We took them on our first trip to Florence and enjoyed them very much. The tour was good and the guide was equally as good.

The best part in my opinion is that we met people from many different parts of the world and getting to meet them was fun. Meeting other people is one of the great things about vacations and there is no better way than over glasses of wine and good food. Our dinner was at a little village restaurant and was very good. A thoroughly wonderful experience. We are still in communication with several of them and one couple will be coming to Canada to visit us.

I realize that there are many folks on this forum who swear by the private tours, I found them very expensive and very private.

Nice to hear.

I do not understand why there are so many many many posts about the smaller groups and private guides on TA.

Actually the view while on the road would be better from a large bus than from the back seat of a car.

I wish more people who take the Viator or CAF tours would post on TA

There are many private tour guides in Florence. They all do a very good job of taking you around the Chianti area of Tuscany. I do not have a bad thing to say about them. I have done both and if you were really a private type of personna, then this is a viable option. I personally find it expensive (100 Euros and up per person) but that is only my pocketbook.

I do like the idea of traveling and meeting people, that is why the Viatours option was wonderful for us. It was only a day long and many stops so it is not like you are on a bus for hours at a time. I did not feel that I had any better or worse trip on the bus than I had with our private guide.

I am thinking about a Joinable one from tuscan wine tours....a little more expensive that the viator tour but a lot less than a fully private one....8 people max for 110 euros.

...I guess for me is that I didn't want a group that too big 20 plus people cause I think it will take away from some of the experience but I am somewhat of a budget traveller (sacrifice other areas to afford stuff like this) so I am always open to other affordable options.

This is our honeymoon trip I am planning for and would like my fiance to have a great time without too much hassle...

Many private guides do customised tours, alot better than having to rush because you have to be at a particular place for a certain time because you are travelling with others.

Just my opinion.

Bye

There is nothing like a private customized tour with a good guide. We just came back from a 16 day trip, and the most spectacular day was the day a wonderful private guide showed us in the tuscany countryside. Our group of five paid a total of 350 euros, or 70 euros each (plus a good tip of course, as our day and our guide were spectacular.)

On the other side of the coin, so to speak, we took a ship tour of Ephasus during our 7 day cruise (which was in the middle of the trip.) We all agreed that our one overwhelming mistake in this trip was that shore excursion as opposed to going with a private guide.

It is quite easy to find various superlative reviews for private tours on TA.

I was looking for reviews of bus tours and I don't understand why anyone who prefers private tours would waste their time adding more superlatives about private tours.

Quite odd to say the least