Behind VERA there is a person, not a catalogue

VERA started from something simple. Tuscany is one of the most visited regions in Italy and, at the same time, one of the least known. Thousands of people cross it every day along the same three roads, eat in the same four restaurants, and go home convinced they have seen it. I wanted to build the exact opposite.

I don't organise tours: I build days. The difference is that a day has a rhythm, some silences, and people inside it. When I take a family to a cellar in Chianti we are not buying a tasting — we are going to see someone I know, who walks us through the vineyard first and opens the bottles afterwards.

I live in Florence but I work across the whole region — from Chianti to the Val d'Orcia, from the Sienese hills down to the coast. Every grower, every cook, every craftsman you meet in these pages I have met myself, eaten at their table and watched at work. It is the only way I know to be able to recommend them honestly.

I mostly work with families, small groups of friends, and couples arriving from abroad who have two weeks — or two days — to understand a place. I speak Italian and English, I answer every message myself, and I stay reachable for the whole time you are here.