Valentina Longo
A true florentine in love with her hometown
I was born and raised in Florence, and I wouldn’t change it with any other city in the world. And if you want to experience it with a real local, there’s no better person than me.
Since I was a little child I would walk the streets of Florence with my mother, she would tell me all the stories and show me all the beauties we are surrounded with.
This is how I came in touch with Michelangelo, Brunelleschi, the Medici and all the characters that made Florence known all over the world.
I studied languages and I speak English, French and Spanish.
After spending one year in Australia to improve my English skills, I came back to Florence and decided to take the exam to become a tour guide.
I love traveling, and I’ve been to many countries in the world and being a traveller myself, when I go to other countries I like to experience the places as locals do, and I think that even all those who come to Florence want the same.
Another passion of my life is theatre, I started when I was 15 and still today I am part of a local company.
I’ve studied drama at the University of Bologna and I have a diploma taken at “Laboratorio nove”, The most important acting school in Florence.
Theatre has helped me to give my tours a different twist, not a lecture, but a little entertainment and fun while you learn more about history and art.
The tours I like to lead are many but if I have to choose among all of them I would definitely choose the Medici tour and the one about the Dark heart of Florence, you would never know how many crazy things have happened in my beloved town!
Now I’ve been guiding tours since 2010. I love this job, it gives me the possibility to meet people from all over the world, to be in touch with many different cultures, and this enriches me every single day.