About

My destiny was determined in 1990 when I had a summer job guiding luxury bike trips in France. France’s beautiful countryside, rich history and fantastic food and wine bowled me over. Furthermore, I loved my work, biking through the exquisite French countryside leading a group of people who were on holiday. It was too much fun, I was hooked! Then in 1994 I discovered Tuscany. Wow! It could not get better, I had to stay. So I decided to run my own trips, the first of which was for one person! The next trip was for three people, a 300% increase! Since that first trip in 1995 I have created a small company that has run hundreds of trips for thousands of people in dozens of locations throughout Italy, France and Turkey. What hasn’t changed is my passion for travel and adventure and my enthusiasm for sharing a wonderful time and lots of laughs with the people on our trips.

Brett Naisby, Owner-Director, Customwalks Ltd

What makes us different?

Our mix of North American and European managers and guides allows us to both understand what our clientele want and expect in terms of service while providing them with a trip that benefits from our intimate local knowledge. Unlike many other companies, our managers and guides live in the areas where we run our trips.

Although we are a small company, we have already been running trips for ten years. We are not just an owner- operator operation that seizes up when the owner sprains an ankle. Nor are we a large travel company with huge overheads. There are four full time people at Customwalks in addition to our guides. Our livelihood is dependent on the success of our trips and the repeat business of our customers. When you call our toll free line it gets forwarded to us in Italy. We are here, on the ground doing what we enjoy and do best, great trips at reasonable prices.

Trip Leaders

Brett - Owner and founder of Customwalks. Brett left a career at the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs to pursue his love of travel and the outdoors. His wanderlust has taken him to trek in the Canadian Rockies, the Atlas mountains of Morocco, the Southern Alps of New Zealand, the Everest region of Nepal and to the Italian Dolomites. He has also cycled extensively throughout France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. His passion for good food and wine perhaps explains why he now lives in Chianti. He has been guiding and developing trips in France, Italy and Turkey since 1990. Languages: Canadian-eh, French and Italian.	Carol Sicbaldi-Magnoni - Carol is our operations manager Italy. Originally from Boston, she started in the active tour industry in the early 90's with a San Francisco-based company that ran trekking and mountaineering trips all over the world. In 1993 Carol decided to shift her professional interests towards Italy and began designing and leading active tours exclusively in Italy. Carol joined Customwalks in 2000 and lives near Bologna with her husband Luca and their two sons.
Luca Magnoni - Luca is passionate about bikes and everything related to them. He has led bike trips throughout France and Italy and has also raced in Italy and the United States, where he lived in Boulder for a couple of years. He returned to his home in Bologna ten years ago with his wife Carol (get the connection?) and began working for us full time in 2003 to manage and develop our growing bike program. Languages: Italian, English, French, Norwegian. Luca leads our bike tours in Provence, the Dordogne, Tuscany, Puglia as well as our special Giro d'Italia tour.	Virginie Biarnay - Virginie was born and raised in Provence. She lives with her daughter in a small village north of Avignon. Before joining Customwalks in 1999 she ran several B&Bs in the south of France and also worked as a chef. Virginie manages and guides our trips in her home of Provence and throughout France and parts of Italy. Virginie is Director of our programme in France and guides most of our trips in Provence and the Dordogne. Languages: French, English, Italian.
Claire Duiker - Claire has a PhD in Comparative Literature but happily abandoned academia ten years ago to make her career as a guide. She is fluent in both Italian and French, and has recently finished a translation of a biography of Ho Chi Minh.  Her love of travel and zest for life are contagious. Claire has been guiding for us since 1999, leading trips in the Cinque Terre, Tuscany, Puglia, Provence, Croatia and Turkey. She has also guided many of our private departures including our Tour de France and Giro d'Italia trips.	Sagra Garcia - Sagra has been guiding for us since 1999 leading trips in Tuscany, Lake Como and the Cinque Terre.  Sagra's native tongue is Spanish, but she also speaks Catalan, English, French and Italian.  When not guiding, she teaches secondary school in Spain and is also pursuing a Master's degree in anthropology. Sagra's high energy and great sense of fun are present on every trip she leads.
Emanuela Angelini - Emanuela lives in Chianti although she is originally from Genoa. "Manu" is a biologist by training and works for an environmental consultancy. She divides her time between guiding our trips in Tuscany, the Dolomites, the Cinque Terre and the Amalfi coast and helping her mother who has a cooking school. Needless to say Manu is also a great cook and has a discerning palate which ensures that you always get the best and freshest ingredients on your dinner plate.	Stephanie Jurs - Stephanie and her husband moved to Italy ten years ago to pursue their profession as mosaicists. Ravenna, once the western capital of the Roman Empire and home to the ancient world's finest mosaic craftsmen, was the obvious choice for Stephanie to set up her studio. Since then she has raised her children in Italy and developed an award-winning mosaic studio with her husband. They frequently return to the United States to install their works for their American clientele. Stephanie has been leading our Tuscany Walking tour since 2004. See her work at Twin Dolphin mosaics!
Rosita Menghi - Rosita is from the Bologna area and has been leading biking and walking tours for many years.  She has done just about every job, from industrial welding to giving massages in a discotheque!  Come join her in the Cinque Terre or on one of our Vespa tours and see which of her talents is right for you!	Gabriele ("Gabe") Del Rossi - After 13 years in the adventure vacation industry, there is little that Gabe has not experienced. From leading walking tours to fixing bicycles, designing new trips to developing existing itineraries, he has dedicated most of his career to creating the best “immersion” for the outdoor enthusiast. Originally from New England, this skier, rock climber, hiker, and cyclist has also managed to squeeze in two master’s degrees in foreign literatures, a NOLS certification and playing percussion in a French jazz group. Long settled in Chambéry, Gabriele runs biking and skiing adventure trips for the University of Savoie when not leading our trips through Tuscany and Provence.
Giorgio Valvassori - Originally from Milan, Giorgio now lives in Cortina where he mountain climbs in the summer and works as a ski instructor in the winter. He obviously loves the mountains, but he is also a keen sailor, having skippered sailboats throughout the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. Giorgio speaks excellent English and has boundless energy, which will keep you laughing on the trail as well as well informed of the history and culture of the region.	Melissa Morris - Melissa has been guiding trips throughout Europe for over 15 years. She loves the sharing and learning that take place during a tour, in places that inspire our hearts and minds. She moved to Florence in 1999 and followed her dream to study art, and she is now an artist and fine arts teacher. Along with her cultural interests, she is a true nature lover and spends as much time as possible exploring the hills and dales of Tuscany.
Claudia Vettore - Claudia is originally from Padova but has lived in Milan, Rome and Sicily. Her freelance work as a translator and interpreter take her throughout Italy, as she specializes in film and television, and often does simultaneous translation at Italy's major film festivals. A "bon vivant," Claudia loves to travel, meet new people and discover new places. She guides our walking trips in the Cinque Terre, Lake Como, and the new Puglia and Basilicata walk.	Mary Daniels - Mary grew up on the beaches of sunny San Diego, but truly discovered her love for outdoor adventure when she moved to Colorado. She started working as a guide and soon found a job leading teens into the back-country through Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho and California. Her love of adventure led to more travel, through Europe, Asia, Australia, and Central America, but she always knew the one place she wanted to call home: Italy. She loves to share this passion with people on her trips through Tuscany and Puglia.
Marco Fromboli - Marco is originally from Florence, but now makes the world his home.  His love of travel has taken him to Asia and Latin America, to explore other cultures and escape the hustle and bustle of his native city.  When not traveling, he works as an artist, mosaicist, and now  also as a guide for our Italian Vespa tours. Come and explore the Tuscan hills with one of its native sons!	Elisabetta Sazzini - "Betta" guided bike tours throughout Italy for years but eventually took a break to settle down in her home town of Bologna.  Luckily for us, she got the guiding bug again and did two trips for us this year:  our new Venice to Bologna bike and our beautiful Amalfi Coast walk.  Come and tour with a native of Emilia-Romagna, home to what many consider the best food in Italy!
Elizabeth Miller - Passionate about all things Italian (especially those with two wheels: Ducatis, Vespas, road and mountain bikes), Elizabeth has been living in Italy for the last 20 years. She has a Master’s degree in Italian Literature but enjoys and knows even more about Italian wines – she is a certified professional sommelier and contributes to one of Italy’s top wine guides, Duemilavini. In 2004, she earned a special Master’s designation in Italian wine which only 200 people in Italy currently possess. Eli has been involved in active travel tourism in Italy for the last 10 years. She has led over 100 week-long departures as well as managing Italian operations for a leading active travel company. She currently resides in Chianti with her Boston Terrier, Corky.	Sonja Schiller - Sonja Schiller, a native of Germany, has been working in tourism for more than two decades. She has organized and led hiking, cycling, skiing, mountaineering and other active trips around the world, and now leads our Dolomites hiking trip in northern Italy. A student of languages, she is fluent in German, English, French, and Italian, and currently teaches English at a middle school. She has traveled the world and is especially fond of exploring different cultures and people. A lover of nature, Sonja has found her “place” in the Sud Tirol where she now lives with her two beautiful children.