Pat and I just wanted to thank you and the group at Girosole for making our trip to Italy this year one of our more memorable ones.

We booked two tours with Girosole with a week in between each to give us time to breathe. During that week, we did the “tourist things”, Rome and Venice.

Our trip to Cinque Terre will be one that we will treasure always. Michangelo was an absolute charm with his humor and his knowledge of plants and trees. He had us hopping, hiking and laughing for the days we were with him. He deserves a special award for his choice of restaurants and wines. He was a treasure.

The second leg of our Girosole tour was a 7 day hike through the Dolomites. Having ventured through Cinque Terre helped prepare our muscles for the hiking in the Dolomites. Stefano was a charm. He was a tremendous source of information regarding the Dolomites and the environment in general. He was a great guide and a lot of fun with his wry sense of humor. The staff at the rifugio holds a special place in our hearts. The entire family was warm, and charming and worked endlessly to keep you happy and laughing. Keep your Dolomite tours booked in their rifugio.

Hoping to book again (possibly the Amalfi Coast).

Pat and Loretta Capalbo – Cinque Terre and Dolomites

We found Michelangelo enthusiastic, energetic, very attuned and accommodating to our group and most of all, great fun!!  He chose hikes according to our abilities, sometimes with complaints from us as to how hard the uphill was (always in good humor, however), gave interesting information along the way about the area and made the most of the days we were together.

Our food experiences were special as he took us to good restaurants and encouraged us to try different foods.  We must also give him an “A+” for patience as sometimes we were having so much fun we didn’t want to listen.  But, once again, his special sense of humor came through.

We consider ourselves very lucky to have experienced our tour with such a wonderful fellow.  If you ever need a recommendation, we are the ones to ask.

Tom and Judy Lewis – Italian Lakes (with 8 other friends)

Luciano and Peter – I am back in DC (buried in work) – and off to NY for my dad’s 75th birthday tomorrow…I want you to know I had a fantastic time and I am going to write a more detailed email when I can with my great experiences, maybe a picture or two and wonderful words for my guides Ulisse and Lisa…. stay tuned.

[and later…]

Peter and Luciano, as promised, I am following up my message from last week. I will do my best to keep it organized and hope it is not too much detail for you (I am sure I could even write more!) . I have included a few pictures (Luciano – sun did finally come out fully in the last few days! – well, partially on top of Capri. Saw Capri – but as we walked rest of the way to top – the other side was in the clouds. As I told Ulisse, I always wanted to walk in the clouds…)

Lisa Ruff – Amalfi Coast

Denny and I just wanted to thank you for our amazing walking tour of Tuscany. Truly you made the walking tour an experience even beyond our ambitous imaginations, but you also made the whole trip to Italy possible. The independent walking trip was absolutely perfect for us– we were free to explore the countryside without worrying about luggage, reservations, food or getting around. The route directions were extremely easy to follow and we really enjoyed getting to know the area firsthand by walking through it at our own pace. The walk was inspiring, amazing and 100% relaxing since Girosole took care of every little detail. Truly it was a honeymoon to beat all honeymoons!

Liz and Denny Bromley – Self-Guided Tuscany

Just a quick note to say thank you for a wonderful trip, we enjoyed it immensely. It was really nice to get to know you and your associates along the way too. Maggie and I really enjoyed Positano and the surrounding area in addition to the wine hunting through Peidmont. In the future we will definitely focus more on the Amalfi Coast and the wine regions to the north. We had a great time with David and Marco the driver. I am still sorting through pictures in between digging out from the piles on my desk. We managed to snap off almost 750 pictures from arrival to departure. I have pulled one of the panoramic shots from Ravello together and attached it for you. I will forward some others as I get to them. Feel free to utilize them on your website if you’d like, I would be honored.

Jeff and Maggie Schiedegger – Amalfi Coast

You guys do such a good job of reconnoitering hotels, restaurants, archaeological sites and walks. I enjoyed the trip with you so much that I’ve surely sold a number of my friends on going with you. [My husband] Art was so jealous of my experience — predictably — and so we’ll just have to go with you on another trip! Looking forward to seeing you again soon!

Janet Snyder – Tour of Umbria

We would like to thank Girosole for an incredible time in Italy. Not knowing exactly how to see Italy and wanting to stay off the heavy tourist track, my husband and I joined an open, self-guided walking tour of the Hillside Towns of Tuscany. Little did we know we were going to join some incredibly fun hikers on our journey that made the trip even more delightful. Even though we could have chosen to walk the trails on our own, sharing the walks and enjoying dinner together really added to the wonderful experience.

The hiking trails were scenic, safe, and offered many glimpses of the Italian lifestyle. We felt relieved to just take a small knapsack with us on our daily adventures while our friends from Girosole took care of our luggage. The friendly inn-keepers, restaurant hosts and drivers made the trip incredibly personable. I compared each day to a treasure map with lovely accommodations and incredible food as the reward at the end of the day. My husband said he never saw me eat so much, I guess that means I’ve never had such good food and wine.

Jinger–John Schroeder – Self-Guided Tuscany

Thank you for our wonderful week in Tuscany! The excellent itinerary, pace and expertise have truly allowed time to slow down for us, so that we could begin to see what is around us!

Peter and Valerie Crooks – Tour of the Val d’Orcia, Tuscany

It is difficult to say goodbye to to you and the magnificence of Toscana! Thank you for the gracious way you made us feel at home. We experienced the sights, sounds, tastes and spirit of Tuscany under your capable guidance! We also became like a family. Arrivederci!

Bob and Renee Harvey – Tour of the Val d’Orcia, Tuscany

Thanks so much for your wonderful sheperding! I have many beautiful memories. I had a wonderful trip — it met all of my expectations! Peter and Claudia were wonderful people, so easy to be with them and learn from them.

John Zarola – Tour of Le Marche

My husband and I took Girosole’s Walking in Sicily tour. We initially chose the company based on the prompt, warm response received from Luciano Nonino, and based on the flexibility offered by the company. This was one of the few companies that did not have fixed start dates; rather, we could start the tour when it worked best for us. It requires a leap of faith to deal with a company entirely over the internet; Luciano put us at ease; he was easy to reach and very reliable.

Upon arrival in Catania, we were met by our guide, Fabio, a native of Eastern Sicily. The tour itself was a perfect balance of (mostly) hiking through natural areas and some archaelogical/ architectural sightseeing. The tour was complemented by having local guides give us historical tours in Taormina and Syracusa. Fabio managed to take the brief itinerary we had received, and then personalise it based on what we enjoyed, and on his extensive knowledge of the well known and out of the way spots…

Read all of Laurie’s enthusiastic letter…

Laurie Pacarynuk and Peter Dibble – Eastern Sicily

It was such a great tour . . . more like an outing with friends than a commercial operation. We have been fortunate enough to have done many unique things in our life. This trip is undoubtedly a highlight. We hope we can travel again with you soon.

I think you put together an amazing tour. We had a great time. We had some wonderful walks and saw some great sights. Roberto was a real key! He allowed us to do and see some things that were really special such as the acquaduct. You guys as our tour guides are such a big reason that this tour was so great. Because of that we would like to do another tour with you at some date.

Fred and Julie Thatcher – Tour of Umbria

Judy and I really enjoyed our visit to the Marche. We were particularly impressed with the beauty of the countryside, and the variety of sights and experiences we had during our trek.

We will certainly recommend your tours to our friends and acquaintances, and perhaps we will try one of your group tours some day, although we really liked the feeling of being ”on our own“ in a new and wonderful place.

We hope you enjoy the photos. You live there, so many of these images will be familiar. But hopefully you’ll see some fresh views or angles on what it was like for us to experience the Marche.

Rick and Judy Lindemann – Self-Guided Le Marche

Keith and I feel this trip will be hard to ever top. We hope to join other friends on their trip(s) to Italy. I feel lucky that we found your company. Walks were great! Getting to talk with farmer and shepherd and guy mushroom hunting was quite unexpected and would be hard to duplicate. Can’t say enough good about [guide] Roberto, but he was exactly the person I would want on a tour because of my interest in the built environment and history. Food was wonderful! Hotels were nice. We can’t say enough good — wonderful trip and enjoyable travelers. Hope to see you again with the rest of our mates!

Donna Kelly and Keith Kreiger – Tour of Umbria

We had a lot of fun and want to thank you for the time and effort you put in to selecting the walks, the churches and castles to see and most of all for exposing us to the marvellous food and culture of the Tuscans. We were privileged to witness the people in their own environment and would like to be back there tomorrow.

S.K. – Tour of Chianti, Tuscany

Just wanted to say thank you for an EXCELLENT vacation. Both of us felt that we got exceptional value on the tour, the walks were incredible, the food outstanding, the wine excellent and the service provided by your staff was brilliant. Both Luca and Freddy were outstanding guides, gracious hosts and generous with their time and talents. Both of them were tremendous assets to your company. We saw parts of Tuscany that we would never have found on our own, shared some great adventures and can not speak highly enough of all aspects of the tour. Our thanks to you for your patience, help and support in organizing this.

We certainly enjoyed ourselves and have no hesitation in recommending your product to our friends. Wishing you continued success and good fortune.

Bruce Watson and Donna Blaker – Tour of the Val d’Orcia, Tuscany

We felt our experience with Girosole was the best travel experience we have ever had. Next, we felt the personal interest you took in our individual needs and the importance you placed on satisfying questions, problems, etc. was extremely helpful to us and well beyond what we expected.

To Luca and Micelangelo, our guides, we give the highest marks. They were a pleasure to be with the entire trip and it was obvious they were prepared for any problem that might have occured (but didn’t) along the way.

We will definitely recommend you to anyone travelling to Italy.

Roger and Bonnie Head – Tour of Val d’Orcia, Tuscany

We have settled back in our routine here in Ireland after a wonderful Tuscan holiday. First of all I want to thank you for an excellent planning job. The towns chosen, the guides in each place, and the hotels were perfect. Even the weather co-operated except for the last day in Lucca, and even then it was atmospheric and added ot the ambience.

However, we want to send a special thank you for sending Federico our way – he was extremely helpful, he was courteous, he was efficient, and also knowledgeable. We all felt that the trip was enhanced by his presence.

I would also like to add a special thank you for the Villa Arceno. It was perfect for the Anniversary and your having flowers in the room made it very special. Thank you very much for thinking of that and making the necessary arrangements. The evening at the hotel was lovely and the meal, as mentioned, was superb.

As you know, we made a detour near Volterra to see Venzano, a garden I had read about in a magazine. It was a lovely garden and our visit was well worth while. Federico was quite willing to help me find out where it was located, and also a great help in contacting the owners to make sure a visit was possible.

In summing up Peter, we had a wonderful time, enjoyed Tuscany, and now have a desire to explore the Umbria and Marche regions. We would definitely recommend and use Girosole for future explorations.

Faye Armstrong and Richard Michaelides – Tour of Tuscany

Thanks a million times over ! ! Our trip to Italy was all we wanted and much more. Michelangelo, Francesca and Roberto could not have been better. All were professional, very knowledgeable, lots of fun and had great personalities and sense of humors. We enjoyed their company as much as all the information they shared with us. The restaurants chosen were perfect and all the accommodations were clean, comfortable and truly Italian.

Please convey to Peter how very highly we think of his employees and the tour adventures. They even made the rain fun and were always cognizent of our needs and safety.

We hope to be able to plan a trip next September, with Girosole, to continue on with all that we did not see this year.

Criss and Dutch Van Wey – Tour of Umbria

We wanted to let you know that the four and a half days we spent in Tuscany with Luca Granucci were without question the high point of our two weeks in Italy. Luca took us for wonderful hikes (willingly making adjustments to our fitness level), and showed us parts of Chianti we never could have discovered on our own. He arranged tastings of wine, olive oil, and cheeses, showed us some of the beautiful art and architecture of the area, and provided cheerful and supportive company every minute that he was with us. We could not have asked for a better guide, and we will enthusiastically recommend Luca and Girosole to our friends visiting Italy. We thank you for a fantastic Tuscany experience.

Bill and Nancy Edmunds – Tour of Chianti, Tuscany