Carrara Marble Quarries Tour By Land Rover

We arrived at the appointed place on time. No tour operator showed up and I never received a phone call or email. I tried the number for the company but it was out of order. I emailed about a refund and have not received a response. It's very disappointing because we will not be in the Carrara region again, having traveled from the United States.

The experience was informative from beginning to end. The sheer majesty of the Apua Alps, the huge pieces of marble the process of cutting and removing down to the port is awe inspiring. The underground mining of marble was impressive. The drive up and down the mountain hair raising. The visit to the mountain food spot was welcome.

Two and a half hours on the steep roads of the quarries. Very knowledgable and helpful staff. Interesting and fascinating. Wonderful view to the sea. The only foresight: if you suffer from dizziness as I do, just be prepared. I recommend it!!!! I suggest to establish a Museum of the ancient tools and images from the past.

The tour itself was very interesting and a pleasure to do! But the Tourguide was sometimes very impolite answering questions from the audience! Also the promised Apero after the tour was missing! Based on all that the price is to high!

It’s a great view into a unique place, with its history and importance in the arts and design… but not only! I need to make a very strong complaint around the lack of emotional intelligence by the Tour owner/lead. His rudeness was evident after less than 5’ after our arrival (15’ before start time as suggested). He was abrupt with myself and my guests telling us not to touch anything and to just wait under the sun as he wasn’t ready. I then tried to help and introduced myself by first name using the informal ‘tu’ mode thinking this would create empathy with the tour guide with whom we would spend the next 3 hours… he looked at me and said do not address me with ‘tu’ but only with the formal ‘lei’ … I asked why and he replied: this is the way I want it! Shocked by the rudeness and lack of empathy (why choose tourism and a people-facing role as a career?) I decided to ignore the issue and continue the tour (I had 8 tickets with guests from Australia!). His edgy behaviour was again on display when, after an informative presentation at one of the stops, he put down every single person who had dared ask a question saying things like: ‘that’s the wrong question to ask’ or ‘I have already answered this’ etc… I saw people Walk away from the ‘English speaking’ group and join the Italian guide (a you g and very pleasant architect) and nobody dared asking questions at the second stop. The gentleman should really consider the impact he has on people and in the mercies they will bring back home to their countries. He is not representative of the warm and friendly spirit of most of us Italians. By the way I left him a tip against my good judgment….! The caves are amazing!