We want to help you discover one of the most beautiful corners of Italy that is far undervisited. Whether you are staying the Tuscan Coast Area to really get to know this part of Italy or coming in for a day trip from Florence, we’ll work with you to create the best itinerary for you!
Rates are per group up to 6 people, NOT per person. Please inquire for pricing for larger groups.
For more ideas about what to see and do in the area without your guide, check out our blog posts about what to visit in Florence & Tuscany.
HALF DAY TOURS
Livorno: Art, Food & Boat Tour
Experience Livorno, a real hidden gem on the Tuscan coast, untouched by mainstream tourism. You’ll experience a canal boat ride and then brush shoulders with the locals in Tuscany’s largest covered market without the tourist crowds.
Tour Details
- Duration: 4 hours
- Cost: €320 for 4 hours with a guide
- Additional Costs: €50 per person for tastings in the market & 1 hour canal boat ride
Full Day with a private driver from Florence
Meet your guide in Livorno at the Central train station or we can arrange a private driver. Cost for driver from Florence for a full day with driver (8 hours) the cost is €590 for 1-3 people or €660 for 4-7 people. For other pick up locations, please enquire for a quote.
Tour Description
Experience Livorno, a real hidden gem on the Tuscan coast, untouched by mainstream tourism. We’ll hop onto a canal boat for a unique view of the city by water, past its famous grand palazzos, central market, and the Medici fortress into the harbour. Livorno’s history includes its foundation as a Renaissance “ideal city” under the Medici, who transformed it into one of the most important free ports in the Mediterranean. For centuries it replaced Pisa as Tuscany’s main port and became known for its religious tolerance and tax privileges, attracting merchants, foreigners, and a significant Jewish community who lived and worked side by side, giving the city its uniquely cosmopolitan spirit.
Then, we’ll experience the enormous 19th century central market (the largest and most grandiose in all of Tuscany), devoid of the tourist crowds you’ll find in Florence. Here you can try the best prosciutto, cheeses, and olive oil and experience the lively fish market. If you’re up for something stronger, you have to try the Livornese drink “Ponce” – a coffee & rum pick-me-up you won’t find anywhere else in Tuscany. Then follow in the footsteps of Stanley Tucci as you try the famous crispy chickpea flour sandwich known as “cinque & cinque.”
A tour of Livorno is a tour of the real Italy. You’ll meet locals, taste local delicacies and escape the crowds.
Livorno: Behind-the-Scenes Culinary Experience
This tour is for those of you who want to go behind the scenes to learn the secrets of Italy’s culinary specialties as explained directly by local food artisans directly in their kitchen or laboratory.
Tour Details
- Duration: 4 hours.
- Cost: €320 for 4 hours with a guide
- Additional Costs
- Tasting budget in the market (about €25 per person)
- 1.5 hour cheese making class (2-3 people €50/person, 4-6 people: €35/person)
- 1 hour pasta making class in the central market itself with “The King of Pasta!” (€75 per person for 2-8 people)
Full Day with a private driver from Florence
Meet your guide in Livorno at the Central train station or we can arrange a private driver. Cost for driver from Florence for a full day with driver (8 hours) the cost is €590 for 1-3 people or €660 for 4-7 people. For other pick up locations, please enquire for a quote.
Tour Description
After an abbreviated market tour (see the description above), we’ll accompany you on one of the following short cooking experiences:
The first is a 1.5 hour mozzarella making class in the backroom of the most heavenly smelling cheese shop in Livorno. It’s located right along the canals and operated by a fun-loving group of young cheesemakers. You’ll follow the entire process of making Italian mozzarella from the salt bath that cures the cheese, to stretching the “dough” with your hands, to making your own creamy burrata cheese.
The second class is a 1 hour full immersion pasta making class with “The King of Pasta” himself. The exuberant chef Valerio Chiesa has literally made his tortelli for Queen Elizabeth and the Pope! (His latest invention is 23-carat gold painted fresh pasta.) On this experience, he’ll share with you his more humble approach to making fresh ravioli or tagliatelle from scratch in his kitchen right inside the central market. Then you’ll enjoy a dish of your handmade pasta with a glass of wine.
This behind-the-scenes culinary tour is a fun and hands on experience for everyone in the family.
Lari Half Day
Join us for the ultimate off the beaten track food tour in the charming Tuscan town of Lari.
Tour Details
- Duration: 4 hours.
- Cost if you have your own transportation: €320 for 4 hours with a guide + Tastings: €50 per person
- Not included: Lunch
- Cost with private transportation from Florence: €320 for 4 hours with a guide + Tastings: €60 per person. Additional cost for a driver from Florence is €590 for 1-3 people or €660 for 4-7 people. For options from the Livorno coast area, please enquire.
Tour Description
Visit the medieval town of Lari for a culinary experience unlike any other. We will start with a visit to the pasta making factory of the famous Martelli family before visiting Giorgio, a local blacksmith who specialises in medieval armour. Giorgio has made over thirty suits of armour for the Palio of Siena and a visit to his workshop is an incredible experience.
Next we’ll stop for some prosciutto and salami from the local butcher, visit their ageing cave and learn just what it takes to make salami! We will conclude with and visit a pecorino cheese cave located in an ancient Etruscan grotto that creates the perfect temperature for aging cheese. Here you will do an olive oil tasting educational experience with Roberta where you’ll learn just what is in a good olive oil and how to avoid the bad stuff!
This morning can conclude with a lunch on location in Lari or, if you have transportation, with an extended lunch at a local Agriturismo that specialises in the production of honey and saffron.
Pisa & The Leaning Tower Half Day Tour
A visit to Pisa is often inspired by the architectural wonder of the leaning tower, but the city has so much more to offer its visitors than this singular attraction. A city of artists, scientists and merchants, Pisa was a powerful maritime Republic that rivaled Florence in its prime. On this half day tour, you’ll not only experience history as you climb the leaning tower, you’ll get a taste of real Tuscan life in this university town on the Arno river.
Tour details:
- Duration: 4 hours
- Cost: €320 for guide + tickets: €29 per person to climb the tower or €10 per person to visit other sites in the miracle square
Coming from Florence? Consider a private driver
If you’re coming from Florence the train takes about 1 hour, or we can arrange a private driver service: Additional cost for a driver from Florence for a half day (5 hours) is €390 for 1-3 people or €490 for 4-7 people. For a full day with driver (8 hours) the cost is €590 for 1-3 people or €660 for 4-7 people.
Tour Description
Begin with a stroll through the medieval streets, where contrasts define the city: a bold mural by Keith Haring, the delicate church of Santa Maria della Spina along the Arno, and the house where Galileo was born near the site of his later experiments. Ancient porticoes and churches frame the daily rhythm of markets in the morning and aperitivo in the evening.
In the Square of the Knights, students gather beneath the historic university founded by Napoleon and the tower of Count Ugolino, immortalized in Dante’s Divine Comedy — a reminder of Pisa’s long academic tradition that educated figures from Galileo to Andrea Bocelli.
No visit is complete without exploring the Square of Miracles: the grand Romanesque cathedral, the baptistry with its haunting echo, the monumental Camposanto, and of course the Leaning Tower — whose curious tilt and careful preservation you’ll discover before climbing its 297 steps for sweeping views.
FULL DAY TOURS
Lari morning + Chocolate or wine tasting
Tour Details
- Duration: Full day tour 6-8 hours
- Cost: €400 for guide, any tastings additional
- You will need transportation to reach Lari. Let us know if you have your own car. Additional cost for a driver from Florence is €590 for 1-3 people or €660 for 4-7 people. For options from the Livorno coast area, please enquire.
- Tastings: €100 per person (includes morning tastings in Lari and either chocolate or wine experience)
Tour Description
After a morning in Lari (see description above), head to either a chocolate tasting or wine tasting.
In the afternoon choose one of these two experiences to complete your day of tasting!
Chocolate Tasting: Visit the atelier of Cecilia Rabassi, one of the first female master chocolatiers in the industry (1989). A founder of the renowned Amidei chocolate line, she is now devoted to crafting small-batch artisanal chocolate in Tuscany. At her atelier, you’ll be welcomed by her son for a guided tasting experience, where you’ll discover the depth, complexity, and passion behind their chocolate-making tradition.
Wine Tasting: No Tuscan food experience is complete without tasting one of the regions most famous products: its wine. Tour a winery, aging cellars and ancient caves before a guided wine tasting on site.
Lari & Pisa
Description
Tour Details
- Duration: Full day tour about 8 hours
- Cost: €600 for 8 hours with a guide, any entry tickets or tastings additional
- This tour can be done taking trains in between location or hiring a private driver for the day. Additional cost for a driver from Florence is €590 for 1-3 people or €660 for 4-7 people.
Tour Description
Livorno and Pisa are two Tuscan coast cities that have been rivals for centuries and on this tour you’ll get to know both of them. In Livorno, choose to visit in the morning to exploring the Venice district and medieval fortress of Livorno along with the historic central market where you’ll taste the best local foods or take a boat out for the afternoon along the coast. The other half of the day will be in Pisa for a tour of the square of Miracles and leaning tower.
Livorno & Pisa
Tour Details
- Duration: Full day tour about 8 hours
- Cost: €600 for 8 hours with a guide, any entry tickets or tastings additional
- This tour can be done taking trains in between location or hiring a private driver for the day. Additional cost for a driver from Florence is €590 for 1-3 people or €660 for 4-7 people.
Tour Description
Livorno and Pisa are two Tuscan coast cities that have been rivals for centuries and on this tour you’ll get to know both of them. In Livorno, choose to visit in the morning to exploring the Venice district and medieval fortress of Livorno along with the historic central market where you’ll taste the best local foods or take a boat out for the afternoon along the coast. The other half of the day will be in Pisa for a tour of the square of Miracles and leaning tower.
Pisa & Lucca
Tour details
- Duration: Full day tour about 8 hours
- Cost: €600 for 8 hours with a guide, any entry tickets or tastings additional
- This tour can be done taking trains in between location or hiring a private driver for the day. Additional cost for a driver from Florence is €590 for 1-3 people or €660 for 4-7 people.
Tour Description
Visit the leaning tower of Pisa in the morning before heading to Lucca in the afternoon. We’ll discuss how you’d like to customize this tour based on your interests!
Pisa & Winery Full Day Experience
Spend the morning exploring Pisa, a bustling university town, birthplace of Galileo, and of course the location of the famous Leaning Tower before heading to a winery in the afternoon where you’ll do a full wine tasting in Chianti.
Tour details:
- The tour: Half day guided tour with licensed guide + driver service to countryside winery + tasting
- Cost: €830 for 1-3 people or €900 for 4-7 people.(includes 3 hour guided tour of Pisa and private driver for the day from Florence)
- Ticket costs: €50-€75 per adult for tickets/winery (depending on wine tasting chosen and Pisa tickets chosen – we can discuss at booking)
Tour Description:
Either meet your guide directly in Pisa to begin your walking tour of the city or get picked up by minivan in Florence or surroundings to start off your day. You’ll explore the highlights of Pisa, climb the leaning tower and learn about the life and discoveries of Galileo (explained in more details in the half day Pisa tour above) before heading out with your driver to a winery in the countryside near Vinci, birthplace of Leonardo.
Enjoy a full tour of a winery including a tour of the vineyards, cellar, and a guided tasting of wines before heading back to Florence (or your accommodation).
This is a great option for those staying in Florence who want to take a day trip into the Pisa/Chianti area.
Wine Tasting in Bolgheri: The birthplace of Super Tuscans
Bolgheri is the birthplace of Super Tuscans – the unconventional Italian wine that conquered the world and now is some of the most famous wine produced in the country. Join our sommelier driver for a visit to two wineries in the area and lunch.
Tour Details
- Cost for a driver to Bolgheri from Florence for the day is €725 for 1-3 people and €760 for 4-7 people. This day is about 10 hours.
- Estimated tasting costs: You will visit two wineries and tasting costs can range from €20 per winery to over €100 per winery. We’ll talk about what kind of experience you’d like to have when planning this tour together.
- Cost of lunch additional: from €20-€50 per person, depending on what you order/where you’d like to go
Tour Description
On this tour of the Bolgheri area, you’ll have an introduction to the coastal area of Bolgheri and their world-famous wines. Tuscany was known for its production of Chianti Classico but in the 20th century, wine producers started experimenting in the area of Bolgheri with French varietals like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot, creating blends that fell outside the Italian wine regulation system but which wine drinkers loved. Between winery visits, you’ll also stop at the town of Bolgheri itself, located at the end of the longest cypress lined road in Italy.
The wineries you visit on this day are up to you. You can visit some of the big names in the Bolgheri area like Ornellaia or Argentiera (where visits/tastings are €80-€100 per person) or some of the less well known (but no less delicious) producers where visits are €20 per person.
Interested in more wine tours? Check out the wine tours we offer around Italy on our Wine Club & Tours page.
Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre is known for its beautiful coastline, colourful towns, and incredible hiking trails. Sometimes called the Amalfi Coast of Liguria, any visit here is an unforgettable experience. I often hear from people who want to visit Cinque Terre for a day from Florence and while this is possible I advise against it as you’ll spend more time in the car than actually enjoying the area.
Tour Details
- Starting time from Florence: 8am (about 10 hours)
- Cost of driver from Florence area: €790 for 1-3 people, €890 for 4-7 people
- Cost of guide: Additional: €80 per hour, 3 hour minimum
- Private Boat for a full day: €1,000
The best way to organise a Cinque Terre excursion is to discuss your plans with us while booking. It’s a unique and beautiful place and one size certainly doesn’t fit all. If you have an idea of how many days you have available and what your interest is (hiking, tasting wine, best photos, boat experiences) then I can put together some suggestions for you.