June 27, 2017

Tuscany with Kids

We get a lot of requests from families traveling with children to help them design itineraries that are kid-friendly. In this case, we were asked to ensure that a 12 year old girl traveling with 2 adults would enjoy this special trip as much as the grown ups. So glad to hear we pulled it off! 

Dear Kathy:

We loved our trip. Marco was fantastic. Jim and I are ready to return for our wine tour with him. 

The private cooking class at the historic olive oil estate was my favorite - and Jim's. They were great with Chloe. 


In Florence, Suzanne's tour of the Duomo museum and Baptistery was great- particularly engaging Chloe, which we appreciated very much. I had never been inside the Baptistery, and loved it.

Marco was a real help at Cinque Terre- and that was Chloe's favorite day. 


Rome was a whirlwind, and hot. We had a great time wandering independently though. 

Overall, you were a wonderful help and the guides you set us up with were great. Your assistance made our trip easy and memorable. We will contact you when we return- probably for an adult-only trip. 

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
Alex, Jim and Chloe - USA 

June 2, 2017

Family Vacation in Tuscany

It's always great to hear that our clients’ time in Tuscany lived up to expectations! We have been seeing a growing number of referrals (always a good sign!) and this family was one of them. Their friends had worked with us last year (and the year before) - and had stayed in the same villa - so the bar to equal was set pretty high from the start. That's why it was especially rewarding to get this positive feedback. 

Kathy, 

It was a wonderful vacation. The villa was better than advertised. We lived on the Loggia! The guides were all superior: Antonella, Barbara. Our driver, Francesco, was special. My grandson really liked him and the service, conversation, etc were delightful. 

All three winery visits were excellent, seeing we shipped two and a half cases back. Both winery lunches, while perhaps a bit dear, were real treats. At the boutique winery we dined alfresco and at the castle it was more formal, but both had great food and great hospitality. Check out my grandson enjoying the wine tour!

The chef you arranged to come to our villa was another very pleasant surprise, excellent food, excellent service, friendly. 

Also, we loved our home base in Panzano. One suggestion, which might almost border on nitpicking, would be if maybe you or the villa could supply a map - it would have been nice to have one from the start. We got it after a few days, but a lay of the land early would have helped. However, we enjoyed two serendipitous side trips to the Enoteca in Greve with the wine dispensers and the Florence American Cemetery. We found them on our own and were blown away by each, but for different reasons.

Grazie.

Walter V. - New Jersey, USA