Small-Group Tuscany Grand Tour: Siena, San Gimignano, Chianti and Pisa

The tour guide was wonderful. She took us to Siena where we received a short tour of the town, the on to San Gimignano, the winery for a delicious lunch and on to Pisa. It was a long day but well worth it.

Lucca was our guide on this wonderful tour. He was so knowledgeable about the entire region and was full of fun and energy. We started in Siena and we were met by a separate expert tour guide for the city. My husband and I had visited Siena before but this time we really learned a lot and appreciated it much more. In San Gimignano we had an hour of free time to stroll through the city and sight see, shop or sit at an outdoor cafe. Unfortunately for us, when we arrived in Pisa the sky opened up and it was raining so hard no one wanted to get out of the van! I decided that I wanted to see the leaning tower enough to get drenched and so jumped out and snapped a few pictures and ran back! Everyone loved the pictures so we all went back - even though it was raining. Then it was on to Lucca where we stopped for a treat at a local cafe. All in all, it was a very nice day and we truly enjoyed it! The best part was just driving through Tuscany and looking out at the beautiful hills and fields. What a wonderful way to see the countryside!

Except that it was a bit squuezy in the 9-pax vehicle, everything was great. Very relaxing and the guide was very patient, attentive, and enthusiastic in his work. Keep up the good work Ricardo!

Our tour leader was great! San Gimignano was great and I really enjoyed the time we spent in this village. However on this tour I would suggest less time be spent in Pisa and Luca.

Excellent tour, Highly recommended. Very nice and informative guide.

We absolutely loved this tour. 4 towns and a winery tour seems like a lot to do in one day, but the tour was so well organized that we were truly able to enjoy all these areas without feeling rushed. Our guide Chris was excellent - I can't recommend him highly enough. Wonderful!!

I was kind of skeptical in joining such a tour that would visit so many places in one day, as I usually prefer rather relaxed and slow-paced experiences. Well, thank god I joined it! Discovering the whole Tuscany would probably take you a lifetime, but I was staying in Florence only 3 days and this tour turned out to be the best opportunity to really have a sense of true Tuscany. From the most renowned and magnificent places, such as Siena and Pisa, to enchanting San Gimignano and charming Lucca, not to mention the wonderful winery we visited, you really can breathe the authentic Tuscan essence, feeling immersed in it for a full day. The transfers from one place to the other vary in length but I felt them as part of the adventure: the landscapes you drive through with the minivan are gorgeous! Vineyards, olive groves, gentle hills... well, in a word, Tuscany! And, by the way, even though at the end of the long day you might feel tired, it still felt like a relaxed journey. I think this is all due to the very small group and the professionality and passion of our guide. The wonderful memories - and hundreds of pictures! - from this tour will be the best souvenir we'll bring back home from this Italy vacation. Thank you!

Wow! Never seen so many beautiful places in one day before! Our group was only 8 persons so it felt almost like a private tour, and this does make the difference in a full day trip like this. All the locations are well worth a visit like this. Wonderful Siena, quaint San Gimignano and Pisa with its leaning tower are classic destinations in Tuscany, cannot miss them, and that's because they really can fill your eyes with beauty. But I had never heard about Lucca, before reading about it on a great Tuscany guidebook, and trust me, you'll be surprised by its history and charm, plus the fact that it's definitely less touristy. Add to this a wonderful ancient winery in a medieval villa and castle, with a nice lunch and great Chianti wines - that can inspire a little nap during the following transfer to Pisa - and a fun and knowledgeable guide like Cristian, and you've got the perfect Tuscan day!

Fantastic tour, seen lots of incredible things in Tuscany and great guide! It's a full day tour, about 12 hours, so quite long, but definitely worth it if you are not spending many days in Florence and Tuscany and want to discover the most of it in the shortest time. I've seen other similar tours around but with much bigger groups, and didn't want to end up in a 60-seat coach following a flag: this is the only small group tour of this kind I've found we were 8 people on our tour!. More expensive, but a totally different feeling: at the end of the day you feel you've found new friends among the other passengers, and especially talking about our great guide Cristian. Siena is magic and our local guide there, Benedicta, was knowledgeable and extremely passionate about her town. The free time in the little jewel hamlet, San Gimignano, was much appreciated as this is a very small medieval village and you can stroll around by yourself at your own pace. The Chianti winery you visit is immersed in the vineyard hills of the wine region, with a medieval tower you can sometimes climb gorgeous views from up there, an authentic ancient cellar still used nowadays and good quality wines you get to taste some of them. You also have lunch here, with delicious Tuscan cold cuts and pastas. The leaning tower in Pisa is... well, the leaning tower, as you've seen it in thousands of selfies, but much more impressive pictures don't do justice to its dramatic leaning and with a gorgeous square, cathedral and baptistery around. I had read another review about Vinci being a pointless stop... well, I cannot say anything about Vinci as right before leaving with the tour the local company that runs it informed us that the Vinci stop would be replaced by a visit to Lucca... and Lucca proved to be an unknown to me magic treat! What a lovely quaint medieval town! We even had an aperitivo in its unique amphitheatre square! Not to be missed! So, all in all, it's not been the most economic thing I've done in Italy, but it's the first one i would do again!

Was really disappointed with this tour: Siena - This was brilliant, the tour guide was from the area and had brilliant local knowledge San Gimignano - This is self-guided. You get a little information driving to this location, but are on your own when you arrive approx 1 hour. Beautiful place, although it was very busy. Chianti Winery tour / lunch - Disaster!! I actually found this part embarrassing! The lady from the winery clearly doesn't do tours - very little information, and at one point we were shown upstairs to a virtually empty room with some old machines that had nothing to do with the tour. It was cringe-worthy. The lunch was fine with tasting of 4 wines. Vinci - Pointless stop. We went to both museums, one of which is currently under construction. Unless you have an interest in engineering, there is nothing at this stop for you approx 1hr This was also self guided. Pisa - Leaning Tower 1hour. This was fine - time for a walk around the square or trip up the tower. This was also self guided. I would not recommend this tour - there are so many other trips out there with good reviews. Really regret taking this one. PS - The tour guides were lovely, the tour itself, and the information provided did not live up to expectations!