We Always Want an Encore!

We met Kathy Perunic and New Tuscan Experience through a long-time friend who has lived in Florence for many years, and it has been one of the best “meetings” we have been lucky enough to have had. If you are thinking about traveling to Italy you need to do yourself a favor and contact Kathy, explain to her your reasonable expectations for your trip, and then enjoy the almost indescribable results. She is simply the best at what she does.

My wife and I, along with eight close friends, just returned from three weeks in Central and Southern Italy. Specifically, we were in Florence briefly, then in a beautiful Villa outside of Montepulciano, and finally in Praiano on the Amalfi Coast. This is the third such trip we have made over the last eight years! It likely would have happened sooner had it not been for Covid.

Here is how it has gone for us. We contact Kathy at least six months in advance of our trip and give her a pretty good idea of what we want to do and see, the experiences we might enjoy, and where we want to stay. I like wine and there has been a lot of that, but it is much more than just wine (and food); it is about really seeing Italy in a way that is difficult to convey, but so enjoyable to experience and then remember.

Once she has our ideas, she gets to work and produces an itinerary for us to review. For us, as a group, everyone weighs in, but there are generally very few changes made. With that approval from us, Kathy then finalizes the itinerary with the cost of each component provided, and we are set. 

Each of our three trips has been unique and each subsequent trip has benefited from what came before. For example, we tried to do too much the first time and scaled back on trip number two, and on this last trip we made sure we had adequate free time but also added two new areas to explore, Umbria and the Amalfi Coast. 

It is not exactly correct to say that all we had to do each time was to show up, but that is pretty close to right. Kathy arranges for everything on our itinerary; the guides in each place, drivers each day as needed, hotels and/or Villas, chefs for dinners, lunches and dinners out if that fits, wineries, activities too numerous to list, tickets to special places or events . . . the list goes on. Her knowledge of the places and her access to all of the support people is nothing short of amazing. There has not been one single “miss” in three years.

Kathy’s range seems to be from the northern part of Italy (Verona, Bologna) to Amalfi and in between. As the name of her business implies, Tuscany is her main focus, but we have not been disappointed when we have gone elsewhere with her help. 

We have found that focusing on a specific region in Italy makes both the planning and the execution much better than trying to see “Italy” on one trip. We would love to see Spain and Portugal the way we have Italy, but Kathy has so spoiled us with her knowledge, friendliness (we now consider her a friend), and with the spectacular outcomes that we are hesitant to try this on our own.

If you want to see and experience what Italy has to offer in a totally unique and completely rewarding and enriching way, you will not do better than New Tuscan Experience and Kathy Perunic. 

David H.