semi private tour in Tuscany, Siena, Chianti

francine, I don't know of any "semi-private tours" in that area. There are Guides listed in the Italy Guidebooks for at least some of those towns, so that would probably be a good place to start. Good luck!

Thanks, Ken. Has anyone use Artviva for The Best of Tuscany tour or the Morning in Tuscany tour? They seem to keep their numbers down. Also their bike tour in Tuscany sounds interesting. My concern is whether the tours seem rushed. We have heard good things about the Walkabout Florence Cinque Terre day. I'd appreciate any help in planning our few days in the Florence and Tuscany area! So much to see and do. Thanks a lot.

Hi Francine. There are a few private drivers based in Florence and Siena but it can be so expensive for the day (like 500 Euros!) The artviva tour company is well established and provides scores of different tours, but I'm not sure how good they are on limiting their numbers/group size.
If you are looking for a small group countryside tour of Tuscany without that rushed feeling of being in a big group take a look at the Slow day in Tuscany. http://www.slow-days.com They limit the group size to a maximum of eight -maybe a good compromise between taking a pricey private tour and rushed larger coach tour?

Thanks, Melissa. I have sent them an email and am waiting for a response. We have never been to Italy. Tuscany is near the top of a huge wish list! So, we'd like to spend the day seeing and experiencing the scenery and hilltop towns. Siena sounds wonderful. We would like to visit a vineyard etc but not have a totally wine focused tour. I have also discovered Franco Fadda. He has amazing reviews on Trip Advisor. Any thoughts?

Francine - we are leaving for our first trip to Italy Sat. - can't believe it's finally here. We've booked [email protected] (tours by roberto) out of Siena. Have had great feedback from people that have gone with Roberto (or Anna) and they take a max of 8 people.
I don't have an opinion about the tour yet - but very impressed with quick and informative responses via email...

Thank you, Linda. I will check Roberto out. BTW, which tour are you taking?
Did you compare the itinerary with others? We will be staying in Florence for a few days. The planning of this life long dream has been a mammoth undertaking!! We are leaving on July 12! Have a wonderful trip!

Hi - We are taking an 'Etruscan' tour - somewhat tailored to us in the Val d'orcia (sp) picked up in Siena and dropped off at the chiusi train station (we're heading to Orvieto after the tour) Ask any questions or ask for Anna's opinion about tour choices - there's so much info, and so much you don't want to miss it's overwhelming trying to plan. For awhile I thought my brain would explode. We wanted to try some wine but are more interested in the history and seeing the countryside.
So glad we'll finally be on our way and just be able to relax and enjoy all the research (or ignore it, as the case may be :) ...

In March 2011, we took a full-day (10 hr), private tour into Tuscany with Giuseppe Aulisa of Florence Tour (www.florencetour.com&#59; [email protected]). Guiseppe and his wife, Paola Migliorini, own the company. Their 8-pasenger mini-van was very comfortable and Giuseppe (a native of Florence) was very knowledgeable about Tuscany and very passionate about whatever he was describing. We worked out all of the arrangements with Paola by e-mail months before we left and Giuseppe was very punctual in meeting us at our hotel in Florence on the arranged day. The way it worked was that Giuseppe dropped us off at the center of several towns, and then we arranged for a time to meet him to go on to the next town. The Rick Steves Florence and Tuscany guide was all we needed to negotiate the towns (Volterra, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, and Siena), so it was pretty easy. We were always a few minutes late getting back to the van, but Giuseppe was very patient about it. I highly recommend Florence Tour if you are considering a day trip into Tuscany from Florence.

We were two couples who scheduled a tour with "Tours by Roberto" in May. Two more couples joined the tour (total of 8). Anna was our guide. We had a wonderful day touring wineries in Chianti.

We just had a great Chianti tour with Roberto (and just one other couple). Highly recommended.

Hi Robert, Thanks for your suggestion. We have communicated with Paola in the hopes of joining up with other people for her tour. As a private tour, it is more than we want to spend. The spots that you visited tho, were the towns we are hoping to see. Hopefully, this will work out but the search continues just in case...

Delecia and Jane, Thanks for the vote for Roberto. Can you tell me the areas that you visited on his tour? What would you say that the focus was for his tour? Thanks a lot for your help..

Francine, Tours by Roberto offers several different tours. Some have wineries as the focus. Others have Eutruscan ruins. Others have a village focus. They are listed on his web-site. This is how it works: The first person who schedules a tour for a date gets to pick the itinerary. Then others can join, up to 8 total. The "joiners" have to accept the itinerary that the first person who scheduled chose. If nobody else joins, then the price is the same and yours is a private tour, but the company is very popular and I don't think that happens often. We were initially a little disappointed that Roberto wasn't our guide, but Anna was engaging, informed and entertaining. We had a great day. Our tour was 2 wineries, a 13th century walled village, and lunch at a taverna. You can't go wrong if they are available on the day you choose. Delecia

I originally also contacted Roberto about our proposed itinerary (San Gimignano, Volterra, Monteriggioni, and Siena in one day). He was very nice, but explained that he did not do the kind of private touring that involved just taking people to towns they wanted to visit. Instead, his tours had various themes (e.g., "Etruscans, etc. as mentioned by others above). Francine - best of luck with whatever you decide on; hopefully, others might join your tour to lower the cost.

We have finally narrowed our search for the Tuscany tour down to 3. Those being Slow-days, Scenic Wine Tours in Tuscany (Sergio Ceccherini) and Tuscan Sunshine Tours (Franco Ceccato). Any experiences or feedback on these guides and tours would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much!

We have booked Tuscan Sunshine Tours. We'll let you know how it goes when we get back. Thanks for all of your help.