Siena and San Gimignano Tour from Florence

Wow - just wow. This was a wonderful tour led by Francesco who was warm, knowledgeable and very attentive to our needs. The highlight was a last minute lunch that he set up for us in a private room at a beautiful vineyard looking out towards San Gimignano. What a treat! And whenever we were ready to move from one place to the next, Francesco and the car just suddenly appeared - it was so nice and we felt spoiled - it was a black Mercedes after all! I highly recommend this tour to anyone.

Our tour was the Siena, San Gimignano, and Tuscany Tour with lunch at a winery. We toured with Val two days earlier and after that tour we reached out to Eva to see if it was possible to have Val as our driver/guide again for this tour. We were pleased to hear from Eva that Val was again scheduled to spend the day with us. Val knew from our previous tour with him that I enjoy taking pictures. As such, although not scheduled as part of the tour, he took us to the Piazzale Michelangelo for some incredible morning views of Florence. After some time for pictures we were off to Tuscany. Val again stopped so that we could have a pastry and cappuccino along the way to our first stop. On the way to Siena, Val gave us lots of history of the areas that we passed. It was such a treat to have someone with Val’s knowledge spend the day with us. Siena is the city in Tuscany where they hold the Palio. Val has been to the Palio several times and explained how each Sienese contrade hopes to have a horse in the race and the selection of the horses for the Palio. With Val’s description you could stand in the Piazza del Campo and really imagine the horses racing around the outside circle. Val then took us for lunch at Sant’Appiano vineyards. We got a tour of the property from the granddaughter of the original owner and then had a fantastic lunch which included lasagna from our hosts mother. Best lasagna that we have ever had! We had some great wine to sample during lunch and bought a couple bottles to take home with us. After lunch Val took us to San Gimignano. On the way Val told us that we had to try the gelato at Gelateria Dondoli which is a world champion gelato maker. He was definitely right. This is a must stop! As two days prior, Val went out of his way to ensure that we had fantastic day and were able to see everything that we had wanted to see. He didn’t disappoint, we had a fantastic day and again will use LimoServiceInItaly and request Val the next time we are back in Italy!

We ended our trip to Italy with two days of touring Tuscany. The van that arrived to pick us up in Florence was clean and our Driver was enthusiastic and excited to show us around. We didn’t know it then, but Valerio would make our whole trip! He drove us to a few sights in Florence that he insisted we couldn’t miss, before heading out to the country side for our first wine tasting! Along the way, Valerio talked to us about wine and what we could expect and how to tell the differences between authentic and fakes. By the time we got to the winery, we could all tell that we were lucky to have gotten Valerio as our driver!! After some other adventures and photo opportunities, we headed back with our bellies and hearts so full! Imagine our delight when the next morning Valerio arrives at our hotel again to take us on our second day of touring!!! We were elated! We started with a private tour of a leather factory and continued on into Siena and San Gimignano where we learned about the bourse race, had amazing gelato, and took some beautiful pictures! Valerio made our whole trip. We learned so much from him about culture, wine, language and more. We will definitely be requesting him the next time we come to Italy!! Do yourself a favor and book with this amazing company for your tours! We certainly were not disappointed!