LUXURY VACATION IN ITALY

23 September 2016

We thoroughly enjoyed the many treasures of Florence including the Uffizi gallery and Botticelli's Birth of Venus, Academia museum and Michelangelo's David, Pitti Palace and so much more. If you are visiting Florence and want an exceptional travel experience, the greatest treasure of all is Italy Customized's Alberto Bassilichi.

Alberto is an absolute pleasure. We enjoyed every minute we spent with him. Alberto shared a great deal of information with us regarding the culture of Italy as well as where to find rooftop restaurants with wonderful views, the top candy and pastry shops, the best gelato and other valuable tips only a Florence native could provide.

Alberto is a consummate professional and always gracious and accommodating. He accompanied us to Tuscan hill towns and Chianti wine tastings, arranged expert guides in Florence and Siena and personally drove us to and from Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera. Spending time with Alberto made our trip to Italy a truly memorable experience.

26 June, 2016

This trip was amazing! We had the good fortune of working with Alberto from Italy Customized.
With his extensive knowledge of Italy and his vendor contacts he was able to help us create memories that will last a lifetime. His hotel and restaurant recommendations were incredible - truly amazing!! He also organized drivers, transfers and delightful day trips which included beautiful wineries, and the gorgeous villages and countryside of Italy.

I would highly recommend Alberto and Italy Customized. We were so impressed by his superior service, attention to detail, and thoughtfulness. He is one-of-a-kind, such a gentleman who really cared and wanted us to have the most wonderful experience. We will certainly be using Alberto for our next trip to Italy.

We left Italy not only with wonderful memories, but a new friend in Alberto. Thank you!!

22 MAY 2016

I've know Linda as a colleague and friend since the days I was doing tours in Rome and so understand what goes into creating a truly memorable and seamless travel experience. For our first trip back in 4 years, Linda (along with expert guide and art historian Laura Cirri) took us on multiple journeys, not skimming the surface, but deep into the heart of Florence and the Val D'Orcia and its people. There are many travel services that do an expert job of presenting themselves online but fall short on delivery - I know having been in the business. Linda and her team at ItalyCustomized.it are truly the experts. And at the end of your dream vacation to this magical place, after absorbing the culture and richness of it all—not to mention having eaten and drunk the most exquisite food and wine you've ever had in your life—you'll very likely also have made a friend or two.

31 March 2016


We had a fantastic four hours with Linda learning about Florence and its fabulous food. This was our favorite tour of the 10 days. My daughters, ages 12 and 10, loved it too. We tried lots of different things. I recommend doing this tour early in your visit to Florence, because she gives you a lot of valuable information that you can use throughout your trip.

7 FEBRUARY, 2016


From the moment we contacted Italy Customized, we knew that our trip was in the hands of experts who knew and loved the people and the regions that we would be visiting in Italy. We had the great pleasure of meeting Linda on our very first trip to Tuscany and she immediately stole our hearts. We looked to her to help with our visits for three years in a row!

While fairly seasoned travelers, there are just certain experiences that are hard to create on our own. Those that are most memorable to us are the ones where we feel like locals. Every year, Linda has exceeded our expectations.

Whether just the two of us, with a couple of other family members, or even a group of 8 on one trip, Linda has skillfully created unique, authentic and remarkable experiences that we still talk about frequently. From some of the best meals we’ve ever had, to exploring fascinating and stunningly beautiful wineries, to “out-of-the-way” activities, spending time with her has been (and will continue to be) the highlight of our time in Europe.

And knowledgeable? Without question! We love learning from her and hearing her stories. For us, the question is not IF we’ll being utilizing Italy Customized again

It is difficult to put into words how highly we recommend Linda and Italy Customized. We consider it a privilege to tell others how truly wonderful they are.

30 December 2015


My husband Robert and I visited Florence for New Year and had a wonderful time. We especially enjoyed our Wine Tour to Casa Emma with the lovely Alberto Bassilichi. A fantastic driver, speaks superb English and is a perfect gentleman. Thanks Alberto for giving us the most memorable day.

10 December 2015
We had an excellent food tour of Florence with Linda of Italy Customized and Florence of Urban Adventures. Linda knows food and wine and it was fun and interesting to walk with her through the side streets and discover the side of Florence that tourists may miss without an insider guiding you. She also gave us excellent recommendation for restaurants, markets and areas to visit (Santo Spirito is a must). We have already tried a few of her suggestions and they are making our stay here so much more interesting. Thank you Linda for an excellent tour.

I had always dreamed of a trip to Tuscany, but never imagined that reality would be better than anything I could have dreamed. My dear friend and I spent a week with the most wonderful people in Italy.

4 November 2015
Linda Sorgiovanni and Alberto Bassilichi were our tour guides, but they treated us like family. Every day was special. We visited wineries, went truffle hunting, toured beautiful quaint Italian villages and ate the most amazing food. Every detail was taken of: from daily transportation, to tours, to meeting the Italian people of the region.

At the end of the week we said good-bye to family, Linda and Alberto; leaving them with invitations to visit us in the U.S. Ciao Italia, for now!!

I met Linda in 2007 when I attended a cooking school in Tuscany. I was so impressed I remained in contact vowing to return. In 2013, Linda arranged a custom itinerary for my husband and I on our honeymoon. It was my husbands first time to Italy and he fell in love as I knew he would. Linda accompanied us on several of the day trips and it was like having a good friend show you around.
In 2013 she and her partner Alberto created Italy Customized and we worked with her to create a week long adventure for our wine club members (we own a small winery). Their reviews will speak for themselves but "top notch", "first rate", amazing" and "incredible" were repeatedly uttered by our guests.
Despite a medical emergency by one of our guests, all had a fabulous time. I should mention that this team is so invested in your experience they both went to the hospital to help assure, translate, assist with paperwork late in the evening. Being ill in a foreign country is frightening enough; when you don't speak the language, even more so.
These two made our guests feel safe and taken care of during a scary time.

The itinerary allowed a true perspective into Italian life, a lovely balance of culture, wine, food, history and fellowship. I lived in Italy for 8 years and have been back 4 times as well as traveling to other parts of the world and have to say this was the BEST trip ever! Our farewell dinner literally left many of us teary eyed as the experience with Linda and Alberto created a unique bond. Together we succeeded in our mission: to show our customers the beauty and charm of Italy and its people.

I would not use another team when visiting Italy. We trusted them with our customers and they more than delivered with flying colors, as we knew they would from our own experience. Prompt, flexible, caring, trustworthy, personable, informed, fun, customer-centric...the adjectives are endless! So what are you waiting for? Let Italy Customized create YOUR trip of a lifetime. They will not disappoint!

I can't say enough about Linda and her staff. We have the best time ever during our excursions and I would highly recommend anyone using her services! We have had Linda set up excursions for our last three visits to Tuscany and will be calling her again next year as we set up our next trip!
We met our guide Laura up at the view you see in my picture. It is great having a guide from Florence as they can answer all types of questions about the city. She was very knowledgable about the cities history and I could have listened to her talk about architecture all day.
In all just wonderful and this is just one of the many excursions we had Linda set up for us.
Thanks Italy Customized! We will be calling you early next year!

20 SEPTEMBER 2015
What a perfect day! Linda arranged a a wine and balsamic tasting tour that delighted 12 family members. Professional transfers. Quaint tour. Delicious tastings at an organic farm. We wish we had used Linda to do more of our 2 week Italian family vacation.

We had two lovely trips organised with Linda. One was a full week in Tuscany of day trips and cooking classes and the last time we visited we took a full day tour with her in Chianti. She is so well informed and provides excellent service. We were able to visit places off the tourist path. The best part of leaving is the feeling that Linda is a friend. 5+ stars. Highly recommended!!!

26 August, 2015
Linda, Has been our Guide and Travel consultant now for our three times in Florence! We love her and everything she picks out for us is such an adventure, truly..
She has made us fall in love with Florence and Tuscany! The best!!

August, 19 20015
Linda set up exactly the tours that suited us. We did the arts and museums, cooking school, wine tasting (see photo) and the wonderful foods of Tuscany and Florence. Her kind and caring personality shined through and made our trip that much more special.

August 3, 2015
We are back north in not so sunny and cold Sweden. We are still dreaming about the days we spent with you in Tuscany. I know I still think about that meat platter from Dario Cecchini restaurant, and the amazing boutique vineyard in the hills of Chianti, of course you we can't forget all the other delicious treats that we ate. Even with both or specific desires you showed us so many different places that catered to both of our interests, These places we could not have found on our own. The best part was that we learned new things about the food and wine of tuscany.
Thank Linda for being so kind and helpful. We will be calling you again very soon!

May 9, 2014

My family of nine recently returned from our exclusive tour of Italy.

We were very fortunate to have
Linda Sorgiovanni of Italy Customized to be our guide for our entire adventure from Venice to the
Amalfi Coast.
With Linda?s knowledge of everything and her awesome personality we had many experiences we never could have had without her. I can not imagine anyone touring Italy without
the expertise of Linda & Italy Customized.
Thank you Linda for all our wonderful memories!

26 August, 2014



If you are looking for a stress free travel experience in Italy. Italy Customized is your one and only travel planner with Linda Sorgiovanni as your personal guide. Italy Customized planned a personable family vacation that included all of our particular needs.

We sent Italy Customized the cities we wanted to visit and they personalized and organized everything. We mean everything so we had no worries or concerns! Linda went above and beyond anything we ever could have expected. Her attention to detail is spectacular. She is well connected with individuals and guides in many cities and very knowledgeable herself. She worked tirelessly the entire time to make sure our family was able to relax and enjoy our time in Italy. We can honestly say that Linda Sorgiovanni is the best travel planner in the business and we highly recommend Italy Customized.

22 May, 2014


While planning our trip for May 2014 in Tuscany, we had the great fortune to discover Italy Customized and Linda Sorgiovanni. We wanted to visit some wineries and discover the true essance of Italian Wines in and around the Tuscany region. While we had a couple of ideas in mind and a few specifics, Linda ran with these and put together the most perfect Wine Touring Itinerary for our group of 3 women visiting Italy.
Her expertise as a sommelier coupled with her natural ability to interpret all things Italian provided us with the perfect touring experience we were hoping for. Without a doubt, we would not only use Italy Customized & Linda the next time in Italy, we would not hesitate to recommend her to our friends and work colleagues while traveling in Italy. Thanks Linda!
Mary Humes, Michigan USA

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

During our honeymoon in Italy, we took a private cooking class in Florence. Elena, the chef, was an exceptional host throughout the day. The morning started off at the Sant Ambrogio market where we bought fresh ingredients ? vegetables, herbs, meat, cheeses and bread. We then spent the next few hours in Elena's kitchen learning firsthand how to make raviolis, beef and artichoke involtinis, and tiramisu (delicious!!). Throughout our time together, Elena offered us tips and tricks that we will use in our own kitchen. Her passion for cooking was never amiss and she made the experience one that we will never forget.
-Lyn and Jason

Monday, September 9, 2013

Linda is wonderful! She has provided us outstanding tours and guides ,as well as conducted personal tours, which has left us with lasting memoires of our two family trips to Italy.

Thursday August 15, 2013



Absolutely the best tours in Italy. We have been on several tours with Linda and learn more about Florence, its foods, its wines, its markets every time. Linda never fails to find a hidden gem in the city. Having traveled all over the world and done tours everywhere, I feel Linda's tours are the best!!

Friday, August 16, 2013

We could not have been happier with the service that Italy Customized provided us while touring Florence! Alberto and his staff planned the most perfect excursion for our family (that includes four boys!). To this day, they will all say that Florence is their favorite city and Alberto is their favorite Italian. We will continue to recommend IC and we hope to be back touring in the very near future!

Amee, Gary, Van, Mac, Fred and Lee Scott Sonoma, California, U.S.A.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

What would a tour of Tuscany be without Linda and Alberto? Well, certainly less interesting and not nearly as fun! Having Linda and Alberto's team of guides involved is like having La Famiglia show you around. Our latest visit was for our honeymoon and we relished the one on one conversations with all our guides. Everyone was so friendly and good humored, but also so professional. We always love the unique experiences we are sure to have when Linda and Alberto are planning our itinerary from Alfredo making Fetunta with his own olive oil, dining in an ancient Roman amphitheater or lunch at Dario?s the rockstar butcher?truly fantastic and memorable experiences to last a lifetime! If you want to get a feel for real life in Italy, Italy Customized is the only way to go.

Debbie and John Wilson

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Linda and Alberto turned our trip to Italy around for us and I cannot say enough about them.  They are the Best!  The most accommodating people I could ever imagine.  If you are going to Italy, or know anybody that is going to Italy that is new to Italy and is not on a tour program you will be remiss not to to call them.  Let me tell you they made our trip 80% more enjoyable.  

I had gotten her name from World Accomodations and arranged for an air transfer to our apartment in Florence.
  
We first met Alberto when we arrived in Florence and he was holding our name up in the very front line.  He immediately came forward and introduced himself and grabbed our luggage and took it to the curb and asked that we wait while he got his car to come back for us, which was a very comfortable shiny black Mercedes BTY.  On the way to our apartment he went out of his way to go to the train station and try to help us change our tickets as we had booked them for the wrong day.  He took us to our apartment and stayed with us until we were inside the apartment.  He did not like fact that there was no one to greet us so he waited and made sure everything was OK.

We were right downtown in the perfect location to walk to everything and our view was fabulous.  However; we felt like there was nothing to do but eat and shop and sooo many people.  Linda had given me a site that outlined the favorite spots for the locals that she felt was better than the "tourist traps".  We looked it over and decided to just take the plunge and called her for a private tour out of the city the next day. Wow, what a difference that call made in our opinion of Italy.  There were several tours but we were interested in the private one."Chianti Classico Wine Tasting Tour". 

Linda was waiting for us the next morning outside our apt at 9:30 in her very comfortable luxury Mercedes and we went through the most famous Chianti Classico situated between Florence and Siena.  We experienced the Florentine Chianti Classico area.  Beautiful!  We then visited a boutique wine estate for a wine tasting tour the the expert wine maker, (bought a case of wine).  We then continued to the village town of Greve in Chianti, arriving at a local delicatessen that has been in the town since 1729.  Linda explaining and introducing us to everybody, making it feel so personable.  We enjoyed tastes of local products such a cheese, wild boar salami, fennel seed salami, Extra Virgin Olive Oil that was out of this world and selected local wine.  She talked to us about the regional products and we tasted the best Chianti Classico in the area.  All the while explaining and chatting on a most friendly and personal manner we felt like we knew her.  She gave us free time to visit the quaint stores around the main square before and have lunch in this thoroughly delightful town.  We then left for a beautiful drive through Tuscan Landscapes dotted with castles, wine estates and farm houses.  We passed by the famous Antinori Wine Estate famous for it Tignanello and Solaia wines.  She delivered us to our door around 2pm and stayed with us until we had settled what time we were leaving the next day.  

She called the apartment that we were staying at in Rome and confirmed that we were going to be there and what time and requested that they meet us.  She and Alberto both picked us up the next morning and took us to the train and stayed with us until we were on it.  Even helped with the luggage!  She called a cab driver in Rome and told him what train we were on and asked him to meet us.  They both hugged us and we felt like old friends and were very glad to be in their hands.

She called us later that day to see that all was OK, asked about the apartment, and suggested a 3 hour tour that we might like with her friend Lorenzo the next day.  We accepted and found the same friendly manner and wiliness to accommodate anything we might want to do.  He asked us if there was anything particular that we had in mind and we told him where we had walked to already and he took that into consideration as he planned the route.  He stopped whenever we asked to take pictures, get gelato, or whatever with a smile.  We wanted to see the colosseum even though it was SO crowded he could not park.  He gave us his cell number and parked somewhere close by, then when we called he was there within three minutes, honestly, truly a personalized tour.  showed us the "expensive neighborhood" that he wanted to live in someday but didn't think he ever would and it showed us such a personal view of Rome and the real people we loved it.  

Very, very personable just like Linda and Alberto, just absolutely the way to go.

The last call we had from Linda was before we left for home was to see if we enjoyed the tour and if we needed anything else before we left.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

The four of us loved our stay in Florence! Linda and Alberto arranged for our pick-up in Rome, the drive through Umbria and the tour of Assisi on our way to Florence, lunch in Bevagna, a drive through Tuscany, a wine tasting at Castello di Trebbio, the Accademia tour to see The David, Brunelleschi?s Dome (I'm an engineer!), the art highlights of the Uffizi, the fabulous private tour of the Vasari Corridor, the restaurant recommendations, the fabulous guides, the private cooking class with Elena ... All were ?molto bene!? And she even found an Italian beekeeper for my beekeeper brother to meet at the Florence Market!

We had a wonderful time!! Thanks so much!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013


Linda Sorgiovanni of Italy Customized has provided premium upscale travel and hospitality support over the years. We visited Tuscany in 2010 and 2013. On both occasions, Linda professionally guided us through the Tuscan countryside, provided expert historical and regional context and led us to the finest wineries, restaurants and shopping in Italy. Linda is well-connected. She lives in Florence and knows everyone. You will never wait in line or feel like "one of the pack" of tourists seen throughout Italy. Linda treats you like a friend and is eager to share the wonders of her home country with her clients/guests. Along with her highly professional demeanor, Linda also has a great sense of humor and a warmness about her that is contagious. We will go back to Linda and Italy Customized every time we travel to Italy.

Monday, June 10, 2013

If you want the perfect holiday in Bella Tuscany, Linda Sorgiovanni is the perfect guide. Linda is so well informed about history, art, food, wine and shopping. She brought all of Tuscany to life. Linda was always reliable and punctual and she knew all the best restaurants, wineries and hill towns. She also speaks fluent Italian and English. Our stay at Villa di Piazzanno was wonderful...picture perfect surroundings in the Tuscan countryside, a caring staff, great cooking classes and incredible food. I have recommended Linda to so many of our friends and we will definitely use her again...she made our trip unforgettable.

Ontario - Canada