Unique Tuscany Experience in 1 week with the locals

Loved it

Completed a 7 day experience of Tuscany Tour. Our accomodation was superb and so welcoming and authentic. It was in Loro Ciufenna which really is the most picture perfect location and base. So naturally beautiful. We spent our days exploring Tuscany and our evenings savouring 3 course local cuisine in a beautiful restaurant overlooking the stream and ravine chatting to fellow travellers. Such a unique and special experience- thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Sad to leave. Christine and Karen from Sydney and Central Coast.

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Florence on foot

Walking through Florence on foot is a fantastic experience. To enter all the alleys, in every corner, there is always a shop or a cafe that draws our attention. Relatively flat city, helps to the walk. Buy the monuments tickets in advance so you can visit them with minimal time loss in queues. The only care to have is with the irregularity of the floor.

via Tripadvisor (translated)

Poor Organization

Our tour “Unique 8 days in Tuscany Adventure with a local” provided by Tuscany Untouched Tours seems to have been managed by Matteo Piccardi, who has received wonderful accolades for his previous tours where he was the local tour guide. For our specific tour, he was in Australia so did not participate directly in our day-to-day activities. Communication with him was via WhatsApp and that worked OK, and our interactions were mostly cordial. His driver and tour duties for our daily excursions were assigned to Emiliano most days, and to Paolo for one day. Possibly due to Matteo’s absence in Australia, the actual tour organization was poor and our daily schedules did not proceed as advertised. Changes were made without informing us, and sites were missed. Numerous messages to Matteo from our group initially seemed ineffective. Also, our assigned hotel was not centrally located relative to our daily destinations, so we spent far too much time travelling to and from the various sites of interest. These journeys were made worse by our driver (Emiliano), whose high-speed driving in seriously wet road conditions while on his iPhone was stressful, and resulted in many muted screams of panic from his passengers. Although the tour company’s webpage states “Unique 8 days in Tuscany Adventure with a local” includes accommodation, an expert guide, meals, transport and more, Emiliano was not a licensed “Tour Guide”, and so he was unable to provide any information on our daily excursions. He simply dropped us off at some location, disappeared for a few hours and then picked us up at a predetermined time and location. He was unable to specify in advance our arrival times at specific locations, so we were unable to book proper Tour Guides that were available at the major sites of interest. It would have been easy for Emiliano, and useful for us, if he could have dropped us off closer to Tourist Information Offices, or even if he could have provided tourist-style maps of our various destinations. One day, our driver was Paolo, who is described on the Tuscany Untouched Tours website as being a tour guide. While more informative than Emiliano, he really did not provide much detail. The tour used the same accommodations (Residence La Ferriera) and adjacent restaurant (Ristorante la Ferriera) for the entire week (each reviewed separately). This was problematic as the hotel was cold and damp, and the food unappetizing. We felt trapped, but on several evenings, guests from our tour, as well as other tours, would escape into the local town (Loro Ciuffenna) where local restaurants provided far superior meals. Our small group did complain to Matteo about tour organisation and poor meal quality, and I believe he tried to make changes. First, he made a final day addition of a winery visit (Agriturismo Tiberio) to compensate for a missed winery visit earlier in the week. That was a wonderful experience; indeed, a highlight of our week in Tuscany. We were hosted by Enzo, the owner and wine maker, who offered us abundant samples of five different wines, Grappa, his special olive oil, and his award-winning Vin Santo, along with bread, meats and cheeses in a rustic setting inside his facility surrounded by steel wine storage tanks, cages of wine bottles, and his bottling system. Second, I think via intervention from Matteo, the restaurant offered to make amends for the poor meals during the week by offering our group dinner selections on the final evening from the more expensive à la carte menu. So instead of going into the town for our final night group dinner, we cancelled our reservations at the much-appreciated previous location, and decided to give the hotel restaurant one final chance. What a mistake, the meals were no better – still the same types of cold plates and bland, tasteless food, but at least Matteo tried. I also discovered that he did provide refunds to some on the tour for the costs of meals taken in town, but we have received no such compensation. This tour could have been a wonderful experience, but suffered by Matteo’s absence that resulted in poor organization, with activities not consistent with website information. That, in combination with unappetizing meals, and cold and damp accommodations are the reasons that my final verdict on Tuscany Untouched Tours is so low.

Response from the operator: Hi Alexander, Thank you for spending so much time to write us a review. I am sorry to hear though you didn't enjoy the tour. I appreciate all the reviews ( Bad or Good) as long as they are realistic and provide right information for the further guests. Unfortunately Alexander, most of the information are NOT correct which is a shame... My name is Matteo, I am the founder of Tuscany Untouched which is an Australian company operating since 2016. I was born in Tuscany and moved to Australia on the 2013 but with a very strong passion of Tuscany food, wine and culture. I am not a "tour guide" and I have never been. I am a " tour leader" which is a very big different. In Italy, there is a very strict rules in tourism industry regarding: local expert drivers, tour leaders and licenced tour guide. BY LAW, a driver can not be a tour guide and a tour guide cannot be a driver. All our tours do not includes "tour guide". However we also provide the option to add "historical tour guide" on each tour. You can see all these information on our website. We also provide a "Welcome letter" before the tour where is specifically written all these information about this and more. I had to resend all these information during the tour and even known I offer you a tour guide service to make you and the group happy. You all refuse and apologised to me. A tip for the future guests: please check all the information from our website and do not rely on information from others. Please read properly all the information WE provide. For any question we are always available... If you choose to book with Tuscany Untouched tour is because you would like to have a really authentic experience " live like a local with the local". If you choose us is because you would like to have a different vacation where you can be a real Tuscan person for a week eating, drinking, sleeping and thinking as we normally do. If you are prepare to do this experience, you are welcome. The accommodation has been selected from me and my family who have been there at the restaurant several time and they loved it as all the other guests from another tour at the same week. $65 tip from a couple, $75 tip from another couple and another $65 tip from another one who they left the resort really happy. I have sent some of my team to check the accommodation anyway but it is very hard to make changes when we come across amazing guest's feedback who absolutely enjoy the atmosphere, service, food and the apartment. I work with a team of 7 local expert drivers ( Paolo and Emiliano included) who have 20 years experience of this field. They are definitely more knowledged, prepared and informed than me. However, I personally checked and report to Emiliano what you have written to see what happened as it is not good at all. I am not sure if myself be present could make you happy anyway as for my team and I it was extremely hard week. However I did my best to make you happy but it didn't work. I am sorry The tour you have selected is designed for all those who would like to experience Tuscany as local but also would like to have free time to all the location as from the itinerary but apparently it wasn't the right for you. I am sorry for this. My conclusion for the future potential guests is to read CAREFULLY the information from original website of any company that provided services and learn more about the current rules to make sure there won't be misunderstanding or surprises can cause disappointing experience like Alexander. My suggestion to you Alexander is to refer to the manager or the owner ( me) about any issues or question at the beginning of the tour or during the tour instead of waiting one month and half to discover and understand your issues via reviews which you also sadly threatened to write to all your social channel which I found quite unfair in respect with all those people and families who works around a family business and work hard to do their best. Especially after 2 years out of work due the Covid. If I known you weren't happy I would easily have made some changes to make you happy even known I am in Australia whether you like o no :) Unfortunately I can't do anything right now but just apologies. We are all different and we all come from different culture and mindsets. So sometime we can't satisfy everyone. I believe though there is always a way to connect and find the best way to make everyone happy. Thanks again for your feedback. Sorry again for this. Matteo

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Fantastic Tuscany Tour

My husband and I did this tour in early May 2022 and we fell in love with Tuscany. We have traveled through Italy many times and although group tours are not something we do anymore we thought it would be the easiest way to see Tuscany. Matteo has put together an amazing week with the perfect accomodation set on the edge of a beautiful village. Paolo our daily driver was knowledgeable and friendly and the perfect guide. We saw some amazing places and have some fantastic memories. Everything was so easy booking, communication and pickup in Florence. We only had 4 in our tour so we were able to alter one day to suit the group. Our transport was new and comfortable and if anyone is thinking about doing a tour with Tuscany Untouched I urge you to go for it. You will not be disappointed.

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