Our Clients Say...

We visited San Gimignano with Ariela on a tasting tour of the most select places, and then we went with her on a tour of a cheese-making farm, where a delicious meal from raw materials produced on the farm awaited us.

At the end of the tour, we visited a local Tuscan winery in the Chianti region, where we tasted the types of wines produced there, toured the winery and heard interesting explanations about the production process and the lives of the locals.

Along the way, we traveled the famous and magical wine route, and heard the learned and fascinating explanations of Ariela, who has extensive knowledge and rich experience in Tuscan life and local cuisine.

Thank you very much, Ariela, for a very experiential day, for interesting explanations and stories, for professionalism, knowledge and a warm and cordial attitude.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in touring the Tuscan countryside."

"Ariela Bankier is simply amazing. I contacted her, from the details in her book, to organize several days of experiences for us during our time in Tuscany. Our visit to Tuscany would not have been the same without Ariela's expertise. She is not only a sommelier, but also a cheese and olive oil expert, which greatly enhanced our experiences. Our first day began with a private visit to a sustainable, vegan cheese farm, including a very interesting and informative tour of the farm, followed by a cheese tasting. After this we went to a private vineyard for another tour, concluding with a charcuterie style meal with accompanying wines. Our next day was a private cooking class with just the four of us, which was completely incredible. We prepared, and ate, a delicious 4-course meal. Afterward, we were joined by Ariela who had organized a private tour of a castle, followed by another vineyard tour and wine tasting. Our third, and final day with Ariela was exploring the Bolgheri region with private wine tastings at two different wineries. I cannot recommend Ariela highly enough. She customizes experiences to the interests of her clients and, when possible, joins them for the tours. All four of us in our group believe that the experiences that Ariela organized for us absolutely made our time in Tuscany so much better than we could imagine, or have organized on our own."

​“Ariela, Thank you again for an amazing most memorable week. We truly enjoyed your company were blown away by the choices and the tour you put together for us!” Theresa, USA"

"Our farm and wine tour in the Chianti hills was incredible. Anyone visiting Tuscany should book a tour with Ariela ASAP!"

​​"Ariela, Thanks for all you did to make our trip to Tuscany a dream come true.  Your book helped us imagine the possibilities. The itinerary you crafted helped us make the most of our time.  And we loved having you as a tour guide for the food market, and the day in the country with the winery and farm visits.  Your expertise and enthusiasm made it a truly special experience for us". 

​"We contacted Ariela to plan our trip to the Italian Riviera /Tuscany - 2 families traveling with kids and very focused on culinary experiences.  Ariela was amazing from the beginning. Very knowledgeable & responsive, she understood immediately exactly what we are looking for and built the perfect trip for us. Finding and focusing us to the right villas (we we’re looking for almost a month and after her suggestions booked the next day and all 3 Villas we booked from her suggestions were great). She planned every day in detail with great recommendation for restaurants and wineries in each and every city we visited,  and gave us detailed instructions for every element of the trip. (Roads, driving, fairies, trains…). On one of the days my husband lost his glasses in the ocean. It was already evening and he was supposed to drive early the next morning we were concerned our plans will need to change - Ariela immediately guided us to the next town where we were able to get him contacts and get back to our plans in less then an hour. We had contacted Ariela after having had a negative experience with a different traveler planner. The difference was immediately noticeable and I am so glad we found her. She made our trip!" Avigail, USA

"Ariela, many thanks for your hard work, advice and support along the way. Our visit was so much more enriching thanks to you. I’ll be sure to sing your praises among my friends!"

"We did multiple tours with Ariela so i couldn't pick just one. This was a very special trip that required a lot of planning. Ariela listened, understood exactly what we were looking for and helped us plan a trip of a lifetime. She became a part of the family so it was not just booking a tour but it was working with someone that really cared about us in helping you create an exceptional experience. She is extremely well connected so was able to leverage many different types of tours and guides who were also excellent. The trip would not have been the same without her."

​"Touring the Florence market with Ariela is like touring with an old friend. She is so open and engaging, and unbelievably knowledgeable about food and wine. Her passion is infectious! We had actually changed our plans to be able to go on a tour with her, and it was worth it. If Ariela has an available date, book her!"

“Don’t miss out on Ariela’s Florence market food tour, it was one of our favorite highlights in a 10-day long trip to Italy. The entire experience was so memorable and delicious. I would highly recommend her!”

Ariela put together a great two-week trip plan for my wife and me. I loved the detail that she included for each excursion; parking, restaurants, and sites. Those details made it so much easier to cover a lot of Tuscany.

She arranged three guided tours, a cooking class, and two wine tastings for us. They were all great, but I think our favorites were the cooking class and tour of the mosaic workshop in Florence!

"We had the most amazing time with Ariela! This is our first time in Pisa and what better way to explore then with food. Ariela shared history of Pisa, its architecture, the food we were tasting as well as their producers, We only tasted the very best locally sourced food and wow you can truly taste the quality. Ariela, thank you for showing us a fabulous time in Pisa. It was truly one of the highlights of our trip!!"

"Ariela, thank you for partnering with us to make a very memorable visit to beautiful Italy…. The itinerary worked out well in terms of travel time and sights included. Your recommendations for lunch and dinner were wonderful and we really enjoyed the wine tours; each was different and all had very good tour guides and well set up tastings. The tour guides you set up were both wonderful; we learned a lot and enjoyed their delivery."

"Dearest Ariela,

Thank you for creating us such an awesome experience on our Tuscan journey!! Everything was above our expectations!!!

With gratitude and hugs."

"Ariela for the WIN! We recently visited Italy and had the most amazing trip…largely in part to Ariela Bankier! She not only helped us plan our trip and build the itinerary, she was also our guide for 2 of our excursions, both of which were incredibly special and oh so memorable! Ariela is a true professional, she is deeply knowledgeable and passionate about Italy, and all things food and wine. Highly recommend."

"We enjoyed her book so much that we contacted Ariela and scheduled 2 tours, Chianti and Montepulciano. We visited several wineries, a farm where we had a lovely lunch and sampled cheeses, Pienza and San Gimignamo. If we visited the area again, we would definitely use her tour service again."

"Ariela made our itinerary for a girls trip to Rome and Tuscany. It was the most amazing trip! I highly recommend her as a guide for a food/market tour and a wine tour also. We had such a great time that she’s now working on our second trip to the Amalfi coast and Puglia."

"Ariela is amazing! From the beginning she catered to our every need and planned an amazing trip. She planned everything from restaurants, events, tours, museums, wineries. She even would hang out with us for the day and do everything with us. Bringing us morning pastries. Keeping us out of trouble. Great advice. We got to do the unique things and the more common ones. WE HAD THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME-MOSTLY DUE TO ARIELA. You cannot visit Italy without involving her! Sweet and kind. We would like her to visit us in Oklahoma!”

"Ariela is the expert every "foodie" needs when visiting Tuscany. She arranged a wonderful day for us, including cheese and wine tasting at a goat farm, a lovely lunch in the countryside, and a private wine tour. Our day with Arilea was one of the highlights of our trip! Her expertise and knowledge of food made for an educational and delicious day."

"Ariela was absolutely amazing! She made our trip to Italy so memorable! She made a wonderful itinerary for us based on what we wanted to do and it was perfect. We met her in Florence for a half day tour where she educated us on all types of food; took us to the local market, coffee shop, butcher and other specialty shops. Great day seeing Florence without all the tourists. We highly recommend her!"

​​"As soon as we read Ariela's book about Tuscany we knew we'd like to do a tour with her. I'm glad to say that the experience exceeded our expectations. She took us to places that we would have never found on our own and helped us experience Tuscany like a local. The venues that she selected for the foodie dinner tour were lovely. I can't recommend her highly enough!" 

"Ariela planned the most wonderful tour in Tuscany for our family group that ranged from small children to grandparents.  She found ways to make it meaningful and enjoyable for all involved as we worked our way through a fantastic cheese farm to a gorgeous vineyard and back to the town for some of the best gelato in the world.  We all agreed it was one of our favorite days of our Tuscany vacation and that was largely in part to Ariela!" 

"I began planning a week in Tuscany with excitement—ordered a couple of guidebooks and quickly realized I was completely overwhelmed and unsure where to begin. That’s when I reached out to Ariela, and I’m so glad I did.

From the very start, Ariela was incredibly patient and attentive. Her thoughtful questionnaire helped her truly understand what we were looking for in our trip. She then created a complete itinerary tailored to us—from hotel recommendations and day trips to tours, wine tastings, restaurant bookings, and even transportation.

One of the highlights was having Ariela herself guide us on a fantastic food tour in Florence, as well as a memorable day trip to a cheese farm and winery. The rest of our days were just as seamless—beautifully organized and completely stress-free.

I can’t thank Ariela enough for her expert guidance and care. She made our Tuscany adventure unforgettable."

"Ariela helped me plan an incredible day-by-day itinerary for my family’s trip to Italy last summer. She really got to know each family member’s preferences and made sure we included fun outings and day trips that everyone would enjoy. She made planning hassle-free, taking care of all the details, including all the times I needed a fluent Italian speaker to get something done. Ariela helped create unique, memorable experiences that I’m confident we would never have discovered on our own. Working with Ariela let me relax knowing we had everything taken care of - from great hotels to great recommendations for sites to see to reservations for dinners at amazing restaurants. I’ve already recommended her to friends who have had the same results - amazing, one-of-a-kind family experiences we’ll cherish for a lifetime. Thank you, Ariela!"

"Dear Ariela, We wanted to thank you very much for the wonderful adventure you planned for us - with a little notice!! When there was a minor “hiccup,” with the E bike tour, you handled it immediately. It was one of our favorite memories. Your restaurant guidance allowed us to experience delicious, intimate establishments that had wonderful character. We would never have found them without you! Our cooking class, that you chose for us, in such a perfect setting was an amazing and tasty highlight!! As you know, our travel plans had unexpectedly changed before our vacation and you were able to pull this together in a matter of weeks. We are so grateful to have ordered your book “Tuscany for the Shameless Hedonist,” and found your itineraries service offer. We will always remember this experience. Thank you for making it special." Karen, USA

"Ariela put a wonderful itinerary together for our family, traveling through Chianti, Siena, and then Rome. She engaged with us to figure out what would best match our interests and what our family needed in terms of cadence and content, and then arranged everything very well indeed. She checked up on us and even made last-minute adjustments when little pieces of "life" happened along the way requiring some changes in our plans. I would highly recommend Ariela!"

"Ariela, thank you for an incredible visit to the Florence market, we could not have picked a better or more personable guide for our food tour. We learned so much and had a wonderful experience. We'll see you on our next trip to Italy!"

​“Within minutes of meeting Ariela it felt like we had just connected with a friend who happens to know where all the best, authentic bites of food were to be found. Along the way she shared her knowledge of the cuisine, the history and secrets of where to savor the best pastries, prosciutto, cheese, panini and gelato. The stroll through the fresh fruit and vegetable market was a delightful revelation and left me wishing I had a huge home cooked meal to prepare. Her fluency in Italian ensured that we were welcomed and treated well everywhere we went. We delighted in our shared sense of humor throughout the tour and recommend her services very highly.”

Hi, Ariela, all five of us had a wonderful time with you on Thursday and Friday. Our experiences were amazing! We learned so much about wine, cheese, edible plants, sustainable agriculture, and much more. We will be trying your itineraries of Arezzo, Chianti area, and the Orcia Valley this next week. I also appreciate all the emails you sent, helping me prepare for this trip. Thanks for everything!"

​“Hi, Ariela! We got home late Tuesday evening and we're still soaring from a thoroughly lovely trip…Our trip certainly would not have been nearly as impactful or efficient without your expertise!”

"We SO enjoyed our food and wine tour in Pisa and referred back to all the info many times in our crazy trek across Italy! Thank you again for a wonderful tour."

"Exploring Tuscany with Ariela was unforgettable. Her deep knowledge of the region kept our small group engaged and entertained. We loved spending time with her, listening to her stories, and visiting the wineries she handpicked for us. If you're planning a trip to Tuscany, look no further than Ariela's tour!"

​

“My wife and I are shamelessly hedonistic fans of Ariela’s amazing book “Tuscany for the Shameless Hedonist”. So of course when we arrived in Florence, we had to hire her for one of her tours. We found Ariela to be ebullient, entertaining, and highly informative. In the midst of her colorful and detailed explanations on the tour, if we suddenly threw her a curveball question (which we did many times) it was remarkable how she quickly and cheerfully pivoted from what she had been saying to thoroughly answering our question, and then picking up exactly where she left off. By the end of the 3.5 hour Market Tour, we felt she was our new BFF. We wished we had booked her in advance for more tours during our brief stay in Florence, but of course, she was already heavily booked. No surprise there! Thank you, Ariela! We hope to see you again soon."

"Ariela many thanks for your hard work, advice and support along the way. Our visit was so much more enriching thanks to you. I'll be sure to sing your praises among my friends"

After reading Aiela’s book, I contacted her to assist us in planning a three week trip throughout Tuscany. She then curated an extensive daily itinerary which included suggestions for restaurants, wineries, unique venues, and “must see” towns and villages. The itinerary included maps, parking suggestions, travel times and other necessary details. The information was so crucial in helping us navigate our way through Tuscany. Ariela also set up a guided tour for us in Florence and a driver for a day in some of the small towns around Florence.
Ariela understood exactly what we wanted to do and see and the itinerary was perfect. Our only regret is that we didn’t do a tour with Ariela herself so we didn’t get to meet her in person. Next time for sure!
Ariela offers services to meet the needs of any traveler to the region and I highly recommend those traveling to Tuscany contact her to help plan a unique and personalized adventure.

"Our food tour with Ariela was AMAZING. So much more than we expected. Thank you!!!"

​"On researching for a trip to Italy we discovered Ariela Bankier's book "Tuscany for the Shameless Hedonist". We found it a great resource to use along with other guidebooks to create a very special trip. We saw that Ariela also is available for small group tours and after contacting her we signed up for a day in the area surrounding San Gimignano. All four in our group agree that the tour was a highlight of our trip. Ariela took us to a small artisanal cheese farm with an informative tour of the farm followed by a cheese tasting. Then a  beautiful drive up into the hills to a small winery again with a tour followed by a light lunch with paired wines to taste. We learned a lot from Ariela as she is both a sommelier and a certified cheese expert. The best part was how low key and relaxing the day was. Ariela took great care in making the trip interesting and giving us a view into the world of smaller producers in the countryside. Our group would highly recommend her tours". Michael, USA

"We loved our market tour in Florence! Ariela was such a delight. She is extremely knowledgeable and has a great sense of humor. Her explanations managed to engage everyone in our little group. Both the food tour and the guided visit to the winery were an absolute highlight of our trip!”

​"Thank you so much for putting together the most memorable day of our trip so far. Your insight, stories, sense of humor and vast knowledge of Italian culture were deeply appreciated by the members of our group."

"Ariela: You are amazing!  Can we keep you?  We LOVED our Italian trip and our highlights were the days we spent with you; still cannot get over how good that pasta was with truffle shavings! As the days progress, I am sure we will fill your inbox with compliments and questions. Our next trip will be Switzerland.  Can I convince you to come with us? 😊”

"Ariela, We had such a glorious trip, and your recommendations were really helpful! In Siena, We LOVED the guide you set up for us — she was sophisticated, informative, energetic, enthusiastic, and flexible...  And the wine experience you booked was absolutely SUPERB — beyond all of our expectations (and we have been to a lot of wineries!) Overall, we had a joy-filled adventure in Tuscany. Based on the success of this trip we suspect we will continue our Italian explorations in the future, and we hope that we may work together again with you to plan the journeys".

“Dear Ariela, I wanted to thank you for planning a perfect trip in Tuscany for our family of 16. From the very beginning you were serious and professional, took the time to get to know us and figure out our specific needs, and I knew that we were in good hands. Thanks to your careful planning, even my father, who can only move around with a disability scooter, was able to see the best of Tuscany. The detailed itinerary that you’d planned for us was incredible, and the morning that we spent together, on your wine tour near San Gimignano, was the highlight of our trip! You were passionate, charming and knowledgeable, and the entire visit was a wonderful and memorable experience. Thank you so much, and we can’t wait to return!”