“Great way to get introduced to Florence”

"Wanting to avoid the huge lines at the Accademia we took Rick Steves advice and booked a walking tour of the museum with Art Viva (www.italy.artviva.com).

The tour we took was the Original David Tour, which concentrates on the statue of David within the Accademia.

Our guide was excellent and it was obvious to us that she was very passionate about art in general, and Florentine art and Michelangelo's David in particular. She provided some very unique insights into Michelangelo's style and the approachs he used to create this breathtaking statue.
I highly recommend Art Viva. They provide exceptional service and are professional in every way.

TravellerNanaimoB_C_ 1 contribution

Nanaimo B.C.

Oct 9, 2009

"All of the Florence in One Day tours were excellent! Good length and full of interesting information. Christine's sense of humor enhanced the Florence Walking Tour, Sarah brought Michelangelo to life when we visited the Accademia, and Paul made Renaissance art fascinating at the Uffizi. His passion for and knowledge of art was very evident."

CarolVol

Nashville, TN

Oct 9, 2009

ArtViva guides are among the best storytellers!

"I recently visited Florence and took an Uffizi Gallery tour with the company Artviva.

The guides are qualified art historians, therefore they are passionate, so the tour is not only informative, but interesting and personable.

I was so impressed I booked for the Original David Tour later that day ( as did most of the morning group). Having the knowledge and story behind the artworks you are looking at makes such a difference.

There are many tour companies in Florence so ensure you get the correct company - Artviva. You can look them up on the internet prior to arriving in Florence. www.italy.artviva.com

There any numerous other tours you can take with Artviva and they will bend over backwards to ensure your Florence experience is a memorable one.

I would highly reccommend you take at least one of the tours of Florence offered by Artviva. The highlight of my Florence visit!

Trip Advisor Review
Gina - gandvadventure
Australia
September 18, 2009

Italy, France, Greek Islands

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"Elisabetta was the most wonderful storyteller!

She brought the art to life with the explanations and made us wish the tour could cover all the museum!

Thanks!"

John & Theadora Browning
Washington D.C.
USA

The Brownings joined our Masterpieces of the Uffizi Tour & The Original David Tour on October 6th, 2009.

Florence In One Day Package - Let the art historians at ArtViva show you what makes Florence world-famous!

ArtViva's Florence In One Day Package is a great overview of Florence, it's people, history and art.

Immerse yourself in history on our Original Florence Walk and listen to medieval stories with a three hour stroll around Florence's essential sights. View the most famous sculpture, the David by Micheangelo with our entertaining art historians.

Hear our clients' Robert & Cathy Fowler's comments about our Florence In One Glorious Day Package they joined on September 22, 2009.

"Made Florence more endearing by learning so many interesting facts & different periods explained and pointed out in the city's architecture. Our Uffizi tour was made so much better by the tour's picking highlights to focus on "David" - was incredible & all of the information shared about Michelangelo made it so much better. Guides were well understood & very personable - we'll leave Florence with a much better because of these tours. "

ArtViva's Masterpieces of the Uffizi Gallery Tour will allow you to understand and enjoy the most important paintings of the Renaissance in this world famous museum! Rick Schwartz, who joined our Uffizi Tour on September 8th, 2009 says:

"Outstanding Tour. Elisabeth was articulate, interesting and injected personality and humour. She gave a "unified" story that really helped provide the bigger picture, not just details about each piece. This was the high point of our Firenze visit."

Reserve a tour with our art experts and make your vacation in Florence unforgettable! See our Best of Tuscany blog and hear more about about our most popular Tuscan tour that clients keep coming back to join!

The Original and Best Walking Tours: "This was so worth my time and money, that 3 years later, I came back for another!"

The Original and Best Walking Tours TripAdvisor Review from August 19, 2009:

"This was so worth my time and money, that 3 years later, I came back for another!

This event, I'll refrain from using the phrase "tour" because it did not feel like one, was extraordinary to say the least.

Sylvia, our tour guide, was not only extremely knowledgeable, energetic, punctual, personable, highly talented, and communicative about the various architectural and historical wonders of the city, but she was also helpful to lead us in the right directions (various local points of interest) for the remainder of our 3 day stay in Florence.

With the large number of tourist trap boutiques that my group was definitely not interested in, we surely would have been lost amongst the crowds without Sylvia's expertise.

Thank you again, Sylvia and "The Original and Best Walking Tours" for this wonderful experience and tradition that we look forward to on our return to Italy."

JonathanHinkle

Florida, US

Aug 19, 2009

"A Great Tour of the Uffizi Gallery with ArtViva"

What better way to understand the highlights of Renaissance art than with our expert guides!

Read the latest review from Trip Advisor about our Masterpieces of the Uffizi Gallery Tour!

“A Great tour of the Uffizi Gallery with Artviva”

"I had a really interesting and fun tour of the Uffizi gallery in Florence with a company called Artviva. We were escorted to the gallery by a young guide who is a native speaker of English and were able to gain entry without the usual interminable wait in the queue.

Having visited the gallery before, I know it is a vaste repository of wonderful paintings and sculpture. But you can wear out an awful lot of shoe leather trying to find the really good stuff and even then you might not realise what you are looking at. Our guide, on the other hand, knew just where to take us and was full of entertaining stories about the artists and their work.

There were some children in our group who were kept interested with questions to answer with a treasure hunt style quiz. They seemed to really enjoy the tour as much as the adults. After our tour we were free to keep exploring the gallery for as long as we wished, but I must admit my friend and I headed straight for the coffee shop."

Susieq056
Port Douglas
10 August 2009

For more details on this tour, please visit our website www.italy.artviva.com .

ArtViva Trip Advisor Review for the Uffizi and David Tours

"What a find Artviva was! We took the Uffizi and the David tours. The tickets were pre-reserved so we did not have to wait in any long lines. That in itself was great. It got better as the day went on.

Our guide was fabulous. Her knowledge base was unbelievable. She directed us to the certain masterpieces in the Uffizi that demonstrated the development of early to late renaissance styles with much added background information. The David Tour was great as well.

The staff at Artviva was very professional from the person who took our reservation to the guides. I will recommend Artviva to anyone I know who is traveling to Italy and will use them again next time I go."

Mya57
Brookline, Massachusetts
USA

Have a truly unique Italian experience with ArtViva in Florence, Rome and Venice!

See what one of our satisfied customers has to say about our Original Gondola Tour in Venice, our Original Bike Tuscany Tour and the Florence In One Day Package!

"I traveled with my husband and daughter age 16 and son age 21. We all did the Florence in One Glorious Day tour and it was fabulous. We had two different guides. The second was especially beyond our expectations. She really helped us to appreciate the art that we encountered. I am sure that I would have looked at the statue of David, for example, and moved on. With her careful eye she helped me to see the work in such a way that it truly moved me. She performed the same magic in the Uffizi Gallery. My whole family speculated that she must be a scholar who keeps her hand in the field beyond just doing these guided tours.

My husband and I did the Bike tour of Tuscany ourselves and we absolutely loved it. The group was varied, the guide was lively, funny, and informative, and the entire day was just plain fun - great scenery, great food, a little introduction into the art of tasting wine (in an atmospheric setting), and some good exercise as well. This tour had it all. My husband says he would do the same tour again...

The gondola tour was a good bargain for the money and very pleasant. The gondola ride was off the beaten path and a unique experience made afforable. In planning the trip I thought that the full day tour in Venice would be too much canned itinerary, but in retrospect I would have done another in tour in Venice as well. My 16 year old thought the gondola ride was a highlight of our trip."

Patti Zucca
June 2009

Florence In One Day Tours ArtViva Review

Visit two of the world's most famous art galleries, the Uffizi and the Accademia, with our entertaining guides who are experts in art history! Don't miss out in really getting to know the essence of Florence - let us take you on a journey through the city's past and present with the Original Florence Walk! What better way to see the masterpieces of the Renaissance than with our Florence In One Glorious Day Package!

Hear more about our Florence In One Glorious Day Package from one of our clients:

"Outstanding experience! Tanya was an excellent guide to introduce us to the architecture and history of Florence and the Renaissance. Her knowledge and presentation style were engaging and informative and all members of my family (my husband, my 10 year old son and I) found the tour one of our trip's highlights! We were left wanting to read books about the Medici family and spend far more time in Florence than our time allowed!

Christine did a fantastic tour of the highlights of the Uffizi! She was extremely knowledgable and her sense of humour and ability to make so many connections between the art and the history of the time was fantastic! I had been to the Uffizi previously (unguided) and know realize how essential a good guide is to a collection of that importance. My son, who is just acquiring a taste for art and the subtle (and not so subtle) elements in a painting, loved the tour (as did my husband and I!) and it ranks amongst the top of his tour experiences during our two week stay in Italy.

Our time with Elizabeth at the Accademia was also very informative. She pointed out a number of interesting things about Michelangelo's sculpting style and we felt it was of great benefit to have the background when trying to appreciate his work. Our greatest regret on our trip was that we had not booked more tours through Artviva (particularly in Venice!!). It is a great incentive to return to Italy and make better use of the excellent tours you offer!!"

Megan McColm
July 2009