Celebrating a Milestone Birthday in Italy

Hi Kathy,

THANK YOU for working with us and putting together our itinerary. We had an AMAZING time and can't wait to come back to Italy.  

Your knowledge of where to stay in Rome and Florence was spot on - and setting up our tours with Amy was perfect.

So glad we stayed in Portovenere instead of the Cinque Terre, as you suggested. Incredible hotel! Loved our room overlooking the water. We walked all over the town and made it all the way up to the top of the castle. Such incredible views!

The villa in Tuscany was awesome (thanks for negotiating the upgrade). Loved sitting outside and enjoying the amazing sunsets with a glass of Prosecco! 

Our driver, Francesco, was wonderful. He made my birthday really special!   

We couldn't have done it without you!  We would recommend using you to anyone in the future and will definitely reach out again when we come back.

Again, thank you for everything!

Arrivederci!

Cheri and John S. - Chicago, IL  - USA

Multi-generational family vacation

Hi Kathy,

We are all back home and I want to give you some feedback on the trip you helped us plan for such a diverse group.

Everything went very smoothly and I credit your thorough planning and dialogue with me in advance. 

Our driver was wonderful and we enjoyed our conversations with him. He was accommodating of our desire to purchase cheese from Parma on a Sunday and we did. He found a place on the way to Milan. The restaurant he selected for lunch in Parma was an excellent choice.

Each tour guide was very interactive with my grandson. He was a pretty patient traveler with a gelato stop in the middle of our tours, but the guides engaged him often to keep him interested. Our guide in Volterra was especially colorful and we all enjoyed seeing an alabaster artisan at work. The guide in Lucca is what we in the south [fondly] call a “hoot”.  She was delightful.

The farm lunch was a treat and our hosts were so friendly. We ate well and learned a lot about alabaster and bees.  

The high point was probably the boat ride in the Mediterranean. The skipper was so friendly and of course the views are simply amazing. The day went by quickly and everyone thought it was also a fun activity for my grandson.

We found our private chef at the villa to be very friendly and willing to please. Her meals were both excellent. Although we have used drivers and tour guides in past European travel, we had never used a chef. We like the idea and may do that again in future travels.

I am happy to share my thoughts with future clients. The driver spoke highly of your thoroughness and I concur.

Grazie mille for a wonderful family adventure. The trip was a wonderful start to my official senior citizen status.

Best regards,

Billi B. - Georgia, USA

Tuscany and Beyond

A customized trip for two that included Como, Florence and the Cinque Terre - designed to blend sightseeing and "La Dolce Vita".

Hi Kathy

The trip was fantastic. Thank you for all your help.

Your services were a godsend! Frankly, I doubt I would have attempted the trip to a foreign language country without them.

In particular, the short listing hotels by site and the coordination of the travel between sites made the travel easy and seamless. Maybe even saved my marriage!

All the hotels were clean with an old world charm. Our stay in Portovenere was grand! The suite had a loggia with panoramic views both east and west. A great place for an afternoon respite from the hustle and bustle of being a tourist. The room made our trip to Cinque Terre sublime. Mixing metaphors, it was icing on the cake.

The side excursion to Lucca was both entertaining and informative. I would highly recommend our tour guide. Personable and informative. Give her our regards when you speak with her.

As for the next trip to Italy, I would love you to find us a villa in the Lucca area for my whole family! 

Again, thanks for all your help.

Sebastian J. - New Jersey, USA

A Month in Tuscany

One of the best parts of my job is getting to meet wonderful people. Every year there are some clients who are special. Working together leads us to develop a friendly relationship which we both know will go beyond the end of their vacation. Dave and Beckie are an example. Their wish to spend a whole month in Tuscany, to truly experience the lifestyle and culture, is a planner’s dream! We collaborated for a year to craft their adventure - which included arranging visits from family and friends during their stay. I know how important this trip was to them, so the fact that it lived up to their expectations is an immense satisfaction for me and all of us at New Tuscan Experience. Receiving their note was icing on the cake! 

Dear Kathy,

We just can't say thank you enough! 

We are so grateful for your help in planning our Italy adventure. We can't imagine that it would have been anywhere near the marvelous time we had without your thoughtful assistance and amazing commitment.

We shudder when we think about how our month in Tuscany would have turned out if we had not relied on you and the team at New Tuscan Experience. From start to finish, you were not only responsive but demonstrated an eagerness to be helpful. We are so glad we followed your wonderful ideas and creative suggestions and didn’t force our way forward by asking you to just arrange what we already had in mind. We can see now that would have been a huge mistake and would have resulted in our frustration and regret. 

Your personal commitment to the success of our vacation was phenomenal. We could tell stories about that! We are so grateful we leaned into you. 

We mean it when we say that we had an incredible time thanks in large part to you and your team.

I'm certain we'll have to return soon to Tuscany to refresh our spirits!

Grazie mille!!

Dave and Beckie S. - Atlanta, GA

First Trip to Italy

Kathy,

Well this is long over due but we did want to follow up on our trip from last September.

First thanks so much for assisting with planning our first trip to Italy!  

The trip met and exceeded our expectations! We only wish we had had more time.  

All of the places we stayed, the Villa in Panzano, the boutique residence in Florence and the hotel in Rome were all top notch. The staff in all three were very accommodating. One of the highlights of the hotel in Rome was that they gave us a free cell phone to use while there and the GPS system had a ‘Home’ button that always returned you to the hotel!

While in Chianti we attended the cooking class with Eleonora which was a standout. The town of Panzano was very quaint, a great place to relax and a central location from where day trips were easy to plan.

The guides you hired for us in Florence and Rome were polite, knowledgeable and did a great job of commandeering us through the crowds and highlighting things we wanted to see and others we would have totally overlooked. I would recommend the use of guides for anyone visiting the sites.

All in all this was a great trip. We look forward to returning in the not too distant future and using your services once again.

Thanks again, 

Paul & Eileen M. - New Jersey, USA

 

November in Italy

Hi Kathy,

Thank you so much for the wonderful excursions you planned for us. They made our time in Rome and Tuscany spectacular! I have never had such a well-planned vacation. 

We LOVED the day cooking with Eleonora! We also loved the Florence food tour with Toni - she was terrific - and the walking tour starting in the Academia with Sara. 

We had a very nice Thanksgiving in Rome. Our tour was fabulous and we loved Ivano - he was wonderful. Please tell him so. I am sending you our pic with him.

We really had such a fantastic trip!! Thank you so very much!!  

Kate B. - New York, USA