Men are stereotypically known for their short attention spans, so when we’re on vacation we’re not usually interested in all-day tours. We often like to keep it short and sweet. That’s where the idea for the ‘Man Tour’ came from—short sights, good food, good wine, and good company.
This idea may seem preposterous to anyone who prefers to immerse themselves in history and culture when they travel, but don’t knock it ‘til you try it!
The ‘Man Tour’ was one of my wilder ideas. It certainly got some pushback from the start, but now my friends and family can’t get enough of it! Here’s the gist of it: European cities have a million different sights to see, each taking up precious time and energy. What if there were a way to hit all the highlights without sacrificing the good food, good wine, and good company mentioned above? Hence, the ‘Man Tour.’
As I’ve gotten to know some of these major cities, I’ve learned what sights are worth seeing, the best ways to get around, and some fun customs from each. The key is hitting the high points, but only lingering briefly. After all, you don’t want to spend twelve hours sightseeing by foot on your first day, leaving you tired for the rest of your trip. In my experience, bite-sized experiences all add up to the perfect picture of a city.
You don’t have to follow exactly in my footsteps, but give my template a shot and see what you think!
Florence is a great, walkable city. My family owns a villa that’s a ten-minute walk away from the center of town, and we love to host friends and family. As such, I’ve devised the perfect Florence tour. We start by walking down into the city and hit our first stop: the Piazza della Signoria. This big, open space is home to the former seat of Florence’s government (Palazzo Vecchio), many shops, restaurants, and the Ufizzi Gallery. This gallery showcases eight statues by some of the greatest Renaissance artists, notably including a replica of Michelangelo’s David, Donatello’s Marzocco, and Cellini’s Perseus. The statues each depict a different era of Florence’s long and twisting history. I do my best to name some of the statues (usually only getting a couple right) before we move on.
Fun fact: Jan and I lived in Piazza della Signoria for some time, and we loved being at the centre of all the action and history of this city.
The second stop is the wild boar statue, Il Porcellino, with a snout golden and smooth from being rubbed for good luck. We follow suit, securing a little luck for our own lives, before heading on to Piazza Repubblica. Here we find shopping, restaurants, hotels, and, most importantly, coffee. We usually skip the shopping and head straight to the coffee bar at Gilli.
Taking guests through the coffee routine in Italy is one of my favourite parts of the tour. It goes a little something like this: I make the order, usually espresso shots for everyone, and pay at the front. Then we take the shots at the bar and move on. Simple, and completely different from U.S. traditions. When I inevitably have to field the question about why we’re not sitting down to enjoy our coffee, I get to explain that it’s 3x more expensive to sit down—and of course it wastes precious tour time!
After our morning jolt, we take in the Florence Baptistery (named for John the Baptist) with its famous, intricate doors. The bronze doors are quite a sight at 18ft high, ordained with incredible designs. Stops like this often include a short and somewhat accurate contextual explanation by me.
Next, we head next door to the famous Duomo Church. This is the central point of Florence with its easily-recognizable dome stealing the show from miles away. This is the domed building you’ll find on any postcard from Florence. The line is always miles long, so the ‘Man Tour’ dictates that I give the abridged version of the church’s history, allow people a good glance, and usher the group along.
Thought we were done? Not yet! Next, it’s on to a couple of museums. First, the Opera del Duomo Museum where we stay for about 30 minutes. Second is a major highlight for most, Museum Academia, home to the real David of Michelangelo. It’s always fun to see the replica before taking in the real thing. This stunning piece of art deserves a few minutes before it’s on to the next stop, the Museum of San Marco. This building is a historical dormitory for priests and each room includes beautifully painted frescos by Father Angelico. We pop into a few rooms for a look at how these holy men lived.
Finally, it’s lunchtime. If you can believe it, all of the above sights only take us about two hours—such is the beauty of the ‘Man Tour.’ By now, everyone is ready for a rest and refuel. Most times we go to a restaurant called Ristorante Accademia, owned by a friend named Jianni. We’ve known Jianna for quite some time, and stay connected with him because he buys wine from our vineyard! Because he’s a friend, Jianni always makes a great show for our guests. And, of course, because he’s a dear friend who knows what’s good for him, he makes a show of selling the wine from our vineyard, Podere Erica. We enjoy wine and espresso and blindly let Jianni feed us without ordering off the menu. Lunch is the usually longest stay of the tour because we get distracted by stories and wine—you know how it goes.
Our list of afternoon sights is much shorter: Gardenia Dei Senplici (the Florence botanical gardens) and the most incredible, intricate Four Seasons. You may be thinking to yourself, Neal, how exciting can a hotel be? Very. This Four Seasons is no ordinary Four Seasons. It’s a converted villa infused with Italian history, architecture, and art. Even if you’re not staying there, you can enjoy the courtyard and the bar. This, appropriately, is where the ‘Man Tour’ ends—seated at a bar with a cocktail in hand.
All of these highlights only take us about four hours. Our guests get a real feel for Florence, and there’s still time for an afternoon nap before our festive dinner! The perfect day in Florence.
An optional stop for the days when you have lots of time and energy to spend: the Uffizzi. This is a major Florence museum filled with so many sights it would take days and days to see it all. It’s connected to Pitti Palace, another incredible museum, by the Vasari Corridor. You can take unbelievable tours of these destinations and spend an entire day if you wish. It doesn’t fit into my abbreviated tours, but it’s worth seeing!
When you think of Rome, I’m sure a few highlights come up in your mind even if you’ve never been. The Colosseum, the Vatican, the Trevi Fountain, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Spanish Steps, the Pantheon.
Well, on the ‘Man Tour’ of Rome, we see it all from the comfort and convenience of a golf cart tour with a driver. These golf cart tours are an essential part of the ‘Man Tour’ in cities that are less walkable than Florence. These tours are a great concept, allowing us to take in the sights without worrying about parking, transportation or wasting energy on too much walking. This way, we save that energy for the awe of this beautiful city and its sights.
Of course, you can’t leave Rome without stopping for gelato. After all, it’s the best in the world.
My London tour always has a bit of welcome variety as we discover new sights and histories in this incredible city. If you want to stay inside the city, London has tons to offer. The London Bridge, the National Gallery, Westminster Abbey, the Natural History Museum, the Tower of London, and the London Eye. To get the full experience, you also have to add a cafe stop and pub stop to the list!
If you’re happy to expand your search outside of London, you can take in Windsor Castle, Bath, Hyde Park, Stonehenge, and Canterbury.
My summer 2023 trip was largely dedicated to Winston Churchill's history with a little detour to enjoy Wimbledon. First, we visited Winston Churchill’s underground war room where he led his country through World War II. This impressive underground space was highly secure, included maps that showed the war’s progress, and was one of the most guarded secrets at the time. The tour is quite something—I’d highly recommend adding it to your tour of London.
Next, we hit another piece of Churchill's history—his summer home and art studio. This tour was the complete opposite of his war room. His country home was where he came to relax, get away from the stress of leading the country, and paint. He had a considerable amount of artistic talent, and experts believe he could have become a professional painter if he had had the time!
I got to take a tour-guide break when we visited French southern wine country this summer. My best friend, Jim Pugh, and I went to the region of Burgundy to meet with Paul Day, a world-famous sculptor. Jim, myself, and our wives spent some time in Paul’s hometown, Sainte Sabine.
We hit it off so well with the wonderful Paul, enjoying tours of his studio and his town. It was a beautiful part of the country, and there was nothing better than being shown around by someone who’s lived there for 30 years and enjoys worldwide notoriety for his art. This ‘Man Tour’ was the ultimate version. We were ushered around to every spot we wished and given a real insider’s perspective.
Because we were in France’s southern wine country, we of course enjoyed tours of some famous wineries. These tours were made special by the fact that the owners of the wineries themselves gave us the tours! We
Now, before you ask me ‘What about everything you missed by rushing through?’—I urge you to try it first. We travel to explore and rest. This way, we get to do both. Believe me, I’ve fielded my fair share of skeptics, all of whom have come to love my tours!
The ‘Man Tour’ can be applied to any major city. Just focus on short, sweet, and to-the-point experiences. Good luck!
