What others say

Lucca: Gabriele Calabrese is recommended as guide in the 2010 edition of “Florence & Tuscany”; our group of six booked a private tour with him in March, 2010 and had an excellent experience; he is a knowledgeable, passionate resident of Lucca, with a broad and deep grasp of its history and traditions; he took us to see places we would never have seen without him, e.g. tunnels underneath the amphitheatre, the wooden sculpture of the Annunciation in the Church of San Frediano. The tour was supposed to have lasted 2 hours, but Gabriele’s enthusiasm and our questions almost doubled its original length (at no increase in price). We had follow-up questions for Gabriele which we sent by email and he was quick and gracious with his replies. We are very happy to support Rick’s recommendation of Gabriele as a terrific guide if you’re interested in learning more about Lucca.

– George Goodwin in Toronto, ON Canada 03/20/2010

Thanks to your email communication we arrived in Pisa this past Saturday to take the special tour. My husband and I are still talking about what an impressive tour and tour guide we had. He really made Pisa so interesting. On our own we would have seen only the Field of Miracles but instead we left the city with an insight to its contributions to the world as well as its beauty. Thank you!
– Debbi Nager

Gabriele,

We are now at our hotel in Rome, having driven down from Lucca earlier today. Our flight to Toronto leaves tomorrow morning.Before leaving Italy, we all wanted to tell you one more time how much we enjoyed our time with you last week. The tour exceeded our expectations: the visit to the Franciscan monastery and the story of the murderous monk, the Palazzo Guinigi, the Palazzo Mansi, underneath the wall and of course, Forno F. Casali, which we have subsequently visited three times for focaccia.

We particularly enjoyed sharing a bottle of wine with you at the enoteca at the end of the day.

Most of all, we enjoyed knowing that we were in the hands of an expert throughout the afternoon. The depth and breadth of your knowledge of Lucca is astonishing.

All the best,

Valerie Jacobs & Doug Woods

Sheila & George Goodwin – 06.10.2013

We booked a private day tour to Pisa and Lucca through Avventure Bellissime as our Cruise Ship didn’t offer this alternative and we didn’t want to do a rush day visit from Livorno to Florence as most people do. We wanted to maximize our time in Lucca. Our driver took us straight to Lucca and we met our guide Carlo at one of the gates to the walled old town. Carlo lives just a stone through away inside the walls and arrived by bike. We decided to hire a bike each nearby and so our time with Carlo was spent riding around the top of the walls to the city, venturing outside the walls onto the grassland (former moat) to get a perspective on this unique walled town, visiting his favourite cafes, exploring the garrisons and tunnels underneath the walls and cycling through the streets and lanes of this bustling and vibrant town. Carlo was a fantastic guide- beyond his knowledge of the towns history, art and architecture he seemed to know everyone in town (lots of waves and Ciao’s as we passed by) and we just felt like we were hanging out with a local friend as they showed us their hometown. Lucca, a bike and a guide named Carlo -a perfect day.

Byan e Christina Crawford – September 2013

We would like to thank especially the tour guide who was absolutely brilliant and we could not have wished for anyone better, so special thank to her.

Bologna Luisa – April 2014

Dear Anna Eckert,

We’ve been home for four weeks now, but it seems like forever since our day in Pisa and Lucca.

We had a wonderful day with you! Your sense of humor, your knowledge of Pisa and your beloved Lucca, made the day a definite highlight of our trip to Florence and the Tuscan countryside. You did a great job of selling us on Lucca – Bob and I are considering taking Italian in the fall and Carolyn is combing the WEB looking for a retirement home for Bob and me in Lucca, so she and John can come visit! You never know – we might just show up on your doorstep!

Thank you again for a wonderful day.

With warm regards,

Marcia, Bob and Kathleen D. – June 2014

Gabriele, the Boudreaux Family is back home all safe and sound…..when talking about our two weeks in Italy, your name always came up first…..I had arranged some great tour guide for my family but your tour of Pisa and Lucca ranked among the best we had…..we all thought that you did a great job of explaining Pisa and Lucca…..one day, I will be back in Lucca to stay in the City…..and hopefully, one day, I can buy you lunch or dinner again….thanks so very much for your time and providing us with a wonderful tour….I know my kids were very excited as was I……my grandchildren will remember this tour as well….planning on putting together a photo book with your picture in it so they can remember what we did…..

Once again, thanks……I will definitely spread the word in South Louisiana about our experiences with Turislucca…….

Oscar J. Boudreaux, Jr. P.E. – June 2015

I am the tour manager with the Great Rail Group RPS514 and my good friend Adrian Evett suggested I email you and request that our guide on the 12th September for the Lucca & Pisa day is Anna Eckert.  He speaks very highly of her and says she makes it a fun day and the clients really like her.

I hope this is possible and I look forward to meeting you. Adrian asked me to send you his best wishes.

Luca, August 2015

Dear Gioia,

Please tell, Anna how much my pax enjoyed spending the day with her yesterday. She gave an amazing tour of both Pisa & Lucca and my pax were still talking about her at dinner.

All best,

Bryce, September 2015

Gabrielle was fantastic! The pax loved him!! Also in March the pax loved Carlo too!

Thanks for providing such great guides! All best,

Bryce, April 2016