Pam Mercer and Sam Hilt, a couple from Sonoma County, California, visited Tuscany for the first time in 1991. We fell in love with the landscapes, the art, the amazing food and, most of all, the generous and warm Italian people. After our first taste of Italy, we kept coming back every summer, and stayed as long as we could… And soon we began to discover the most beautiful corners of Italy, France and Spain.
Meanwhile, Sam was working toward his doctorate in art history, and he wrote his dissertation on Florentine Renaissance art. In 1997 a friend of ours—who was a graduate school dean and knew of our passion for Tuscany—invited us to lead her school’s annual alumni tour in Tuscany.
By that time, we had spent enough summers in Tuscany to know exactly what we wanted to share with our first group of travelers. So we chose our favorite restaurants, most interesting guides, great hotels, special places to visit—and that was the beginning of Tuscany Tours!
