A Word of Warning-Italy Tours

For your own saftey check the company you do a tour with is licenced to do tours in Italy

Tourists should be wary of cheap fly-by-night tour operators. Make sure that any company or person you pay for tours is licenced.

Under Italian laws ONLY licenced travel agencies can organise and operate tours, a tour also refers to a guided walking tour.

A Special Note of Warning on Bicycle and Wine Tours
Lower quality bike and wine tours may mean being driven by unlicenced drivers, being piled into vans without a seat (that is 9 seater vehicles carrying 11 persons or more) the company may also be unlicenced meaning it does not have insurance. You may also be asked to pay in cash on the street-not a good idea. For your own saftey check the company you do a tour with is licenced to do tours in Italy. The Original and Best Walking Tours is fully licenced and bonded.

Reserving Tours In Italy by Internet
Be aware: If the company is not clearly a travel agency with an office, or if the person/s does not list a physical real address then beware. Many fly-by-night operators hide behind well made web sites avoiding laws designed to protect, you the tourist,by not listing an address where they can be visited by local authorities. 

Be Wary of Internet Suggestions by Gullible Tourists on Feed Back or Chat Sites
Some tourists unwittingly go on tours with illegal operators and then recommend them to others. Beware of tour operators where only an email address or phone number is given for a contact

Be Wary of Requests to Make Payment in Cash on the Street

Tourist Care in Florence and Tuscany

When reserving and paying for tour services over the Internet, it is very important to choose and use reputable companies that respect local laws. That way you have recourse to action if not satisfied.

Unfortunately, in Italy, some operators seek to avoid laws designed to protect consumers by hiding behind well-made web sites without an actual legal "storefront". Operators can also avoid insurance and running costs by not registering activities with local authorities. That means they can literally disappear overnight, and they do!

By reserving tours and services with operators that do not respect local laws regarding tourism you risk:

... paying for and not getting the service, if for instance the operator is closed down because of clandestine/illegal services;
... not having appropriate insurance that Travel Agencies are required by law to have;
...low quality services with no recourse to a refund;
...At the very least, you risk arriving and not getting what you expected. A very common complaint in Italy is that the guides are not qualified and that they cannot speak English.

YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR
Illegal tour operators can offer tours more cheaply-because they do not have the overheads of licences, insurance, taxes and government standards designed to protect tourists and consumers 

How to Tell if a Tour Company is Legal/ Reputable?

• Firstly, in Italy only licensed Travel Agents can organize and operate tours and provide the usual services that Travel Agencies do. No one else is legally competent to do so. Therefore, if the company is not clearly a travel agency then avoid using them;

• Secondly, if the person or company holding themselves out as service providers of some sort and they do not list phone numbers and addresses locally, then warning bells should sound. This could be an indication that the company does not want local authorities to be aware of and control them. Sadly the internet can be used as tool to confuse which legal jurisdiction the company is operating under-if any. Ask yourself, where is the person or company based?

• Thirdly, prime indicators will also be if the company can accept credit cards;
• Fourthly, the company should be able to tell you which administrative body controls and polices tourism in Florence and Tuscany;

• Fifth, they should be able to tell you what kind of a receipt you will receive, under international tourism laws you have a right to a receipt with a description of the service or tour you have paid for.

• Every company offering services must also be able to state what their Partita Iva is (their tax number)

• Finally, the company you are dealing with, if reputable, should be a member of ASTA, the American Society of Travel Agents 

Walking Tours of Florence has a fine reputation for the provision of quality tours and services in Florence and Tuscany. All staff speak English very well and are friendly and helpful. All tours leave from our office located centrally in Florence. Walking Tours of Florence is a member of ASTA and is recommended by just about every major travel guide. All good quality hotels in Florence recommend our services. We were chosen to feature in a BBC documentary with Michael Palin. Walking Tours is a certified Travel Agency listed with the Chamber of Commerce. Walking Tours accepts credit cards Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

About Walking Tours of Florence

As required under Italian laws we are registered and licenced with the Florence Chamber of Commerce no.516411
and are fully bonded with Compagna Assicuratrice Unipol S.p.A 

We have a strict privacy policy, we never sell or pass on information about you unless you have aggreed.

We have clear terms and conditions and an easy to understand cancellation policy.

We follow strict self imposed guide lines re integrity in business and customer relations including not accepting commisions from shops and restaurants

What does a lower quality guide or tour mean for you?
1. the guide may not be able to communicate in your language adequately
2. the guide may be disinterested in whether you enjoy the tour
3. the guide may not have adequate presentation skills and may not be able to entertain you
3. the guide may give incorrect information
4. you may be stuck in a large group-being led around like a sheep ( a common sight in Florence, Rome and Venice)
5.the route of your tour and what you see may be designed to save the company or guide money and may not ensure you see the 'must sees'
6. they may say that the tour is a certain length and you cover certain sites, when in fact it does not
7.some tour companies may say they have small groups when in fact they do not
8.You may be asked to pay cash on the street-not a good idea security wise in cities in Italy

To ensure the highest quality our most popular tours in Florence are ALWAYS conducted by native English speakers whose first language is English. No other company in Florence can guarantee this!


Walking Tours of Florence can recommend other companies in other cities including Rome, Venice, London and Paris based on our concern for quality and security.

The Original and Best Walking Tours is proudly a fully licensed and insured tour operator Lic No 516411, Compagna Assicuratrice Unipol S.p.A 

International Acclaim for Our High Quality Tours and Services