In November 2022, seven of us adults took an 8-day trip around Tuscany with Andrea Natali and his team from Tuscany Experience Tours. A few of us have been to Tuscany in the recent past, but this trip still counted among the most magical experiences of our lives, and a large part of it was due to Andrea, and the other drivers working with him – Luca Benfaremo (also a guide) and Federico Giuliani.
We started our trip planning early in June 2022, when we reached out to over a dozen companies listed and reviewed on TripAdvisor. We knew where we would be staying and we had a rough plan of the places we would like to visit but needed further suggestions and refinement. Many of the companies quoted a fixed price per day or a lump sum for the entire trip. The fixed daily pricing did not make sense to us as we were travelling different distances each day, and made the charges opaque. Equally opaque was the lump-sum pricing. Andrea was one of the very few who gave a breakdown of his charges, which varied based on the time the drivers would spend with us. While not the cheapest, Andrea’s charges were among the more reasonable – some quotes we received were more than double his for little discernible differences.
What gave us the most confidence was Andrea’s approach to customer service. He acknowledged every email with alacrity, and stated honestly when he needed more time to respond with details. He was the only one who actually gave careful consideration to the ideas we threw at him, right in our first communication, and he further helped to shape our itinerary with many useful suggestions, including details such as pricing on activities by other vendors. Throughout the entire planning process, we felt as though he was part of our group of travellers, who had a genuine stake in making our trip the best it could be. It also helped that his English was very good, and every detail was clearly stated in our email exchanges. We really appreciated the level of care Andrea took to ensure no miscommunication or misunderstandings – this was lacking in a number of other companies we contacted.
We flew into Milan Malpensa airport, arriving before dawn, and Andrea was actually early to meet us. Each morning during our stay in Tuscany, Andrea or Luca would collect us from our agriturismo (check out the wonderful Torraccia di Chiusi!), drive us to different parts of Tuscany, and return us to our lodgings in the evening. Throughout our trip, Andrea and Luca were the perfect hosts, who both spoke excellent English, and who were clearly proud of their history, culture and landscape. They were patient and flexible to accommodate our requests and Andrea even threw in several unexpected stops (e.g. Bagno Vignoni, Castellina in Chianti), along the way, which turned out to be real gems! They were also safe drivers so we felt in good hands at all times, and they responded swiftly to our text messages over WhatsApp whenever we needed to make arrangements on the go. We were returned to Milan airport at the end of our trip by Federico.
Some of the memorable places Andrea took us to were a factory that made Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan) cheese, a traditional balsamic vinegar maker in Modena, and an olive-oil producer. Andrea was careful to pick only traditional, family-owned outfits that do not usually cater to large tour groups, and we found ourselves immersed in all these experiences. He also suggested truffle-hunting with a company that does not fake the hunt with planted truffles in advance, but we had to forgo it for a different activity. He arranged all our tours with detailed timings for every day – all we had to do was to follow his suggestions and enjoy!
If you are planning a trip around Tuscany, look no further than Andrea! He offers impeccable service at an excellent price point (which really mattered for our 8-day trip), and we could not have asked for better drivers in Tuscany. We would return to their services in a heartbeat, and cannot recommend them highly enough. Oh, and Andrea, Luca and Federico all have new Mercedes MPV minivans ;-)
Also check out agriturismo Torraccia di Chiusi for a wonderful stay with the warmest hosts, excellent food and magnificent views of San Gimigiano across a valley!
I contacted Andrea via email while still in the United States and he was very responsive and understood exactly what type of day we wanted to have. We were a family of five. The youngest in our group was 22 and the oldest was 62. Andrea promptly picked us up at 8 AM as scheduled. He was patient while having to go back to our hotel because we forgot something. He was very informative explained about the history of Italy the different towns we were passing through and when we got to the towns we wanted to visit he gave us a little history and then gave us time to explore on our own.
He was always on time and in the right place when it was time to pick us up. Andrea really made our day out in Tuscany perfect. He was exactly what we were looking for. His van was very clean and neat. He provided waters for us and umbrellas. He was totally prepared. His fee was very fair. I will share my recommendations with any friends traveling to Italy… thank you Andrea!
Monique from NJ
We decided to make Florence our home base for a week. 6 friends enjoying Italy and all the area had to offer. We used Tuscany Experience Tours, Andrea Natali for 4 tours. We began our adventure with our ride from the Rome airport to Florence with a stop in Orievto where some in our group did the Orievto Underground. We walked around town then Andrea led us to one of his favorite restaurants for lunch and wine before we headed to Florence. A couple of days later, Andrea picked us up at our apartment for a day touring the countryside. We stopped for about an hour at Pisa. Then the plan was to go to Lucca but we found out it was comic weekend and part of the town was closed to traffic. This didn’t stop Andrea, he quickly shifted. After taking us to an adorable winery up in the hills, he then took us through a quick look at Lucca then onto a quaint town up the hills. Another day Andrea took our group to see Siena and San Gimignano with another lovely stop for lunch and more wine tasting! Andrea was so much fun. He was easy to understand. We enjoyed listening to his insight in the area. We felt very safe with his driving and he was very focused on us having a wonderful vacation. I highly recommend booking your Tuscany tours with Andrea Natali. Don’t miss the winery with Brunello wines! Besides being a gorgeous area, the wine is off the charts yummy.