I have a few questions about tours....

In Venice - I want to go to burano and Murano - can I do that without
a tour?

Yes, easy to do with vaporettos.

For food ideas you might look at https://www.eatwith.com/

In Florence - I want to take a bus tour to Siena and Tuscany but not
Pisa - either a bus tour with my child? or we hire a driver for a day?
I do not need a luxury vehicle? Are there more affordable options?

Siena is easily reachable by either bus or train. Many people prefer the bus because it drops you closer to the center of town.
The most affordable option is to simply take the bus or train for a few euros and just see the town for yourself. There is a lot of information on the various sites about things to see and do. If you want to spend a few hours touring the town you could look into a local tours or a tour of the specific site like the amazing Siena cathedral depending on what interests you. If you arrange a tour with transportation it will obviously be much more expensive.

You need to narrow down what you mean by "Tuscany" because Tuscany is a large area that includes Florence. If you mean the rural countryside of film and photos then there some towns like San Gimignano and Volterra that are more difficult to visit without a car and that's when a day tour with transportation might make sense. Search the forums for recommended tour guides or transportation because it is a widely covered topic here.

In general I think tours can really add historical context and depth to towns and give you a greater appreciation for towns, sights or artworks. But much of what there is to see and experience in places do not need a guide if you do a little research and see the things you are interested in.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

Walks of Italy has among their offerings tours for Rome, Florence and Venice which you might check out. For Siena you could hire a private guide should you want to truly get the lowdown on that wonderful Tuscan hill town. The bus is easy to do from Florence and takes about an hour 15 or 20. Anna Piperato is an outstanding guide who lives in Siena and she also does tours in Florence. She’s absolutely fantastic. It’s easy enough to stroll through a location but being guided for my money and time is the best experience. Enjoy your trip!

Murano/Burano - Are you there specifically to see demonstrations with glassblowing/lace making? If so you can join one of the "public" demonstrations, which are usually about 15EUR and pretty basic, with the more sophisticated glass studios you need a pre-booked reservation. You can certainly get around yourself via vaporetto, but in the summer months the queues can be horrible. I backed out of going to Burano (from Murano) because the vaporetto queue was, frankly, incompatible with human life.

I would definitely suggest giving yourself ample time without tours, I don't know if you really need a walking tour of Rome, especially if it's going to be hot and you're already doing both a food tour and the Vatican tour.

From Florence for a day trip to Siena, it might make sense to do a small group minivan tour to make sure you see what you want to see. Private drivers usually aren't "tour guides" unless they explicitly say so

Hello :)
"In Venice - I want to go to burano and Murano - can I do that without a tour?"
Yes - Easily, we did both in less than a day.
Have fun.
Sincerely, Joe :)

One more note - if you want to do Burano and Murano in a day I'd suggest doing Burano first.

It is further and smaller than Murano and many people do the opposite getting off at the earlier Murano stop and then going onto Burano later. The problem can be that in the late afternoon when everyone is trying to get back to Venice proper Burano has only one vaporetto line and two stops. There are more lines, stops and frequent ferries back to the main island from Murano in the afternoon so it will be easier to get back.

In Verona if you like modern art check out the small Palazzo Maffei Casa Museo which mixes ancient and modern art, a palazzo and rooftop tour all into one place overlooking piazza Erbe and is underadvertised. I think Piazza Erbe (looking past the market stands) is one of the prettiest piazzas in Italy. Verona has the 'elegant decay' feeling with faded murals on medieval buildings that the Veneto does so well.

Al Grottino - Osteria e Sbecoleria is a great hole in the wall place off Piazza Erbe for a drink and cicchetti. Cafe Monte Baldo nearby also has great cicchetti and more serious food if you want that. Right near the cafe there is Arcivio a super small, super hip cocktail bar. There is no lack of good restaurants in Verona but read the menu carefully at the older places because the cuisine can be very "traditional". Verona has a very cafe culture feeling with outdoor cafes seemingly everywhere.

Have a great trip,
=Tod