ABOUT

REVIEWS & AWARDS

Since 2007 Martina Beatrice Manfredi, founder and sole manager of Tuscany at Heart, has put her heart into Tuscany and her guests.

She has worked with great passion, dedication and enthusiasm, giving single travelers, families and small groups the opportunity to experience a truly authentic human connection, while they were discovering Tuscany’s culture and beauty. 

In addition, Martina has worked in respect of natural environment, local customs and traditions.

As a result over the past eight years Tuscany at Heart has been recognized as a leading private guided tour company and awarded with different certificates of excellence.

In 2018, thanks to our guests’ wonderful feedback, Tuscany at Heart was awarded a “All of Fame Certificate of Excellence” (based on 5 years of 5 star reviews from travelers) and a Certificate of Excellence to date (in current year it was changed into ‘Travelers’ Choice’) from Tripadvisor.

In  2019 Tuscany at Heart was shortlisted and then recognized as ‘Private Tour Company of the Year’ (Travel and Hospitality Awards) and ‘Exclusive Tour Operator of the Year  (Luxury Travel Guide Europe Awards):

”It is clear to the LTG judges, and to each guest that Martina guides around Tuscany, that she possesses exceptional tour guiding expertise. Having been a guide for over 12 years now, Martina knows how to be both informative and engaging, and although the judges find her knowledge of Tuscany outstanding, it is her unfaltering ability to spark an inspirational energy in every tour that most impresses the panel”.

Last but not least, since 2015 to date Martina has been recommended as an expert local Tour Guide of Pisa, Tuscany, by ‘Rick Steves Europe’.

It reads: “Martina Manfredi happily guides visitors through the Field of Miracles, but her real passion is helping them discover Pisa’s other charmes, from hidden gardens and piazzas to cuisine and artisans”.

We feel very honored and grateful for this!

May 2015 – American travel writer Rick Steves was in Pisa: Martina had the pleasure to meet him and be his guide in the ‘Field of Miracles’.

Rick-Steves-Pisa-Tuscany-at-Heart-private-guided-tours

May 2019 – American travel writer Rick Steves was in Pisa and  enjoyed a tour of its historic  centre with Martina.

May 2015 – American travel writer Rick Steves was in Pisa and Martina had the pleasure to meet him and be his guide in the ‘Field of Miracles’.

Rick-Steves-Pisa-Tuscany-at-Heart-private-guided-tours

May 2019 – American travel writer Rick Steves was in Pisa and enjoyed a tour of its historic  centre with Martina.

Our visit to Pisa, Italy@susanrae on 04/28/18 03:34 PM
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This being our 1st trip to Pisa, we booked a guided private tour with Martina Manfredi of Tuscany At Heart and I'm so happy that we did! Martina was such a pleasure to meet and made you feel comfortable, right from the start. Martina's knowledge of Pisa was very evident with all the information she shared, and her enthusiasm to answer all the questions we had! Never having been to Pisa and not really knowing a whole lot before we got there, I felt like I gained a lot of knowledge and felt that Martina was very engaging and kept our tour very interesting. Martina was eager to show us the shopping area and pointed out places of interest to eat and a cute little jewelry store with handmade items. Martina was so gracious in spending extra time with us, making sure she had showed us as much as possible and sharing her obvious love for the area! Our next stop was Florence and would have loved to have had Martina join us there, but she was gracious enough to share all kinds of places of interest for us! We would definitely recommend Martina to anyone who is looking for a great tour, full of knowledge and eager to research this beautiful area!
Best Private Tour Guide in Tuscany! @dmholexa on 08/08/19 12:15 AM
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We hired Martina Manfredi to provide us a private tour of Pisa for 6 adults recently. We were visiting Livorno on a cruise and she arranged for a driver to pick us up and drop us off at the port. She also took care of purchasing all our tickets. Martina's friendly and warm personality makes learning art and history fun. She is a great guide, host and extrodinarily knowledgeable about Pisa. In addition she shared some of the secrets of Old Town Pisa that many may overlook when visiting. While it was a 6 hour day we could have stayed longer. We would recommend Martina highly!!
@SteveSanAnselmo CA, USA on 07/18/18
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We took our 10 year old granddaughter to Italy for 2 weeks and spent one day in Pisa. Because we knew next to nothing about Pisa and had never been there, we hired Martina Manfreddi to guide us. It was probably the best return per dollar spent of the entire trip. Everyone I spoke to about Pisa considered it to be a very minor destination, not really worthy of much investment of time or money. They're all ill-informed, and Martina made that very evident within just a few minutes! Pisa is a fascinating place, full of interesting history, architecture and art, and Martina is an absolute fountain of knowledge about all of it, and a total delight to be with. She engaged our granddaughter from the start of the tour and we all came away with a great feeling of accomplishment for having learned as much as we did. I cannot recommend Martina highly enough. She is a treasure for anyone wishing to learn a little bit about what they came so far and spent so much time and money to look at.
Martina Manfredi - The consumate Pisa tour guide!@jamick on 10/30/17
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Our group of five schoolmates had the great pleasure of meeting Martina Manfredi for a 3 hour tour of Pisa on September 22, 2017. Martina met us, on time, at the gate, and led on on a wonderful time of discovery. We were thrilled with Martina's friendly nature, depth of knowledge and ease of bending to our needs during our tour. Like most tourists, we came to see the leaning tower, but what we most enjoyed was learning about the history of Pisa, hearing the acoustics of the Baptistery, seeing the ancient frescos in the Graveyard Camposanto, and of course the beautiful Duomo. Martina's vivid explanations of what we were seeing brought our experience to life. Martina Manfredi is the consumate tour guide. We enjoyed every moment. Thank you, Martina! Joane and John Amick, Janie and Rob Happe, Mary Arnold (USA)
Tuscany At Heart- Outstanding Day Tour of Pisa!@waded10 on 01/30/17
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Based on a recommendation in Rick Steve's Italy guidebook, we arranged a private tour of Pisa with Martina Manfredi, a licensed tour guide who specializes in the art and history of the towns in Tuscany. We thoroughly enjoyed our day in Pisa, including the Field of Miracles and the town. Martina was very knowledgeable and personable, with a flexible approach to touring in accordance with our interests. Her website is http://www.tuscanyatheart.it. We highly recommend contacting her for your tour of Pisa or surrounding towns in Tuscany!
@jewelryjunquie on 02/25/17
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We too booked a tour with Martina based on The Rick Steve's guidebook recommendation. She was very knowledgeable and even gave us suggestions of some things to see and do the next day. It was like getting twice as much for our money. There were just 4 of us on a private tour and it was great having access to that kind of information. You can go and see the Leaning Tower etc. but having the background and history on the Tower, the Baptistry etc. made it so much more valuable of an experience. She also knew when the best times to go were in order to avoid lines and crowds, thus making more of our time. I highly recommend Martina and would hire her again should the occasion arise.
Galileo and Pisa walking tour with Martina Manfredi/Tuscany At HeartPosted by cardy4tkd on 11/13/22 07:28 PM
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We learned about Martina from Rick's Italy tour book -- what a GEM! We took Martina's "Galileo and Pisa" walking tour in October 2022, figuring it would be a great lens through which to learn about Pisa beyond its most famous site, the Leaning Tower. Martina was very professional and personable with excellent English skills -- an absolute wealth of information about Pisa's history and Galileo's life. We walked the streets he would have walked as a child and learned about his family as well as his groundbreaking scientific observations (and their consequences). Martina was able to expel the lore that surrounds Galileo, grounding her explanations in her own investigative studies and uncovered documentation. As part of the tour, we also visited the Field of Miracles complex. Even in this typical tourist spot, Martina was able to go deeper than the typical tour -- we pondered Moorish influence in the church, discussed the architectural quandary of how to solve the tower's lean, and learned about the origins of the name, "Field of Miracles" at Campo Santo. We truly felt privileged to learn from her, and her past life as a student at the University of Pisa greatly deepened our understanding of Pisa as a community, not just a tourist attraction. We can't recommend Martina enough.
Truffle huntPosted by jewelryjunquie on 03/30/23 10:21 PM
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On our recent trip to Italy, and we did a truffle hunt with Martina of Tuscany at heart tours. I can’t praise this tour or Martina, highly enough. We learned how the truffle Hunter and the dog work together to find the truffles. Then we had a lunch prepared just for the five of us that included a puréed chickpea soup with truffles and Homemade ravioli with truffles. I can’t remember when I’ve eaten so well. Afterwards we did a wine tasting we tasted 6 different wines and needless to say some wine followed us home. It was a full day and we were very tired at the end of it, but it was an outstanding adventure, and something we will never forget.
Private guide discovering the hidden treasures of Pisa in a day with Tuscany at Heart
Private guide discovering the hidden treasures of Pisa in a day with Tuscany at HeartPosted by ymldedo on 04/13/23 10:49 PM
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While in Florence, I found Martina in a Rick Steves guidebook, looked up her website & sent a message to see if she would happen to be available in a few days for a day trip into Tuscany. My daughter & I only had one day that we could do this & wanted to do just one village instead of 3 or more offered by most tour companies. I was surprised & delighted when Martina responded that she was available! After a few emails we decided on a full day tour of Pisa. She instructed us on how to take the train to Pisa which was very easy, then a taxi to . She met us at the gates of Piazza del Duomo. From there we toured the baptistery, cathedral & the iconic tower. We are lunch at a local restaurant in the village, then spent the afternoon discovering all of the treasures of Pisa. We finished with a visit to a local gelateria, then delivered us to the train station. We were back in Florence with time for dinner. Martina was extremely knowledgeable about art & history. We thoroughly enjoyed her company & kindness. I also appreciated her advice & recommendations for the rest of our travels through Italy. I will definitely use her again when planning our next trip to Italy. She has so many offerings to choose from & is willing to tailor experience to her clients. Check out her website: https://www.tuscanyatheart.it/