. The guide telling his story was just so cute and expressive - talking with his hands. Then the lunch was absolutely delicious. I believe the cost of tour, tastings, lunch was 65 Euro per person. But well worth it. I took a bus from the main train station in Florence and then caught a ride up the long driveway from a couple doing the same lunch. A wonderful way to top off my trip to Italy as I was back to Seattle the following morning. Have fun whichever way you go (driving or guided tour)... Ciao! Linda

It really does depend on your budget, whether you will be drinking or not, the amount of time you will be spending here, etc. As someone who has lived and worked in two huge tourists destinations in the last 10 years (The Virgin Islands and now Florence) I am more and more perplexed at what some people consider "expensive" and you really never know how to answers these questions without knowing the budget. You also have to be sort of careful about unlicensed and/or uninsured operators - if something looks or sounds too cheap this may be why. Also - you do not want to be tasting and drinking - there are new zero tolerance laws in place in Tuscany and they are enforced. As well as the ZTL being mentioned, there are also Autovelox which are speed cameras and they can and will catch you (got me outside of Greve once). As to tours - Verrazzano is good if you want only one destination, and don't mind (possibly) being in a group. Pros - you can use public transportation, which keeps the cost down. I recently went on a full day trip with Tuscan Trails http://tuscantrails.com/ - which was great. Two wineries in a much more less beaten path part of the Chianti, a full lunch, as much as you want to drink at lunch and at the two tastings, one of which also included some olive oil tasting. And a great and informative guide. That is more in the 120 or 130 euro a person range, but I think you get a lot from the guide, it is a full day, and lunch is included. Renting a car - you can go just about anywhere, but you should call/email/plan ahead and make sure it is a good time of the year to visit - not dead of winter (may be no one around), not harvest time (they'll be too busy), etc. You could certainly do a mix of all these if you are spending a week in the region -

I have been in contact with Tours Around Tuscany...private tour...originating from Siena but he will pick you up wherever you are staying. You can personalize your tour...a bit expensive...I have to research more myself...the guide's name is Gianni.

If you go the route of taking a tour the Slow day in Tuscany http://www.slow-days.com would be my recommendation. Small groups make a much more pleasant experience when wine tasting and traveling in general.