Trip Advisor Review for Original Florence Walk and Masterpieces of the Uffizi Gallery Tour

Find out more about our Masterpieces of the Uffizi Gallery Tour and the Original Florence Walk from one of our happy clients!


TripAdvisor Original & Best Walking Tours Review:

"We truly enjoyed both the Original Florence Walk and Uffizi tours.

We booked via internet from home and everything went well. Good information was provided regarding the tours and meeting place which was easy to find.

Both guides were so passionate about Florence and able to share both their love of the city and their tremendous knowledge. We had fun, we learned a lot from them and our tours contributed to make our stay in Florence a very memorable experience.

During the walking tour, you really get a good sense of the city: its history, influent families, religion, politics, arts and so on.

The Uffizi museum is a "must see" but can be quite overwhelming on your own. Our guide was really good at selecting the best art pieces and information was so interesting!

I would strongly recommend Artviva!"

Johanne
ArwenQc
Quebec, Canada
August 2009

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

Why not try our Italy Grand Tour Special!

Trip Advisor ArtViva Review:

"Wow!"

"We did the Grand Italy package tours of Venice, Florence and Rome with the Learn to be Gondolier Tour in Venice and Villa Swim tour with wine tasting in Tuscany as extras.

The company threw in an Evening walk with wine in Florence. Friendly staff, great service, really fantastic guides, best tours we did in Europe.

Venice gondola rowing teaching experience was our favorite, just being out on the lagoon with magical views and our son having a go at rowing was the highlight of our trip. We can't recommend Artviva more highly; we will definitely be using them when we return.

Can't remember all the guides names, but a special thanks to Stephan for a great Best Tuscany tour and Jennifer for the Grand Canal and Original Gondola tours, and Sylvia in Florence for the Uffizi tour and Chris for a memorable Vatican tour."

travelmum

Australia

May 12, 2009

"Best of Tuscany and Florence - Just Do It!" - ArtViva TripAdvisor Review

Read further to hear what one of our recent clients have to say about our Best of Tuscany Tour, Tuscan Bike + Villa Swim Tour and Tuscan Wine Tour.

Did we mention they loved our Florence tours as well?

"We can not say enough about this very friendly company. Due to a mix up over setting our clocks-put it down to jet lag! and a problem with a bus strike we turned up late for our morning tour and Uffizi tour the next day.

No problems for the smiling Artviva young ladies in Florence who graciously took our rambling family to meet the already departed guides.

Our guides caught us up in the break with what we missed. Florence is a fascinating city and our guides Christine and Silvia just made it come alive for us. We loved the smallest bar we have ever seen, a cupboard sized hole in a wall where we stopped for a snack.

The best for us was the Best of Tuscany tour with Stephen with the wine, the lunch, views. He convinced us to do the Villa Swim tour as well. As our parents are elderly -we biked, they opted to be transfered directly to the villa. All highly recommended for young and old alike.

Artviva never made us feel unwanted, our questions about parking, restaurants, changing money, rest rooms, where to get medical attention, wheel chair hire (Mother not feeling too well), post offices (you get the idea!) ... were answered with a sense of humor and patience as I'm sure they must have heard most of our queries a million times before.

Our guides always made sure my mother in her wheel chair for this part of out trip felt included in the tour. Thank you Artviva you made what could have been a difficult stay in Florence not just a memorable experience but one we will all treasure."

naxos66

Balmain

14 August 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

Original Evening Walk offers you a glimpse into Florentine life, past and present, and treats you to a tasting of wine, olive oil & balsamic vinegar!

TripAdvisor ArtViva Review:

"We went on "The Original Evening Walk" in Florence and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Heather was our guide, an American who had been studying art restoration in Florence. She seemed to know everything, and her enthusiasm was contagious. My sister and I are now both anxious to read all all about the Medici's.

This tour is limited to between two to eight participants, however, we were the only two that night for the tour. We learned more in those two hours than the rest of the week put together!

We loved learning about the little details of the architecture that you would normally miss. And the best part was the second hour that is spent in an upscale wineshop in a back room for the tasting.

The wineshop provided us with several types of olive oil, balsamic vinegar (including the 20 year aged cherry variety), chocolate, vin santo, chianti and grappa. We spent more than an hour talking about the history and use of each.

We didn't call to book the tour until that morning (in March) from the hotel, and they booked the tour for us. And when it started hailing in the middle of the tour, Heather offered us her umbrella. What a classy operation!"

DelawarianFemale
USA
March 26, 2009

Join our Original Best of Tuscany Tour for An Unforgettable and Memorable Experience!

ArtViva Review:

"Excellent, exceeded my expectations overall. Didn't expect the stop at the wine estate with lunch and wine to be so nice.... Driver was very skilled driving through the countryside, views were magnificent, tour guide was very knowledgable and entertaining during the time in the car between towns, had a thoroughly enjoyable day, totally worth the price.

Having lunch with our tour guide at the wine estate in the cellar was one of the most memorable moments of my entire trip. Very special, even the Grappa, which I could barely swallow because it was so strong!

Thanks for the unforgettable memories,"

Karen Carpenter

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