Private Tour: Day Trip To Florence And Pisa From Rome With Lunch

Driver was the guide. He was helpful and I could understand him to talk to. Showed us interesting information in Florence and also Pisa. Was a very long day and he even showed us some of the sights of Rome when taking us back to the hotel. The reason I would not recommend to a freind is that for Elderly it is a very long way. For younger people ,no worries.

Quick trip to Pisa and Florence. The Pisa portion was without a tour guide, just go take pictures. It would have been nice to know that entry to the tower requires advance purchase of tickets. The guided tour of central Florence was good. Tour guide was funny and helpful with any questions. The square was jam packed with tourists, making following the guide difficult at times. For a quick bite, this was an okay tour.

Ali, our tour guides very personable and friendly. Show us the general Highpoint of each stop and then let us go on our own. Only Regret is the boat leaves too early.

I only give this a three star because the van was old and the air conditioning didn’t work well so the 3 of us the were sitting in the back sweat was just dripping off of us and the shocks were terrible. Our diver Ivano and our tour guide Felice were great. They tried the best they could to get us cooled down in the back and tried their best to make our day memorable.

It was canceled because it didn't meet the minimum number of participants. I was very disappointed and had to scramble last minute to find something

It was great having a knowledgeable person who could assure that we were receiving a fair deal in the shops and restaurants.

The transportation was in a small van with broken A/C. The tour guide had no guided aids and was hard to hear. He was nice and very helpful in navigating through Florence and took us to a nice restaurant for lunch.

Bad car, bad driver, bad experience, bad communication. It was a bad experience for me For the first communication with the operator was so bad, the car was old and had Small chairs for this long trip

We were in near accidents twice. Our driver Hugo, was a very reckless driver. He crashed the car twice on our way back from Pisa, Italy. First time was when he pulled over into a gas station and crashed the front of the car into the curb. Although the crash was minor, it was bad enough to rattle us. The next time was during the long drive in the highway, he swiped the side of the car onto the railing of the road. He was speeding at the time when it was rainy and dark. He said that the vehicle was ‘not good’ and so we were scared that the car might not be safe to drive. He was driving us alone without a guide with him, and he spoke very little English so it was hard to communicate with him. On top of that, our local guide in Florence was 30 minutes late and so we were rushed for time during the tour in Florence, and what was supposed to be a 2 hour tour was reduced to 1 1/2 hours.

The biggest problem with this tour was distance. Pisa is about 4 hours from Rome, and Florence 3. So for our nearly 10 hour day was over 8 hours in transit. When we got to Pisa there was no guide. We were on our own, but with barely an hour to explore there was little time to do much beyond look at the tower. This was unfortunate, as the site had multiple other things to see - including a basilica. But each required you to pay (even the restroom), so you didn’t want to gamble on waiting in line for tickets you could not use. I think that between 1/2 day and a full day might be enough time for Pisa, depending upon how interested you are in the local history. There is much to see even on the site. Did have some yummy pizza at a restaurant out by the souvenir shops (on your left as you walk toward the entrance). Lunch was supposed to be included but was not, so good thing we snacked! Florence was beautiful, and our guide was fantastic. I did not catch his name unfortunately, but he was from Pakistan, was a student, had lived in Italy for several years, and was very knowledgeable and pleasant. We had about 1.5 hours - would have loved more time. This tour might be fine starting from closer to (or in) Pisa or Florence, and it’s at least partly my fault for not looking at a map. However, at $500 for two people I think I would have done better to leave our stuff in Rome, rent a second hotel room for one or two nights in Pisa or Florence, traveled by train, and connected with local guides. The cost would have been comparable and we would not have been anywhere near as rushed. But travel is like that. Live and learn!

The van is not well maintained. We were bouncing off the seats with every crack & bump of the roads. We feel very unsafe. Then the driver told us, the trip is not included lunch when it started as advertised and listed on ticket conversation. Very rush at each stop and when we got to Florence, we waited for almost 30mins for a tour guide, who just started that week and have no history of any landmarks. All he said a ‘here is an old church’, ‘here is a statue of historian man’. When you ask - he said ‘I don’t know’. We pretty much google everything. Very expensive for a very poor experiences.

This Semi-Private day trip was very fun! The ride from Rome to Florence is about 3hrs and our driver did stop at a rest stop/gas station on the way so we can use the restroom and grab breakfast to go. Our tour guide in Florence was AMAZING! She was very sweet and provided a lot of history about Florence. We had 3hrs to visit Florence, but now after going I wish we had a full day. I gave it 3 stars because lunch was not provided and the driver didn’t speak any English. So we weren’t given any information on where we were going or what we were driving by. Also, the driver was speeding the entire trip and one of the van seats weren’t securely locked in. So when he made a hard stop almost hitting the back of a mobile home my sister and the seat flew up! He didn’t check on her after or make sure we were alright, he continued to drive. Pisa is definitely a pic stop only but fun as well. 1hr there then 3 1/2hr back to Rome

Your header says that it includes lunch and that is why I choose it and paid for it. Only after the tour started did I find out that lunch was not included and we really were not given time to eat a proper meal. Very disappointed.

This was so bad. Please do not waste your money. I thought this tour was going to be on a bus. It was on a minivan. 6 couples packed like sardines. The couple in front of us smelled so bad, mind you since we are packed in a mini van, there was no escaping the smell. Couldn’t hear the tour lady speak in the car. Just awful experience and waste of money. I can’t give it any stars but forced to give it one to write this review. If you can, do a private tour without anyone else.

Our semi private tour turned into a private tour for my wife and I. Lorie our tour guide was outstanding, She showed us around Florence and Pisa making sure we saw all the highlights. Her knowledge of the history of Florence was incredible. We also had a great driver who made us feel safe and comfortable. Many thanks for a great day trip!!

Our tour guide was great!! Super knowledgeable and curtious. I definitively recommend seeing Florence in the winter.... the lines are already long in the winter... in the summer it must be absolutely impossible to get around. First Sunday of every month they do a change of guard procession and it is a pretty sight to see I wish we had more time to spent at Pisa. It was definitively too short. There should be at least another hour dedicated there.

This tour is a fantastic way to get a taste of 2 different areas that we would not otherwise get to see. We loved the tour is so beautiful! Thank you for a great tour!

Not impressed with this tour. It seemed very rushed, about getting more money out of us by visiting their friend's shop and feeling pressured to spend money. No free time at either Florence or Pisa to get souvenirs. The lunch was a joke, water and two courses of appetisers which were two mouthfuls per dish, not a lunch. The tour guide seemed knowledgeable but we got no information on the way to Florence or on the way back from Pisa. I have had many tours over the years, none as expensive as this, and never had such a poor experience or lack of information. Had to buy a book on Florence and Pisa when I got back to try and learn about what I had seen.

Our driver Stefano and tour guide Debra were the best we ever had. Stefano was polite and stopped whenever we wanted. Debra our guide was absolutely wonderful. She was courteous and knowledgeable throughout this trip and even helped us to get the best prices at the shops. She actually became one of us which made the trip even better. If we do this tour next time we will ask for both of these terrific individuals. Great experience for all.

Our tour guide and driver were awesome! There was a total of 5 of us and the van was very spacious. We had ample time at each stop and our tour guide always checked up on us frequently to make sure we got to see what we wanted to see.

We absolutely loved Florence and Pisa. We wished we had much more time in Florence. This is one of those tours where the company did all it could to make it nice, but it is just difficult from a geographic standpoint. The whole tour is about 12 hours with about 8 of those hours spend in the van going back and forth. Our guide and the driver were both excellent and super friendly, but the van was warm and it got uncomfortable on the long drive. I would suggest a tour that allows you to spend the night in Florence so you can really enjoy the sites and the markets, but would definitely recommend this tour company for any tours you plan.

<p>The trip to Florence was about 3 hours one way. Our family of five got picked up from where we were staying in on time. Our driver, Boris, was friendly and polite. Beware if you get dizzy easily - I suggest bringing motion sickness medicine along with for the trip to and from Florence. It was a bit disorganized as we were off schedule due to difficulty finding parking in Florence. We arrived in Florence and he gave us a small tour, but followed us around while on his cellphone the whole time. We suggested eating lunch as soon as we got there. The tour said that lunch was it included, but there was a bit of confusion with our driver. We embarrassingly had to remind him that it was included in the tour, asked him to pay for our lunch and he apologized for the confusion. We later left for Pisa and it took about 2 hours. We spent a bit of time touring both the cathedral and dome and he did not rush us at all, although we were on our own. The drive home was about 3 hours long and exhausting to say the least. He was considerate in taking bathroom breaks on the way there and back from Florence. Would recommend having a good night sleep before the trip. On the day of make sure that you bring snacks and drinks as this is a long drive.</p>

This trip was a scam! They advertised/described this as a semi-private/small group tour with a maximum number of people in the tour. There were over 30 of us in a bus and we had to rush through the entire tour. Although the tour guide Vittoria was nice and pleasant, I did not pay a lot of money for a huge tour. I paid for a semi private tour. When i complained to Viator, i was told that I should have backed out of the tour when I saw the size of the group! Do not sign up for this overpriced tour if you want a smalller tour group! You will be sorry!

<p>The tour was quite good. However the guide was not spontaneous in English</p>

<p>We had a great trip with Vittoria. She was incredibly knowledgeable and we learned so much about the history of Florence. Although it rained all day it still was a worthwhile visit. Pisa was wonderful and again, Vittoria knew so much and was able to explain the area very well.This excursion is well worth the cost.</p>

<p>The drive is long and it is a long day, but seeing the sights of Florence and Pisa was well worth the drive. I would highly recommend this tour for those who are in Rome and cannot afford to spend 3 days in Florence and Pisa.</p>

<p>A long day but the trade was well worth it for what we learned about the two locations. The only thing i would change was fo rate guide t provide some other insights to Florence that we found other people we met had been shown.</p>

<p>This was an amazing trip. Florence was beautiful and the tour guide took us around and explained all the various sights along the way. There was plenty of time for pictures. The tower of Pisa was phenomenal. There was lots of time for some great pictures!! The lunch was fantastic. Our family of 4 is all vegetarian and they went out of their way to ensure we got a great meal too. We also squeezed in some shopping at the leather market next door which wasn't quite part of the tour. Very flexible tour guide and good value for your money.</p>

<p>If you are traveling with your family to Rome with very limited time and wish to see other parts of Italy's history, I definitely recommend this tour.</p>

<p>Didn't have any time to explore Florence. No art and no museums. Got to Pisa late it was ok but would have liked to see it in daylight. Thought lunch was included, but we paid for it.</p>

<p>The tour is great for people who have some prior knowledge of Florence and Pisa, but is otherwise boring for those who don't. The reason the tour takes so long is primarily due to the distance between Rome and Florence, but if there is no prior knowledge of Florence, you are better off just going to Pisa by itself.</p>

<p>My wife and I just returned from a trip to Rome. We went on many scheduled tours which we purchased through VIATOR. We did what we thought was careful research. Most of the tours were very good. This was a disaster from start to finish. </p> <p>Our tour guide Vittoria was completely disconnected from the four of us who were on this semi-private tour. The majority of the day was spent in a very worn out noisy van with no commentary about what we were seeing as we drove through Tuscany to Florence from Rome. Vittoria who acted as both tour guide and driver spent hours on her phone talking, thumbing through apps, and texting. Very, very dangerous. I considered finding an alternative way back to Rome, but since we paid such a large price for this tour 586.00 for two people, we endured her terrible driving. </p> <p>While we were in Florence she spent maybe 2 hours being a tour guide, but we did not have a chance to learn much. While in Pisa, she gave us 30 minutes to visit the tower and other surrounding sites, and then left us alone with ZERO commentary.</p> <p>I could go on and give more details, read some of the other recent reviews and you will see a similar pattern. In my opinion we wasted a day of our vacation 14.5 hours on this tour. My recommendation is to look elsewhere if you want to go on a day trip from Rome to Florence.</p>

<p>Although a lot of driving, there was adequate time to enjoy Florence and Pisa and take nice pictures.</p>

<p>When we found this tour, it seemed on the expensive side, and promised a very long day, but our guide Andrea made it a pleasure from beginning to end. The expense was justified based on the miles covered, as well as the very nice lunch in Florence, and of course the knowledge and patience of our guide. He even did some extras like helping on some leather-bag shopping in Florence and finding a special statue Fibonacci I wanted to see which was hidden away near the tower in Pisa. The expense was well worth it, allowing us to make the most of a spare day in Rome.</p>

<p>Overall, we had fantastic tours in Italy. This tour was awful. I spent 750 for this day, and it was terrible. First, I tried confirming our pickup time and location the day prior. The voucher only stated that we would be picked up 1 hour prior to the 7:30am departure time. I texted the contact number, emailed the tour guide, sent them a facebook message, but ultimately ended up contact Viator for assistance. I received a text at 5:30am on the day of the tour that our guide would pick us up at 7:15am. It is a 2 hour drive to Florence. Our tour guide, Vittoria, never spoke to us the whole drive. She had her headphones in, talking on the phone, the entire trip. She also texted several times while driving. When we arrived, she gave us a quick walk through the city. The restaurant we went to was a tourist trap restaurant with terrible service. When we finished eating, we started to wonder what the plan was next. I got up to find our guide, and she said, now is your free time until 2:30. It was already 2pm. We didn't realize we had spent most of our free time sitting at this terrible restaurant. We paid for a 3-4 person tour. There were actually 5 people total, plus the guide, meaning 6 of us were in the van. In Florence, we picked up someone else. Vittoria said it was another tour guide. So now we had even less space. In Pisa, we had 30 minutes, 15 of which we spent in line for a bathroom. Then, it's about a 3 hour drive home. It was a horrible way to experience two very beautiful cities. It would have been nice if she had talked to us on the drive, given us some history on the cities, anything. Added bonus, my friend accidentally left her cell phone in the car at the end of the day. It was a nightmare trying to get it back. It took two days. After scheduling three different times to meet us and not showing up, we called Viator to ask what to do. They told us to report the phone stolen. I texted Vittoria to let her know, and of course that resulted in us getting the phone back. She told my friend she would drop it off at 8:30am. My friend waited outside our Airbnb until 9:15am when she finally arrived. Unbelievable.</p>

<p>The tour itself was fine, though it didn't deliver all that was promised. This was supposed to be a semi-private tour with a guide, driver and tour escort. We only had a driver who also acted as the tour guide. Her name is Victoria. She did a good job, however, I think she was also the office manage and/or supervisor. I don't think they had enough people signed up for this, so they tried to change the date. In the end, Victoria ended up being the driver and guide. She was on the phone all the times we were driving and there was zero commentary about the countryside during our drive. albeit, the noise in the van would have made that difficult without a sound system - and our van did not have that. As it was, we ended up with a private tour since there were only the 4 in our family on the trip. It was a very long day, but it was the only way we could see both Pisa and Florence given our limited time in Italy. By the way, they selected a local restaurant in Florence for lunch. it suited us perfectly - not too expensive and really good food. </p> <p>The biggest issue was with the coordination. We got a call a couple of days before, asking if we could switch dates. We could not because we were only in Rome for 5 days and had other reserved tours. We did give them one day we could switch to, so the tour company RomaeTravel said they would get back to us. They never initiated another call. Because of the uncertainty created by the first call, we contacted them several times trying to get a firm commitment. We wanted something in writing or a voicemail message. Everything was verbal. Last contact before pickup said 7:00am at our hotel. So we were ready at 6:45am. We didn't get picked up until 8:20am! To be fair, there were road access issues in central Roma due to the Pope's travels. Viator's support was pretty much non-existent. A message sent on their website goes to a service center. We got an automated reply but no real work on our problem/concern. Viator who we have used many times is efficient when it works well. Don't expect great customer service if it doesn't. </p> <p>Interesting note in conclusion. They don't offer the Florence and Pisa trip any more or at least not during the end of October. My guess is that they didn't get enough people to do the trip the way it was advertised. Maybe canceling would have been better than the stressful lead up to the start of the tour.</p>

<p>There were 4 members in our family so we actually ended up having a private tour. Our guide was really great. Because<br/> it was just us, and 3 of us had been there before, she took us into the cathedral, and gave us extra shopping time at the<br/> market. Lunch was included and the restaurant that was chosen was a little busy but the food was excellent. We really<br/> liked the fact that we had plenty of options to choose from. <br/> We chose this tour mostly because my 15 year old niece had Pisa on her bucket list. She wasn't able to climb the Leaning<br/> Tower because the next available time slot was 1 1/2 hours later, but our guide offered to wait if that's what my<br/> niece really wanted to do. Instead my niece opted for shopping and the guide even gave the kids a chance to go<br/> to the nearby McDonald's.<br/> My only hesitation about the tour was our driver. He thought he was Mario Andretti , especiallly on the highways<br/> and gave us a couple of nerve wracking moments.</p>

<p>What a beautiful experience. The tour guide explained to us a lot of facts about the history of Italy and Florence on the way to our destination. In Florence we got to see the key sights and also had free time to purchase some leather goods Florence famous for leather goods. A lunch at a local restaurant was also included..Then off to Pisa to see the famous leaning tour. A long day but well worth it. Left at 7am and returned to our hotel at 9:30pm</p>

<p>Vittoria was a wonderful tour guide! This trip was definitely worth it since you do not need more than a day to see Florence / Pisa. I would highly recommend to anyone!</p>

<p>Loved our tour guide Victoria. She was very knowledgeable about the history of Florence and Pisa. So many beautiful sights included in this walking tour. I'm glad we booked this tour!</p>

<p>Such a great way to see Florence and Pisa with such a great tour guide. We were able to see the area as we drove up from Rome to Florence and spent a half day exploring the rich history and markets of Florence. Pisa was also such a great place to visit. Overall I think this was a great value and tour for day tour.</p>

<p>Our guide was terrific! It was just 2 of us in our tour, which was nice. Personal attention and knowledgeable guide! Very enjoyable.</p>

<p>Angelica is a wonderful young lady and very knowledgable. She helped in every posible way. The driver was excellent as well and very helpful and nice.</p>

<p>This was one of the best tours we took in Rome. Victoria was very helpful and answered our many questions! I would do this tour again!</p>

<p>Very inefficient use of time but guide did her best and lunch was good. Total time was 15 hours which was way too long. Suggest you take high speed rail from Rome and get an audio tour for Florence. Pisa was a photo stop only. 3/4 of the day was in the car. I would not do it this way again.</p>

<p>Our Semi private tour to Florence and Pisa from Rome was really amazing. We went with a group of 4 people in an eight seater Mercedes car. The tour guide Ms. Angelica was really fantastic. She was so punctual that she came to our hotel at sharp 7:30am to pick us up with Ms.Carmela. She was very cheerful, pleasant and she made sure that every passenger was comfortable while travelling and visiting places. Also she was well aware of the places and was happy and patient enough to answer everybody's questions and doubts. The driver, Ms. Carmela is an efficient and safe driver. She also was very polite with the passengers. Both of them are definitely an asset to the company. Our lunch was arranged in a good restaurant in Florence. We enjoyed the trip.</p>

<p>Absolutely amazing!!!! The guide was awesome, the whole experience was worth it.</p>

<p>Victoria, our tour guide, was really helpful. She entertained all our questions and made sure we were comfortable. She even helped out while we were shopping at the outdoor market store. Since we were the only ones in the tour, it was a private one! Duomo at Florence is really impressive. Too bad we weren't able to see the actual David statue in one of the museums</p>

<p>This trip was most enjoyable! We were picked up from the hotel on time, car was comfortable, tour guide Vittoria was very knowledgeable, we did get a chance to spent 4-5 hours in Florence including decent lunch and about 2 hours in Pisa including climbing up to the top of the leaning tower. Ride back was no less than 3 hours so this is full day trip</p>