Fascinating Florence: Guided Walking Tour

Artviva was an exceptional company from the start! They were easy to work with, incredibly accommodating, and a good price! Francesco was everything we could've asked for in a guide. He was kind, engaging, and knowledgeable. We are so grateful we went with them!1

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!

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!

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.

Had a wonderful walking tour with Alessandro who has very knowledgeable and interesting! We signed up for a small group tour and there were only 4 of us which made it even better.

I was charged for the tour. Artviva cancelled the night before and promised a refund. I have reached out several times and no reimbursement still. Beware

The guide, Riccardo, was exellent and extremely kind in remembering the age of the three in the tour also. His comments and anecdotes were informative, also helping one remember what he said. This is the second time I have 'walked' with ArtViva in Florence; the first time was some 20 yrs ago but always a memorable experience and one I would recommend to anyone.

We found ArtViva through Rick Steves’ Tuscany Guide. This is our second semi-private tour, and we were so pleased! Laura was kind, knowledgeable, and expert at pointing out historical & quirky highlights of Florence’s old city, including recommendations on street food. We did go back for lampredotta and a fabulous porchetta sandwich (located near the famous “Fontana del Procellino” – bronze boar statue). Laura’s love of Florence is infectious, and greatly enhanced our enjoyment of the city. Worth every penny. Can’t wait to schedule another ArtViva tour on our next trip to Italy.

We booked this trip in Feb and had to cancel soon afterward due to travel restrictions. The terms and conditions clearly offered a full refund. They resisted for weeks and hid behind the Italian government decree which required them to offer vouchers instead. Even after assuring us they would provide a refund, they have gone dark for 3 months. Disputing with our credit card company now as they hide behind their Munich Germany based payment provider which is a lengthy process. Needless to say, we will never use this service again and will recommend that Rick Steves also takes off his recommendation of these people.

We pre-booked the Florence in One Glorious Day (or Two) tour, and planned for two separate days. We thoroughly enjoyed both parts of the tour and had excellent guides. The guides speak very good English, are extremely knowledgeable about Florentine and Italian art and history. We were very impressed with our guides! The tour lengths were perfect.

My husband and I attended this tour on October 1st, 2019 in the morning. Our tour guide provided a TON of information about the detailed history of Florence! There was a ton of walking involved but we enjoyed being able to see all of the sights. Definitely recommend this tour!

Terrific way to be introduced to Florence! Our guide Florinda was amazing! Her knowledge of history, architecture, and art was incredible. We learned so much and the length of the tour was perfect. She also provided us with recommendations for sites to see, how to gain access, helpful hints, and restaurant suggestions. We highly recommend this tour, you won’t be disappointed!!! Thank you Florinda!!!

Florence came alive for us in the approximately two-hour guided tour. Our very knowledgeable tour guide helped us make sense of the town, understand the culture and wake up to the depth of the treasures that many walk by without noticing. This walk added value for our entire stay. This is a first-class tour company with highly knowledgeable and personal guides.

We read liked this tour as the staff are super friendly, our tour guide Angelo was very informative and brought the story of Florence to life! Was a nice way to see Florence.

I really liked this tour to learn fun facts as well as informative historical information on Florence.

We were in a small group of just our family of four and another couple from the USA. Hilde our guide took us through the streets of Florence and gave us an in depth guide to the buildings and statues and history of Florence. Hilde's tour has given me the inspiration to want to research this history more. As for my husband he already had a bank of knowledge from this era and was full of questions which Hilde was able to answer. As we went round we made mental notes of where we would like to go back to in the afternoon. This tour was great value and would highly recommend to get an insight into this beautiful city.

As first-time visitors to Florence, we took this three-hour walking trip to orient ourselves to the city. We wanted something small and longer than the usual two-hour tour so we'd have a more in-depth understanding. There were only eight people on the trip, and we had ear pieces that functioned well, so we were always able to hear, even when our guide was facing away from us and walking ahead. Our guide was Florentine and extremely knowledgeable. We got insights into medieval and renaissance Florence that we would not otherwise have had. She also offered advice on places to visit, shop, and eat when we asked (she wasn't pushing any particular places). The tour was well-paced, with a stop for bathrooms and gelato about two hours into it. Later in our stay, we took a walking tour with a different tour company, which was pretty much a waste of time, so I can definitely say that this tour is a cut above some others. All in all, I felt it suited our needs very well and would recommend it if you want a more in-depth exposure to the city.

Great tour-guide ( Martina) was great-extremely knowledgeable inspiring history/art/customs etc., friendly-highly recommend.

We thoroughly enjoyed the Florence walking tour guided by Tatyana. She was extremely knowledgeable and very pleasant company. The storytelling manner in which she provided the tour made it much more significant and particularly memorable. This is the tour to take to learn about the wonderful City of Florence!

We really enjoyed our guided 3-hour walking tour of Florence with Brenda. The tour was in English and Brenda brought the history and architecture of Florence to life, with interesting information and stories of the past. It is a great tour as an intro to Florence and I especially appreciated being in a small group (about 12 people) and being taken along less crowded routes when possible . Brenda gave a good over-view of Florence's history and also picked on specific examples of its art and architecture which she was able to illustrate in an easy to follow yet captivating manner. If you can, it makes sense to follow this morning tour with an afternoon guided tour of some of its indoor masterpieces. Highly recommended.

We had a awesome time with our guide Manolis was great was a small group which is helpful to move through areas and ask any questions. He was very knowledgeable and pointed out the history that is real florence and architecture that is worth noting. Very friendly and was quick witted. Would recommend the tour.

Confusing as to were to meet and we almost missed the tour. But overall Laura the Tour guide was very nice and informative.

Our guide Mario was very passionate and knowledgeable about Florence. He was the perfect person to introduce is to the city. We learned about the Medici family and their influence, Florentine history and secrets, all while enjoying ourselves.

History came to life in our Original Florence Walking Tour with Catherine. She shared her excitement and knowledge of history (and art) to bring to life characters that created and formed Florence such as the Medici's, Donatello, Michael Angelo and many others. One could feel transported back in time. Thank you for the wonderful experience, Catherine.

A great tour with loads of information and storeys along the way! Packed full of history and great sites to see, would highly recommend the guys at Art Viva Tours. Our guide was Hilde who was highly knowledgeable and easy to listen to. The group size was perfect. We moved at an easy pace and this tour would be suitable for everyone.

It was an enlightening experience to take "The Original Florence Walk" tour on 2nd September, 2019, with Riccardo, whose genuinely enthusiastic and knowledgeable descriptions of carefully selected architecture and sculptures during the walk was based on his Florentine ancestry. Most impressive was Riccardo's authoritative account of every sculpture adorning the Piazza della Signoria, which made us familiar with Florence's artists during the time of Renaissance.

We took the express tour with Mario a few days ago! He was so wonderful! Very intelligent, wellspoken, a great story teller and really brought the history of Florence to life! Would definitely recommend him and any ArtViva tour!

Full of information, insights and small details - and great fun. Manolis was an excellent guide for an introduction to Florence.

This tour led by Brenda was spectacular. The tour lasted 3 hours, and frankly I thought that would be too long. However, when it ended I wanted more. We learned about the big events in Florence’s history but also many of the small details. Our guide covered everything from the Medici family, food and frescos. She used the local art and architecture to explain the rich history of Florence.

Thank you Brenda for an amazing tour of Florence. I loved your passion for your home town and your knowledge. I only booked this tour at the last minute but was glad I did. J.T

We loved the walking tour with Manolis! Best tour of our travels around Italy. The stories of Florence are so interesting and even better, he told them so well and was so knowledgeable. We wished we'd also booked the Uffizi Gallery trip with Manolis too... next time!

We did the 3hr walking tour with Klaas who was an exceptional guide, so passionate about Florence with outstanding historical knowledge but with a modern and humorous delivery which keeps you interested and wanting to hear more. Terrific tour guide and well spent morning.

My wife and I took this tour yesterday. Brenda did an excellent job of going through the history of Florence and reviewing many of the finer points of Florence. Highly recommended!!!

We did a 3 hour walking tour of Florence and our guide, Brenda, was fantastic! She was from Florence and knew all the little details we would have otherwise missed. She even took time afterwards to show us some recommendations for lunch. It made the city feel do-able and fun and it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. I'm not usually big on group tours but I would definitely recommend artviva and there were only 8 people in our group so that made it feel more personal. The only thing we wished we had done differently is we regretted not booking the uffizi tour with them as well!

Thank you Loredana. You weaved the history, people, statues, art and beautiful buildings together to tell us the fascinating story of Florence.

Barbara was an excellent guide who introduced us to some fascinating details about Florence. She had a lovely sense of humour and the whole tour was fun and interesting.

Barbara our tour guide was knowledgeable, hilarious, and fun. It was amazing to explore tucked away things that we would have completely missed on our own and to be given the history and context. The ear phones were great to have as we could walk, look around, and have no problem hearing the commentary. Barbara also gave us directions to the most amazing gellato shop-- off the beaten track and never would have discovered it otherwise. I have done a walking tour in every city that I have visited on this trip, and fascinating florence has been by far the best!

We thoroughly enjoyed our walking tour with Brenda. She loves Florence and was so enthusiastic and happy to give us some very interesting historical facts which made the rest of our stay in Florence much more meaningful. We tried a Florentine beefsteak on Brenda's recommendation and it was delicious!!

Riccardo was very knowledgeable and more then willing to give us helpful tips about good places to visit, eat and useful suggestions of what to avoid.

My wife and I had a brilliant time on this tour! Francesca, our guide, was informative, fun and could answer any questions we had. The fact that she was a local meant that she could also point out local spots for us to visit later for a drink. The tour itself was great. We both loved hearing about the history of the sights and hearing how their uses and purposes have changed over time. This tour helped us understand things we wouldn’t have by just walking around and looking at them on our own. We 100% recommend this tour. Thank you, Francesca!

Angelo our guide was superb entertaining us on the history for Florence !!! We thoroughly enjoyed our tour and would highly recommend It to everyone. We were so impressed that we have booked More tours with this company

Florence is beautiful and this is the best way to get a taste of this wonderful city! Hilde was entertaining and informative; ask for her by name!

Had a wonderful walking tour with Ricardo (not the fictional Roberto). He was incredibly knowledgble and manage to make many parts of Florentian culture come alive. We did the tour on our last full day in Florence and wish we had done it earlier to provide better context to what we saw during our stay. Make sure to get his opinion on Gelato and where to get it! he pointed us to a shop close to our hotel whose gelato was far superior to what my wife had earlier in our stay, for 1/2 the price. Basically dodging the tourist rip-off.

1. Wear shorts! Despite what the description says, you do not need long pants or covered shoes. I showed up in both during a 35degC summer, and was really regretful :( many others from my group were in shorts and slippers, and they were able to enter all the buildings. 2. Wait for your tour guide at LEVEL 1 - at the building. They say their offices are at level 2, but after walking up a long flight of stairs to find them, they will tell you to wait at the ground level 1 for the tour guide to arrive. 3. Bring your own high quality earphones! If you own a pair of nice in-ears, the headsets they give you use a regular 3.5mm output. They will supply you with apple earpod style earphones, but a nice sealed in ear will make your tour much more enjoyable. Beside that, the tour was AMAZING. Hands down the best money I've spent in Florence. Without them, you'd be walking around the street going "oh cool hole in the wall". My tour guide, Tatiana, was a former actress who gave us a tour with extreme enthusiasm and candor. She was amazing thank you so much! This might have been the best tour I've ever taken! :)

Tatiana was a wonderful guide who presented information in a way that was engaging and animated which made the three hour tour feel like one hour despite the extreme heatwave! She is a gifted tour guide with just the right balance of knowledge and personality with a very personable approach. What a jewel in our Florence experience! Thanks so much Tatiana from our family.

I did the morning walk in historic center of Florence with Angelo. He was a fantastic guide. Professional, friendly and interesting. I was so pleased with my experience I ended up doing four different tours with Artviva. I will certainly use them again on all future visits!

Tatjana was simply superb as we meandered through Florence historical sights and shared her wealth of knowledge on the history and architecture of Firenze!

My wife and I really enjoyed this walking tour. It was great to know what you are looking at while walking around Florence. Irene, our tour guide, was also amazing! She was very knowledgeable about anything. And genuinely loved sharing Florence with tourists.