Our heartfelt thanks for organizing such a superb Tuscany/Umbria Tour (May 3-15/2007). Your local knowledge was certainly evident with your well thought out itinerary, and your choice of delightful accommodation and wining and dining experiences for the group. Luca, as our tour escort was a sheer joy. We appreciated Ennio’s capable driving and the fun he and Luca had together as we traveled along was infectious. Meeting you both in person made the Tour even more special for us.
We are so glad you included in the Tour a guided visit to the Torgiano Wine and Olive Oil museums, where, besides learning about the beginnings of both these industries, were able to view, from only cm. away, priceless ancient Etruscan and Roman artifacts, all beautifully displayed.
Top marks Jonathan and Sonya All in all you have given us the best quality tour we have ever had. Thank you again.

Jim and I have been home almost a week and we are still enjoying our Italy trip so much that it seems to be the vacation that keeps on giving. We visited places we would never have thought of or known about and learned so much more about Italy and her history. Thanks again for a wonderful vacation in Italy…..you two are very good at what you do.

I need to tell you what a wonderful and fun holiday I had while in Tuscany and Umbria. I read some of the comments of other participants with your tours and just can not come up with an original thought. I have to say that I agree with every positive comment made. It was the best time and I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to be part of it all. I will be looking forward to seeing what you put together for the Amalfi Coast and hopefully that will be something I can plan for in the future. All the care and attention you put into the tour comes shining through. Thank you for making possible such a wonderful experience.

…what cherished memories!! We were so fortunate to have such delightful travel companions however the trip could not have been such a success without your organizational skills, thoughtful tour selections and attention to detail – a credit to you both. As we said on departure it was a pleasure to meet you, to have experienced the professionalism and kindness of Luca and to have enjoyed the happy company of Ennio. Thank you all sincerely for such a wonderful holiday.

Thanks for the best trip we have ever taken. The itinerary and accommodations were excellent. Sometimes you have to wait until you get home to realize how good a trip was but we knew day to day yours was the best.  We would love to take another one of your tours and will stay in touch. Thanks for all the good memories.

My Husband and Myself have just returned from travelling with Amber Road Tours for the second year in a row. Once again the Tour [Tuscany-Liguria] was wonderful. Well organised, with still enough private time to make the tour work. All the accommodations were excellent and in areas close to the centre of the towns. Once again the coach drivers where polite and drove extremely well sometimes on difficult roads. This time our Tour Guide was Mario, who was a wonderful happy young Man, who would be there for any of us at anytime. He had or found the answers to any of our questions, but best of all he made the whole group laugh. Thank you Jonathan and Sonya for your wonderful tour and we hope to join you again next year for the 3rd in a row.

Just wanted to let you know we had one of the best vacations ever with you this past month.  The food was one of the highlights!!!. The restaurants that you chose and the menus we had were great.  We thought our group was a great mix of fun and interesting people and certainly added to the intimacy of the trip.  The towns, tours, and tour guides were terrific as well.  We especially liked the Olive Oil Museum. We thought that Luca was well informed and extremely helpful throughout the tour. His sense of humor was refreshing. We like the fact that he took the time to try and help us understand Italian culture and language. Ennio was equally enjoyable, helpful and entertaining – he is an expert bus driver!!  Thanks again for a fantastic vacation.

We have been home well over a week and can not stop talking about our trip to Tuscany/Lazio.  We keep rereading our itinerary and remembering all of the places we visited.  I cannot say enough about what a terrific tour you put together.  We enjoyed the small towns so much, especially Pienza.  The view from our bedroom window was unbelievable.  One of the attached pictures of the valley covered in fog was taken from our window. We learned so much about the Etruscans and enjoyed the historical parts of the trip very much.  The day we walked across the bridge to Civita di Bagnoregio was almost a spiritual experience.  I would not have been surprised to see a winged dragon fly across the valley, it was so amazing. The cooking class with Enrico was so much fun.  And of course enjoying the luncheon we had prepared was wonderful.   I must tell you that what made the trip so memorable was the excellent service provided by our tour guide Maria Elena.  She is a remarkable young woman.  Smart, she knew her history of the places we visited so well.  Charismatic, she seemed to know someone every place we visited, and they were all so delighted to see her.  Maria took such good care of us, always making sure we were fine when we went solo for awhile.  She patiently explained menus every day to us, encouraging us to try something new, like the wild boar, which I loved.  The day we went to the medieval festival was something I never expected to see.  The costumes and pageantry all so authentic, and the whole town involved.  We had so much fun that day and the food and wine were great.  We always felt welcome, never like a tourist or outsider, and I know it was because of Maria and her charming personality.  It was like traveling with your best friend who wanted to make your visit a trip to remember all of your life. I also want you to know what a great driver  and nice person Davide is.  He was always so attentive to his driving and made us feel so safe.  He would always jump out of the bus to give us a friendly hand out or help us in.  We really enjoyed his company too.  He took George and Joe out for an after dinner grappa one night which all the men enjoyed. So all that is left to say is thank you very much for sharing Tuscany with us.  We will never forget this trip.  We both hope to be able to take another one of your tours in a couple of years.  It was so nice of you and Sonya  to meet up with us on the tour at the museum and visit over lunch.  We wish you much success for the future, you have a great company.

Having travelled a lot all over the world I can honestly say that this trip was one of the best I have ever taken. I was a bit afraid to join this “mostly couples” tour but it worked out pretty well. Tuscany and Umbria are two little jewels under the Italian sky.
I just loved the hilly countryside with those romantic little churches surrounded by elegant cypress trees. The many small towns we visited were as varied as the landscape and each had a charm on its own. Jonathan and Sonya made a fabulous choice of selecting excellent hotels and restaurants. We were lucky to have with us two incredible people: Carmelo, a friendly and patient driver, and our sweet Maria Elena, whose knowledge of Italian culture and history made this tour a memory for life.

The trip was fabulous, Maria Elena and the group made it a 13 day party and we loved every minute of it!

It was a pleasure meeting both of you. The trip was all anyone could ask for. You put together a wonderful itinerary. The accommodations, food, wine and local guides were excellent. Our guide Mario was such a delight. He was very knowledgeable, conscientious, and very efficient in everything he had to do. He was so much fun. Mario is a great asset to your company. Our driver, Alfredo, was the best. The small group of people was wonderful. You have sold me on small group tours and places where large tour buses can’t go.  Thank you so much for a wonderful trip.

Thank you for organizing a really memorable tour, it was a wonderful experience. The itinerary was a perfect balance between organized activities and freedom to explore. A special thank you to our guide Mario for his attentiveness and consideration to all. Keep up the great work.

We have just returned from a wonderful tour of Tuscany and Umbria. Our guide, Luca, was very well informed and could not have managed the details of our travel any better.  Our driver, “Uncle” Ennio, was very skillful and showed unshakable concentration behind the wheel as well as being warm and affable when he was not driving. Other tour providers we have used with complete satisfaction pride themselves on showing “backdoor” Europe. Amber Road delivers every bit of that intimate experience…and more. We have never had a better mix of comfortable–even elegant–hotels and rooms and fine food. Your “step-on” guides are second to none as to information and delivery. For us, Amber Road Tours is the ultimate in small group travel to interesting sites in Italy.

This was my second trip with your company and I was impressed again with the itinerary, choice of hotels and restaurants.  I was also pleased to have Mario again as our guide.  He is so charming, caring and so much fun.  He took such good care of us and was so attentive to our daily needs.  It warmed my heart to see my travel companions enjoy him as much as I did.  Thank you for giving me a memorable and fantastic trip.

This is a heartfelt thank you for organising such a fantastic tour for us.  You should be very proud of your team (Mariaelena and Ilario) as they are a credit to you and your company. The local guides were all very interesting  people who obviously love their jobs. They made it all come alive for us with their stories and contacts. We are all very pleased we chose to spend our time in Tuscany with your “family” of great people – it really was a wonderful experience and I for one will be down here singing your praises and trying to encourage all Aussies to see Italy with Amber Road Tours. Hope to see you both again one day, Yours sincerely (a very satisfied customer).

Every day was a new adventure into areas that we would not have found without the tour.  We have traveled Europe several times on our own and enjoyed it, however, having a guide each day to take us places that were filled with history and tell us the stories behind the history made our trip to Italy fascinating and completely unique.  OK, honestly, maybe the unique part was Mario!  He was a wonderful guide, filling everyday with laughs and fun while able to make sure everything ran smoothly.  Giacomo was a great driver, polite and caring and always making sure we were comfortable. The itinerary couldn’t have been better.  The hotels, the restaurants and the city tours & guides were all put together to give us a look at Tuscany from very small, quaint villages to cities like Florence.  We took so many pictures and have so many memories that even after being home for six months we are still talking and laughing about our trip!  I guess the only bad thing is that now we have trouble eating Italian food – nothing compares to actually being in Italy, we may have to take another trip just to get some good pasta and wonderful pizza!!  Again, thank you.

On the road again amid the rolling hills of olive trees, grapes, wheat, plums, lemons, oranges, and olive trees punctuated by olive trees and did I mention the olives? I have difficulty believing there are enough people in the world to harvest them all… We sailed into the City of Matera, one of the more interesting places in Italy.  This town has a large canyon in the center of the city called the Sassi, and people had been living in caves carved in the soft limestone sides of this canyon for many centuries… We enjoyed it all! Many thanks to Jonathan and Sonya for the planning and execution.

Compared to the big bus hustle of other firms we have used, Amber Roads is a gem.  Our small group got along well together. Mario was always making a good time for all.  Hotels were memorable (morning views from our rooms in both Pienza and San Gimignano will always be treasured).  And the daily stops in cities, back roads, churches, museums, wine tasting etc did allow a beautiful glimpse of Tuscany.  All in all a great itinerary. Thanks for providing such great service.

Sicily in May was our second Amber Road Tour after doing Tuscany 3 years ago. May is a wonderful time to visit Sicily with flowers and also the snow still on the top of Mount Etna. Our guide, Mariaelena ,was the warmest, most informative and  full of fun guide one could wish for. The organization of the tour was first class. Each place visited, both major and minor sites, and the wine tastings were so well picked and timed that each day was a learning experience, an adventure and pure fun.  The local guides were also so good. The accommodation was excellent, great  hotels in the right spot every time. Thank you for another great holiday we will never forget.

Your recipe for the perfect tour is a prizewinner!  This visit to Tuscany and Umbria is probably my last overseas trip – and what a finale! The tour was beautifully orchestrated and the inclusion of Luca and Giacomo was a masterstroke.  We were the happiest bunch of travelers, and these young men endeared themselves to us all. It was a great pleasure to meet you and Sonya and I wish you many blessings.

What a trip!! We are back home and are still very much on a natural high from two weeks of an absolutely great vacation!!! What we especially liked was: Obviously, the choice of back-road locations, including hotels and sites. The knowledge and friendliness of the local tour guides. The personality of Mario, who was a delight – so very funny, but also so tuned into each traveler’s unique needs.  He gave us an insight into real Italian culture and made the trip an experience rather than a tour.  We will always smile as we remember our time with him. Incredibly delicious and local settings/menus for the tour-provided meals.  We really appreciate having less meals provided but of such high quality and variety. A nice selection of tasty breakfast options. Flexibility for special dietary concerns. Getting to meet both of you. Thanks to you, Mario and some wonderful new friends, we will have memories of Italy to last a long time and hopes of returning some day.

I would like to take this opportunity to THANK YOU for a wonderful tour experience in Sicily in June 2009!  Our family of 16 including brothers and sisters and all the assorted families traveled together across much of Sicily with Mariaelena and Giuseppe (bus driver).  Many of our group had not traveled before or had not traveled overseas and they had a great time.  Even if we don’t get to come back again for a long time the memories of our trip will last a lifetime!  Thanks again to Amber Road Tours for a wonderful time and the care and concern you showed us when setting up the tour and making sure we got to see things we wanted to!
Had a FABULOUS time. Thanks again for the BEST vacation EVER!!It was a wonderful trip. Thank you for helping to make it happen!

We wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed our experience with Amber Road Tours on our week tour of Tuscany. This was our first organized tour and we would definitely recommend your tours to our family and friends. The pace was perfect there was enough free time and meals on our own to satisfy our need for some private time. When we were together as a group Mario kept us informed and entertained. He was very informative about the sites we were visiting and was able to answer all of our questions. We had a wonderful group and everyone got along well. We felt spoiled and well taken care of the whole week. It was the most enjoyable trip we have ever taken.

I was looking for a small group tours and specifically I wanted to see Tuscany in depth, not the big cities but the countryside. The tour was all what we were hoping for and more. There was no “big bus hustle” which made the whole experience a great pleasure. The trip was wonderful! Jonathan and Sonya did a fabulous job in creating itinerary for this trip. It was a great combination of sightseeing, personal time, relaxation and walking. There was no rush, no very early departures, everything was very comfortable. The winery and wine museums were very educational and lots of fun, especially wine tasting. All included dinners and lunches were delicious and all restaurants were very well selected. Accommodations always were excellent. Our small group got along well together. Meeting Jonathan and Sonya was another pleasant experience. Very rarely, if ever, you have a chance to meet the” bosses” and most importantly express your comments about the trip. We enjoyed very much their company. It is obvious that they love that region and want to share their love with us. Thank you Jonathan, Sonya and Luca for creating a program that gave us an opportunity to experience Tuscany and Umbria at the level that we were dreaming of. We will never travel with big groups again. We will recommend your company to everyone who wants to enjoy beautiful Tuscany, excellent wine, great food and fun Italian tour managers.

We loved Lucca, the marble quarries, Cinque Terre, olive groves, Portofino, etc. etc. While we thoroughly enjoyed all the meals, the evening ones you offered were truly memorable, and ones we hope to emulate for our friends here.  The hotels were also superb.  The staff in the hotel in Lucca could not have been more charming and helpful.  Il Convento was like a fairy tale.  My imagination ran wild as I wandered the grounds and building. It most certainly is a place to which I would love to return … and stay much longer ! Last of all, and perhaps, most important was our tour manager, Mario.  He was extremely helpful and made the trip so memorable.  Being out of the cities gave us a better feel and understanding for what it is to be Italian.  The long walks through the countryside were nothing I expected, but in retrospect are probably my favorite memory … well, that and all those wonderful meals and all the fantastic wine and …. We are definitely singing your praises here in Massachusetts. Thank you.