Tuscany At Heart - Private Guided Tours

My family had 2 tours with Martina (half day in San Gimignano, full day in Pisa). She is incredibly knowledgeable, flexible, friendly, genuine and easy-going. After spending 9 or so hours with Martina, I feel confident in saying that you can be assured of a high-quality tour with Tuscany at Heart.

This was not only one of the best tours I took on my trip to Italy, but one of the best tours I’ve had in my life. Martina took my family and I around the Field of Miracles and the whole experience was incredible. She was extremely knowledgeable and showed us a lot of things we would not have known about or things that were written in our guidebook. We also were able to go at our own pace and did not feel rushed to see any of the sights and had plenty of time to look around each of the sights and observe everything we wanted to. Martina was also extremely personable and incredibly kind and we loved spending time with her. In terms of booking the tour and communicating with her beforehand, it was all very straightforward and easy. She is very responsive via e-mail and also through WhatsApp and is very flexible in terms of making an itinerary that works with what you want to do. I only wish her schedule and our schedule allowed us to spend some more time with her during our trip. When we go back, there are definitely a few other places I would like to see with her. I highly recommend booking her tours in advance - it’s 100% worth it.

Highly recommend Martina for either a half or full day tour of Pisa - I have used her twice already. Really enjoy being with her and her knowledge of Pisa history, culture and architecture - it was like visiting a friend who has spent her life there. She took care of all our entrance tickets and budgeted our time perfectly - seeing the major highlights, including climbing the Tower before having lunch together and then seeing the town and finishing with gelato.

Martina took my wife and I on a carefully curated and personalized tour in Cinque Terre while visiting nearby La Spezia on a Mediterranean cruise.Prior to our trip Martina reached out to ensure we could craft the perfect tour that was tailored for our interests and passions. She met us at the cruise port and travelled with us to the region, taking us to three of the five towns and introducing us to a host of scenic and culinary treasures with a full compliment of history and expertise to share throughout. A particular highlight was a private tour visiting a local winery’s vineyard on the cliffs followed by a private tasting. Superb and an incredible day! Thank you so much!!

Guide Martina is amazing! Upon arrival we were warmly welcomed by her . Martina is such a warm personality and highly motivated guide (recommendable!) truly enjoyed walking 4 of us with her for the entire Pisa tour. She captured unique pictures for kids and family at the tower . She is very patient and responds very promptly to emails and WhatsApp msgs. Highly recommend Martina.

A web search for private guides in Cinque Terre led us to Martina and her company, Tuscany at Heart. We sent her an email to inquire about tours and she responded quickly about a tour of Cinque Terre and a separate day trip to Pisa. Martina provided detailed instructions on trains to take from Florence, where we were staying, to meet her to begin the tours both days. Our tours of Cinque Terre and Pisa were both full day tours and were a great value compared to “small group” tours. Both days were fully customized by us with Martina’s input.Martina is passionate about the regions and there wasn’t a question she couldn’t answer. She arranged lunch for us at great restaurants on both days. The restaurants she selected were off the beaten path so we were able to enjoy the local food and views while avoiding the crowded tourist traps!!Both Cinque Terre and Pisa can be incredibly crowded during high-tourist season. Martina helps you navigate through the crowds and avoid lines for a more enjoyable experience. For Cinque Terre, we hiked from Corniglia to Monterossa which was a great way for us to take in the breathtaking views while also getting to see and experience 3 of the 5 villages that make up Cinque Terre (Corniglia, Vernazza, Monterossa). And, for Pisa, she helped us realize there was more to Pisa than just that leaning tower. The Baptismal and the Duomo were equally impressive and beautiful. And, she got us into the Baptismal to hear an amazing demonstration of the unique echo effect that allows one person singing to sound like a full choir, an unbelievable demonstration! Martina did a great job and we highly recommend using her for tours in Tuscany.

Fantastic tour of Lucca and Pisa with Martina!! She planned a great trip for our family. Martina knows the history of these places very well. She took great photographs of us. She is very easy to communicate with and is very responsive. We highly recommend her as tour guide to explore Tuscany!!

Martina arranged a private and custom shore excursion for us from Livorno to Pisa and Lucca. Logistics worked great, with pickup and drop off right at our ship, in a newer, comfortable van with A/C. Martina is a wealth of knowledge, and made it an interesting day for our family of four. Besides the obligatory Tower stop, the tour focused on other parts of Pisa and how the locals live. We had a great lunch of Tuscan favorites at an outdoor cafe out of the way, that Martina brought us to. We then spent the afternoon in Lucca and explored this historical town, and the famous wall around it. Martina explained so much to us about the fascinating history and little known facts. In all it was a great day. Private tours are so worth it to make the best use of your time, and Martina created an enjoyable tour. Highly recommended!!

Working with Martina was so enjoyable! She was very responsive to emails and WhatsApp, as we planned. She listened to what we wanted and added suggestions to ensure we had the best tour of San Gimignano and surrounding wineries. She was so very fun to be with as we explored, and had expertise knowledge! She was also as flexible when we wanted to dash into a store or linger taking photos. The wineries were so much fun and a great part of our day! We would absolutely love to tour with her again! Thankful we found her! Our tour of San Gimignano and the wineries were a highlight of our trip!

We have hired many local guides in more than 70 countries and Martina is one of our best ever. Our days in Pisa and Lucca were exceptional because of her intimate understanding of their history and culture. She is extremely knowledgeable and articulate, and is a very good listener, so she was able to adapt her commentary to our specific interests. She is also very personable, so we thoroughly enjoyed our time with her and developed a friendship in just two days. We offer our highest recommendation.