Thanks to a recommendation by Rick Steve’s, in May 2019 we took the Chianti day trip from Florence with Tours by Roberto. We would highly recommend this company. Based upon the entire experience from email correspondence to the actual tour, we are confident any guides working with this company would be highly competent and enjoyable. However having seen Roberto on an episode of Rick Steves, we were delighted to have Roberto himself as our guide! He was a wealth of interesting insights from all things Etruscan, to the wine and foods of the region, to everything you would ever need to know about his beloved Siena. His sense of humor made the trip even more fun. It was wonderfully relaxing to sit back and let someone else do the driving so we could enjoy the spectacular Chianti countryside. We walked through a very charming little town where every corner was begging to be photographed and where the only person we saw the whole time was an old gentleman walking his dog. No other tourists - an Italian Miracle! The highlight was our stop at a beautiful vineyard with views of Siena as a backdrop. Beyond just a wine tasting, we were treated to a delicious meal while Roberto helped us gain a deeper understanding of the importance of pairing wine and food produced in the same region. The whole day was fascinating. A side story about Roberto which I share just to show you the quality of person he is: About a week later on a rainy day in Pienza when we were feeling a bit bleak, who did we run into but Roberto! What a surprise! He remembered us right away and gave us both a big hug. He graciously offered to take us around town, and the whole day just brightened up. Literally it stopped raining, although I’m sure not even Roberto could make that happen! For the next hour or so we walked through Pienza enjoying Roberto’s charming company and learning fascinating things we would have missed on our own. What a kind and generous person. We loved our entire experience from start to finish with this company, and we highly recommend using them. If we are ever in Italy again, we hope to take another tour! Ti amiamo, Roberto!
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