Quintessential Tuscany: Wine Tasting and Hilltowns from Rome

Timothy

Sep 25, 2023

This was the poorest experience we have had with Walks. Generally our experiences have been very good to excellent and we have referred many friends after multiple good experiences in 2016 and 2018 in Venice, Florence, Rome, Amalfi, and Tuscany. But this tour was our first disappointment. We had a small group of 6 on day trip to Tuscany. There were several issues. Julio our host spoke poor English. Don’t expect perfect, but his scripted comments were limited and hard to understand. He was pleasant but disengaged. Had difficulty having an unscripted conversation, didn’t understand numerous questions, and generally seemed detached and just along for the ride. We have done this tour previously from Florence and had a much better guide and experience. At times I felt I k ew more about the towns and wine than he did. And he slept for much of the return trip. The other guests from Australia had the same general reactions. I would not take this tour again with Julio as host. Other issues: Rest breaks were far too long. I dont want to spend big chunk of our day at a roadside rests. Too much time in Pienza. Not really much to see there. A couple hours is way too much. Would have expected more time in Montalcino. We were matched in and out of Fortezza but given no time to walk the town or taste wine in the home of Brunello. Instead we were ushered off to an inferior winery called Innocenti. Clearly a tourist trap. It was loud, crowded, had a hostess with even poorer English skills than Julio, and were served very unappetizing bread and spreads with subpar wines. It made me want to cry after devoting a whole day to this tour that we only sampled wine from this one, very mediocre winery. Tuscany is great. But I would not recommend this tour in its current format. It is vastly inferior to the Walks experience we had in 2016 from Florence and while Julio was not rude in any way, he does not seem well-suited fit this tour. Overall the poorest Walks experience we have had. And we have done about a dozen. This itinerary needs some refining and better disclosure of what the Montalcino and tasting experience will be. Could have been salvaged if we had just stayed in Montalcino for our own tastings rather than wasting time to travel to and from Innocenti. That is simply not a worthy place to take people in my opinion. We expected better based on past experience. Overall a disappointing day.

Julie

Sep 24, 2023

Quintessential Tuscany tour was fantastic. Eileen was our guide and she was a doll, filled with excellent information. Absolutely recommend this tour. We didn’t even realize it was like 13 hours. It flew by and we had a blast. Gorgeous day trip from Rome. My favorite tour.

Rhahezza

Sep 21, 2023

We got the best group probably because of our tour guide who helped us mingle with each other and not be strangers. The place was wonderful, the food exceeded expectations, Chiara was very informative and kind. I wish to do other tours like this, I enjoyed it very much.

Heather

Sep 08, 2023

Our tour guide Chiara was incredible. Her English was so clear and she engaged so well with the guests. This was better than we expected. Walks Tours are so organized. It made our experience of Tuscany memorable. I highly recommend this company for any of your tours in Italy! Each of our Walks tours had experienced guides and drivers.

Lorelle

Sep 02, 2023

If this is the only thing you do to experience something outside of Rome - do this! Andy was an outstanding guide who is an English exPat so he’s great for tourists- outstanding knowledge as he now lives in Italy and adores the place. This tour packs a punch for one day and you’ll fall in love with the scenery and thoughtfully chosen places to visit. Andy was a great story teller and a kind man who made sure we enjoyed ourselves. At Pienza, we met Matteo- the man behind La Taverna del Pecorino, amazing pecorino cheese and tastings with so much education about cheese, balsamic vinegar and salami! Loved this and bought some amazing vinegar to take home. The farm we visited for lunch: was gorgeous and the food was perfect. Fresh and prepared with love. The wine tour was amazing: Innocenta winery - wow! First class wines and the sit down tasting was beautiful. This was an amazing day - packed with variety and quality experiences. Worth it and something you won’t forget. Our driver for the day deserves a shout out too: I’m so sorry I can’t remeber his name but he was an excellent driver who made our day possible. So, the first of September- the tour that day - thank you to our driver also!