It was a splurge for us to book a private tour, but it was so worth it! Our guide, a native Florentine with perfect English, took the time to ask us about what we'd like to see, then tailored our time together to our interests. She was SO knowledgeable and enthusiastically answered our questions. We saw things we never would have found on our own, plus, she gave us insiders' tips on what to see on our own, when to visit specific museums and where to eat. It was the perfect preview for our visit. Highly recommend!

If you do nothing else, do this tour! This was my second time doing it, and I would do it again. Our tour guide, Alessandro was fantastic. His knowledge was amazing! Our driver Louiggi was the best! This was the highlight of our 10 day stay throughout Italy-and, we did a lot!

This was truly an enjoyable and informative experience. Our guide, Caterina, was a winsome fount of knowledge! She made us want to do a History of Art degree :) She answered our questions patiently and helpfully. Her passion for her native city is infectious. Three hours (and a bit!) passed incredibly quickly. We couldn't recommend her highly enough.

Francesco was an excellent guide. He was personable and included an incredible amount of detail about all the monuments, people and historical events. We opted to not use the earphones as we were just 6 people in the group and this worked well. The way to tell it was a great day is that the time absolutely flew by. Our guide was happy to answer all the extra questions we had as well. I would definitely recommend this tour and Francesco!

We did two tours walking tour of Florence with Michelangelo's David and the uffizi tour. We asked them to do it kid friendly but it was perfect for most adults with only so much attention span. We had Martina as our guide. She was one of the best guides we had in Italy. Her English was very good and she was very funny and engaging. She was able to hold and recapture our kids attention 9,12,15 even in the Uffizi by asking them questions and always trying to engage them. It was an amazing tour by a wonderful guide. I highly recommend

A tour is only as good as the tour guide, and ArtViva's Alessandro is as good as they get. We did the Uffizi Gallery tour as well as the Florence walking tour (on two consecutive days), and Alessandro was entertaining, thoughtful, and unbelievably knowledgable. Seriously, if we were walking along, and I pointed to random building in Florence that caught my eye and asked about it, he would know when it was built and who originally owned it, and tie that information in with the larger picture he painted of life in 12th century Florence. He's quite brilliant. During our tour of the Ulffizi Gallery, we all learned more about art than we'd ever known, and we're dedicated museum-goers. What Alessandro taught me will inform my appreciation of art for the rest of my life. In general, ArtViva was wonderful to deal with, and their representative, Faezeh, was incredibly helpful in our emails leading up to the tours. Having learned that I'm hearing disabled and use hearing aids, she suggested ideas to cope with the radios and earbuds used prevalently in tours throughout Italy, and they helped, not only with the ArtViva tours we booked, but with the rest of our two week vacation in Italy. Don't hesitate to go with this company, and definitely ask for Alessandro if he's available.

My husband and I highly recommend the Florentine Steak experience! The restaurant, i Tuscani is very quaint. The entire staff was so welcoming. We learned great tips for cooking the perfect steak. The food was incredible. The whole evening was exceeded our expectations.

An absolutely wonderful afternoon with the combined Uffici, David and city tour with a tour guide of the highest quality. The anecdotal flow and historical knowledge of the guide, Sg Traxler, was outstanding. Made it all connect. And set in context with the most interesting (and entertaining) anekdotes. There cannot possibly be better ways of experiencing Firenze. Science. Art. Politics. History. And an interesting, kind and friendly man to top it. Art Viva was simple and effective to relate to, and their guide amazing. Thanks so much.

It was my birthday and my husband good-naturedly indulged me in both a sculpture class and an oil painting class. This is how we met Frank Rekrut and Laura Thompson, owners, resident artists and instructors at The Florence Studio. Laura is a gifted world renowned oil painting artist. She is also a gifted teacher. Her three hour workshop will wet your appetite to pursue oil painting. The classroom explanation on mixing colors before we stepped in front of the easels was not dry or tedious (we did have some champagne too!) but well presented and hands on. Neither of us had ever used oils and have limited art experience, especially my husband and we loved it. From there we painted our copies of the Girl with a Pearl Earring. Laura answered our questions and was very encouraging. In this light-filled, beautiful studio, I found myself wishing I could stay much, much longer under her tutelage. I would highly recommend Laura’s class and if you were ever in Florence for an extended stay, to take many classes from her. She is an amazing teacher as well as a very gracious and lovely person. Laura’s husband Frank, is a sculptor. His great-grandfather and great uncle were sculptors in Florence as well. Frank’s works are exhibited all over the world including a life size tribute to Harriet Tubman in Canada where she brought many enslaved people to freedom. My husband (musician) and Frank immediately hit it off discussing a statue in the studio Frank had done of Neil Peart, the drummer for Rush. Like the Harriet work, it is amazing. We set to work sculpting our 11” tall copies of the human torso. Surprisingly it was not hard to do like you would think. It totally helped that Frank, like his wife, is helpful, patient and encouraging. We had a great time and Frank even brought me out a delicious birthday doughnut with a candle. They are very kind and we felt a kinship with them. We were able to bring our sculptures back to the U.S. in our checked luggage (bubbled wrapped and carefully arranged and padded with clothing). I do want to mention Rabbit, one of the pet bunnies that quietly roam the studio spaces. Very sweet and seemed to cotton to my husband. If you are in the great Renaissance city of Florence, experience the world of art in a tangible way. These two workshops are the best. You will not be disappointed.

It was an amazing and different experience after so many cooking classes that mainly offer pasta and tiramisu. I still can't believe I was lucky enough to be part of it. Enrico was funny, but demanding. He explained in detail what a Florentine steak looks like and what is important in its preparation and what mistakes to avoid. Anyway, I think he knows exactly how to do it. He has been running his business for several years and despite the fact that the restaurant does not have any traditional pasta (because Italia does not live only with pasta), this is the uniqueness of this place. I recommend this place and this event with all my heart for people who want to discover something other than pizza and pasta. If you also have an open mind and a good sense of humor, be prepared for a longer evening than you may have expected, thanks to the entertaining Enrico!

We love all types of art/artists and this tour seemed like it would allow us to learn more about them. It was amazing! Maria personalized our tour to include visits to studios/stores of jewelry making, Florentine paper design, leather, mosaics and added stops along the way (textiles, gold leaf painting, local craft show) as she got to know us. We truly enjoyed meeting so many artisans and learning about renaissance and contemporary techniques. HIGHLY RECOMMEND. this tour, it added a wonderful dimension to our trip to Florence!

ArtViva's "Original Florence Walking Tour" was fascinating and fun! This was our 3rd time in Florence, so we're not novices, yet our guide, Alessandro, brought the medieval and renaissance times to life, walking us through many familiar and some new (to us) streets and buildings, and pointing out and explaining things we never knew, or hadn't fully understood. We learned so much, while literally standing in the shadows of history, art and architecture - seeing first hand how people lived, died, ruled and conducted business in historical Florence. Alessandro's knowledge seemed endless and he was really interesting. The pace was great - time enough to learn and absorb, but he also kept us moving. There were only 4 of us, which made things very personalized. We all appreciated the short bathroom and coffee break mid-walk, which is an example of the sophistication of this Artviva tour. The Original Florence Guided Walking tour with Alessandro was one of the highlights of two weeks in Italy. I highly recommend it!

Today we had a walking tour of Florence and the statue of David with Laura. I can not say enough how much we enjoyed her tour and her knowledge. She was beyond our expectations and would 1000% recommend her to anyone. Thank you, The Halbert and Karis family

We had two amazing tours in Florence with Martina G - the walking tour and then a tour of the Bargello Gallery. Her knowledge of the history of each artwork and sculpture was absolutely incredible. And, as an artist herself, she pointed out details in each work that gave us a deep appreciation of each artists techniques, styles and intent. We can't give a high enough recommendation to Martina and Artviva Tours.

Guido was by far one of the best tour guides we've ever had! He was incredibly personable, knowledgable and even showed us some hidden gems along our walking tour. I can't speak highly enough of our experience and appreciated him going above and beyond with recommendations for the rest of our trip.