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Whilst we were in Tuscany staying at a lovely villa near the village of Volterra we were lucky enough to do some tours with LivItaly. Now we weren’t with the kids when we actually took these tours but it wasn’t difficult to see how LivItaly’s Food Tour of Florence could easily be incredibly child friendly, particularly Gelato making in Florence – well Ice Cream making in Florence to us Brits!

We met in front of Café’ Rivoire in Piazza della Signoria (the main square in Florence) at 10am. As we were a large group of 13 we actually did the tour with headsets but the usual group size doesn’t exceed 6 people so headsets are usually unnecessary.

We started with some history as to why Florence was important and its place in the history of Italy. We meandered through the streets whilst hearing this history along the famous Ponte Vecchio Bridge to a market on the other side of the river which was significantly quieter and more relaxed than central Florence.  Florence gets busy even in March, so if you’re travelling and touring with kids you’ll need to make sure they stay close.

You usually start the tour the Italian way, with a traditional cappuccino or espresso. We chose to start moving as the rain was only going to get heavier and grab a coffee slightly later on.  The usual farmers market that you see on the tour with LivItaly was closed the day we visited so we wandered a little further and I loved hearing Raffaela talk so passionately and knowledgeably as we wandered about.   The bustling market we visited with local merchants and local farmers selling their goods was small but fascinating and I particularly loved the man making lots of different products from straw, he looked like he had being doing it since the day he was born, and probably had been.

We chose to escape from the then heavy rain and sit down in a cafe to the side of the market whilst Raffaela continued to chat to us about Florence and the history of the area. The cafe and the cappucino was so good and it was sad to move on, but gelato making was calling us.

The highlight of the morning and the part of the tour I know my kids would love was the time we spent in the  Gelateria Perchè No just off the main square in Florence at the Gelato Making Masterclass. Ciro Cammilli was according to our group the ‘epitome of suave’ he knew his gelato, made us all feel very welcome and I could just imagine my kids faces if they were the ones who were actually making the gelato with Ciro.

We made Banana Gelato whilst we were in the masterclass but we tasted a number of others. My personal favourite was the pistachio gelato which I would never normally pick, but this one made with a touch of honey was out of this world.  Well I say that the pistachio gelato was my favourite – but perhaps it was my favourite gelato served in a pot. The tomato gelato we had, served with salt, basil and olive oil on bruchetta was quite simply exceptional and we all asked for more!  Who knew tomato gelato could be so good!

We were provided with a complimentary tour in exchange for this review but I can highly recommend LivItaly and if you’re going to be in Florence, or any other major Italian city do pop over and have a look at their tours.

If you want to read a review of a LivItaly tour where the kids were on the tour just pop over to Globetotting and read their review.