Licensed private guides — Florence, Italy
Florence, privately.
Bespoke museum visits and walking tours with Valentina Fodde and Elisa Gurau, licensed guides who build every itinerary around the way you like to travel.
Licensed guides
Officially licensed to guide inside Florence and its state museums.
Entirely private
Your party only. Never shared, never rushed, never a headset group.
Yours to shape
Pace, length and focus are set by your interests, not by a script.
English & Italian
Tours run in both languages, for you and for the friends travelling with you.
A word from your guides
Valentina Fodde & Elisa Gurau
We are licensed tour guides in Florence, and this city is our daily subject. We spend our mornings in the Uffizi and the Accademia, our afternoons in the streets between Santa Croce and the Oltrarno, and we still find something new in them — which is exactly what we hope to leave you with.
We guide privately, one party at a time. That means the tour can begin early to catch the cooler, quieter hours, linger in the room you did not expect to love, and skip whatever does not interest you. Guests tell us the difference is in the detail: the commissions, the rivalries, the anecdotes and intrigues that turn a marble hall into a story you can follow.
Tell us who is travelling with you and what you would like from your days in Florence. We will do the rest.
— Valentina & Elisa, licensed guides in Florence
Florence Travel Guide
A city best understood in company
Florence rewards the traveller who slows down. A private guide is what turns a list of famous names into an afternoon you remember: the reason a painting was commissioned, the family that paid for it, the rivalry that shaped the square you are standing in.
We are Valentina Fodde and Elisa Gurau, licensed guides in Florence. We work with a small number of travellers at a time, in the museums and streets we know best, and we plan each visit privately with you before you arrive — including the hour of the day that will give you the quietest rooms.
Museum visit
The Uffizi Gallery
The oldest art gallery in the world, and the clearest place to watch the Renaissance happen room by room. Cimabue and Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titian — the originals behind the pictures you have known for years.
The visit is yours to personalise, and there is no need to rush off at the end of it: you are welcome to stay inside the museum until closing time.
With Valentina Fodde & Elisa Gurau
Museum visit
The Accademia Gallery
One of the best known museums in the world, and the reason is four metres tall. Michelangelo carved the David in three years from a single rough block of marble; standing in front of it is the kind of moment travellers remember for the rest of their lives.
Alongside it you will find the Prisoners, Saint Matthew and the Palestrina Pietà. At the end of the tour you may stay in the museum as long as you like.
With Valentina Fodde & Elisa Gurau
Museum visit
The Bargello Museum
The fortified Bargello was the first public building of the city, with an austere courtyard and a high embattled tower. Inside: Donatello’s David, Michelangelo’s Bacchus and Tondo Pitti, Giambologna’s Mercury, and the glazed terracotta of Giovanni and Andrea della Robbia.
Stay on afterwards for the collection of Islamic art, the Room of the Ivories and the Armoury — three rooms most visitors never reach.
With Elisa Gurau & Valentina Fodde
Museum visit
Palazzo Vecchio
From the laying of its cornerstone in 1299 to today, Palazzo Vecchio has been the seat of city power and the heart of Florence — and it still serves as the city hall. Its golden age began when the Medici moved their residence here.
You will see the marble Genius of Victory by Michelangelo in the Hall of the Five Hundred, Donatello’s Judith and Holofernes, Verrocchio’s Putto with Dolphin, Bronzino’s frescoes in the Chapel of Eleonora, and the death mask of Dante that inspired Dan Brown’s Inferno.
With Elisa Gurau & Valentina Fodde
Signature walk
No distance is too far
A special walk through two thousand years of Florentine history: from the Roman origins of the city to the architecture of the fifteenth century, from Ponte Vecchio to the wonders of Brunelleschi’s dome.
In three hours you see the best of Florence — the Duomo, Piazza della Repubblica, Piazza della Signoria and a good deal more.
Guest reviews
What our guests say
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
What does a private tour with a Florence guide include?
A licensed guide accompanies your party through the places that matter most in Florence — the Uffizi, the Accademia, the Bargello, Palazzo Vecchio — with the history, art and stories behind them, shaped around your interests and your pace.
How long does a guided visit last?
Guided walks usually run three hours. On request we arrange shorter visits, or longer itineraries covering several museums in the same day.
Which museums should I not miss in Florence?
The Uffizi Gallery, the Accademia Gallery — home of Michelangelo’s David — the Bargello Museum and Palazzo Vecchio, the historic seat of Florentine power.
How do I book a private guide in Florence?
Write to us from the contact page with the dates of your stay and the places you would like to see, and we will come back to you with a proposed itinerary.
Are the tours available in English?
Yes. Tours run in English and in Italian.
Tell us when you are in Florence
Send us your dates and what you would like to see. We will reply with an itinerary built around them.
Tell us your dates, your party and what you would like to see — every itinerary is built from scratch.
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