recommended tour groups in florence?

For Florence, I would suggest that the only place you need a tour is the Uffizi. We found nothing else that really needed a tour. Rented audio, certainly is some locations. It's very helpful.

For Siena, you can take the SITA Rapide (express) bus to and from the city. Or, as an alternate, Grayline has a one-day bus trip to San Gimignano and Siena. We've done this one. In Siena, there is a tour guide as part of the trip. If you want more info on this option, message me and I'll provide the scoop.

For Assisi, it's a 2.5hr train trip each way. For us, Assisi was the most stunningly beautiful town in Italy. Great shops, great gelato and a wonderful visit. Just remember that nice restaurants in Assisi close from 4-7. We were looking forward to a really nice dinner but unfortunately did not want to get back to Florence too late. Best Tip: in Assisi, go next door to the tabacchi shop and buy a roundtrip bus ticket. Go out front and jump on the Line C bus. Go all the way to the top of the town and get off. Then, you can visit the town while walking downhill. Some of the streets are quite steep.

Hi Lyn, I agree with Larry re Florence. We self toured in Florence and highly recommend that approach. Most of the people following along in big tours really didn't seem to be enjoying themselves. Even at the Uffizi, we used the R Steves audio tour and it was great, although we did feel as if it rushed us along. But no problem there as we simply back tracked and looked at things again after we'd hit the main sites. It was actually comical as we were just in front of a private guided tour and we kept getting to each piece of art just in front of them! The key is having your hotel make reservations at the Uffizi and the Accademia. You can handle the rest easily. The Bargello is amazing,and not at all crowded, and the Duomo Museum was also great and no line up. I also really enjoyed Rick's Florence walk audio tour. It helped get us oriented. Florence is really compact, and unlike Rome or Venice, its hard to get lost. Enjoy..it was awesome.