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Has anybody taken the "Tuscan Countryside - San Gimignano & Volterra" tour??

Florida_cruisers
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Florida_cruisers

Florida_cruisers

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We are taking this tour with RCCL, which I believe is the same as what Celebrity offers. Do they leave any room for shopping during this tour??

I need (yes, need not want. My formal living room wall has been empty for a year waiting for this trip) to buy some local art pieces during this trip.

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spunkymoldy

spunkymoldy

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I took the excursion two years ago. In Volterra, we had a tour of the town and an Alabaster Tour which they give you maybe 10-15 minutes. However in San Gimignano, they drop you off the front gate and you are given an hour to tour the town on your own and go shopping.

 

Lunch was at a vineyard. Where basically the owners gives you wine tasting lessons and tries to sell you wine while you eat.

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cberge

cberge

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SG is a small town and you will not have a lot of stores to chose from,but you may just find something you are looking for as the shops are very nice.I would start to my right as you enter the town square and then make the circle.Good luck.

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Breezey

Breezey

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Never been on these tours through a ship but spent time in Italy a few years ago and went to both. Wonderful wonderful places to tour.

I cannot imagine not having time to shop as they are small. Both offer their own unique items to buy.

 

What I would tell anyone touring, buy it when you see it or you will never see it again. I saw things in one town never to see them again in another. Needless to say, kicked myself on several occasions. Lesson learned.

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Bruin Steve

Bruin Steve

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We took this tour while on the Millennium in August 2003...and absolutely loved it...

 

We had only 19 passengers on the tour and the towns were beautiful...

Better yet was the lunch at the winery...On most of the other full day tours we took, the lunches were very good, but somewhat pedestrian (nice restaurants in Sorrento, Eze, Rome...a hotel restaurant in Athens)...but the lunch here was MEMORABLE...They served it all family style to the 19 of us RIGHT in the wine cellar, amidst the barrels (great--nice and cool on a hot August day)...plate after plate of every kind of antipasti...mushrooms, olives, cheeses, breads, cold cuts, peppers...and lots of salad and pasta...and wine and more wine and more wine (no one tried to hard sell me anything...we just FEASTED...afterwards, I did go up into the shop and purchased a couple of bottles of wine...because I WANTED TO)...

 

Anyway, there was plenty of free shopping time in Volterra and San Gim...

 

Enjoy...

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retired1

retired1

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We just returned from the Mediterranean and while in SG, I bought a painting. It is of the Tuscan countryside and I absolutely loved the gallery. Its by an Italian artist who will do his first U.S. show in New York sometime in the next 2 years. The name of the gallery is the Rotini Art Gallery. I can't remember what gate we entered, but it was not the gate used by all the busses. The gallery is south of the main square. The artist paints lots of seasonal countryside pictures. Enjoy your trip!!! I'm ready to return to Italy!!

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Andym

Andym

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We have also done this tour, on the recomendation of BruinSteve (thanks once again Steve), and it was one of the best tours we have ever had. Again, we only had about 20 on the tour, and the food was 1st class, and the wine was superb. Obviously the guy is trying to sell you wine, but this wine retails very expensive and you get the chance to buy it cheap. I have some pictures here.

http://community.webshots.com/user/andym888

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  • 8 years later...
windjamming

windjamming

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Bruin Steve, I realize this thread is 8 (!) years old, but hoping you are still checking!

 

We're looking at this very same excursion this summer. Do you remember if it required a lot of walking? Trying to gauge if it would be suitable for older folks. No mobility issues but more of a stamina thing. It really sounds wonderful so it's our first choice, as we've been to Florence already.

 

Thanks in advance!

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Bruin Steve

Bruin Steve

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Bruin Steve, I realize this thread is 8 (!) years old, but hoping you are still checking!

 

We're looking at this very same excursion this summer. Do you remember if it required a lot of walking? Trying to gauge if it would be suitable for older folks. No mobility issues but more of a stamina thing. It really sounds wonderful so it's our first choice, as we've been to Florence already.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Wow, yes, an old thread! And you just caufght me...We leave for Milan in about 16 hours...for our "pre-cruise" before our cruise on Silhouette...

 

To my recollection, there is a bit of walking--We didn't find it bad at all, but everyone is different...and it's all relative...

The bus parking in San Gim were sort of outside the town...and you walk through and back...but it is at a rather leisurely pace. Volterra had a smilar amount of walking...The winery was easy...

 

We didn't find anything all trhat strenuous...and there's a lot of time sitting on the bus as well...it's a full day, but a portion of it is taken by the drive to and from Livorno...and between the sites...

 

Hope this helps...

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windjamming

windjamming

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Wow, yes, an old thread! And you just caufght me...We leave for Milan in about 16 hours...for our "pre-cruise" before our cruise on Silhouette...

 

To my recollection, there is a bit of walking--We didn't find it bad at all, but everyone is different...and it's all relative...

The bus parking in San Gim were sort of outside the town...and you walk through and back...but it is at a rather leisurely pace. Volterra had a smilar amount of walking...The winery was easy...

 

We didn't find anything all trhat strenuous...and there's a lot of time sitting on the bus as well...it's a full day, but a portion of it is taken by the drive to and from Livorno...and between the sites...

 

Hope this helps...

 

Thanks for the quick reply, Bruin Steve - really glad to have just caught you!

 

Sounds like it is doable, as the walking isn't all at once. Maybe we'll give it a shot.

 

Thanks again for the insight. It was because of your recommendation that this excursion first caught our eye!

 

Have a great cruise!

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chajec

chajec

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Thanks for the quick reply, Bruin Steve - really glad to have just caught you!

 

Sounds like it is doable, as the walking isn't all at once. Maybe we'll give it a shot.

 

Thanks again for the insight. It was because of your recommendation that this excursion first caught our eye!

 

Have a great cruise!

 

We are planning to take the same tour in September. You will have to let me know how it was.

Edited by chajec
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  • 6 months later...
TourDeCruise

TourDeCruise

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Thanks for the very helpful feedback provided by those who have posted. Sounds like a wonderful tour.

 

We are considering taking this tour with Celebrity in May 2014 on our Reflection TA cruise.

 

Is there anyone who has taken this tour recently? Do you recommend it and have any suggestions? Is there enough time to climb the tower in San Gimignano or should we spend our time walking around the whole time instead? Is the lunch still as nice as described by Bruno Steve and Andym?

 

Could we skip the Alabaster tour if desired, and if so, is it interesting or picturesque to walk there instead? If we want to spend more time at the Roman Theater in Volterra, would we have enough time to spend a little more time there and then meet the bus at the Alabaster shop? Or is the Alabaster shop too far or too much traffic to walk to or too difficult to find on our own?

 

Our other choice is to do a Cinque Terre tour as we have been to Florence and Pisa a couple times and also to Lucca. Oh yeah, and downtown Livorno too.

 

Thanks,

Kathy

Edited by TourDeCruise
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MommaBear55

MommaBear55

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I loved San Giamignano and would recommend it highly. My one regret is that I did NOT buy in this town, as the prices were the best of any place we stopped. They also have a wonderful gelato shop right on the main square, as well as a wonderful church iwth a self guided audio tour.

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  • 2 weeks later...
TourDeCruise

TourDeCruise

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Thank you, MommaBear55 & Andym. Food and wine to die for sounds good to us as does a chance to see the Roman theater and a lovely medieval town.

 

Do you think we will have a problem if we wait until we are on the ship (big obc to use) to book on embarkation day shortly after boarding? In other words, does it usually sell out before the cruise starts?

 

Regarding shopping, anything they specialize in at San Gimignano?

 

Kathy

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MarleneAm

MarleneAm

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They specialize in the white wine Vernacchia di San Gimignano: the stores representing vineyards will let you taste it first. They also sell a variety of Tuscan food products-olive oils, vin santo, salami etc. They have very high end ceramics. And they do have art galleries :i saw a lot of wqtercolors of the Tuscan region. They have delicious gelato

so you don't have to buy food on an empty stomach.

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