The Florence Pottery Experience: Factory Tour & Masterclass

Amazing! Mateo was so personal and informative. The pottery is beautiful and the master potter (Mateo’s father) is beyond knowledgeable! I highly recommend this tour and then have lunch in the adorable Montelupo.

Very much enjoyed this experience. I work with clay so chose this activity as an opportunity to expand my skills in working with clay. My husband and I wanted to try the wheel to if we might be interested in learning to throw. I hand/slab build. Experience is informative and interesting whether you do or don’t work with clay. Very impressive factory. Enjoyed the hands on intro to throwing. Highly recommend for older kids/families/adults. We also were given a recommendation for a local restaurant for lunch. That turned out to be one of our best meals of the trip. Very impressive family operation.

I treated my friend to this experience for her birthday and it was perfect! The family was so kind and welcoming, and we enjoyed seeing every step of the ceramics process while touring the factory—truly so impressive! We have a new level of respect for these artisans after wheel-throwing the clay, and we're so excited to see the bowls we made. Thank you!

My family of 4, including twin 10 year old girls, loved this experience so much and felt so welcomed by Matteo and his family. We first headed to the factory to see how and where all of the pottery is made. It was amazing to see the skill of the artisans as they finished and painted the pottery completely by hand. We also got to visit the factory showroom to see all of the finished pieces and ordered a few pieces to be shipped to our home in Texas. All of the pieces can be customized, and we were able to order a plate with our family name that will be a cherished keepsake from our time in Italy Next, we headed to the shop where each one of us made a bowl on the wheel with the master potter and Matteo's dad, Salvatore. With his hands on direction and attention, we each felt like a real potter and were able to make a beautiful bowl which will be hand glazed and fired and shipped to us. Salvatore worked excellently with my kids, who were thrilled to be able to use the wheel and make their very own creation. After the pottery experience, we stayed in the small village of Montelupo and enjoyed the park and had dinner in a lovely restaurant. This was a nice break from the craziness of Florence and was a much needed relaxing day. We will always cherish our memories from this experience and love that we have hand made souvenirs to remember our time in Italy. We highly recommend this experience for adults and kids. Grazie to Matteo and family for a fabulous day!

My teen daughter and I had THE BEST experience learning about how pottery is made and making our own pottery. The description is exactly what you get. A full explanation of how pottery is made in Montelupo, from clay to shipping, and then one on one teaching to make your own piece. Our guide at the factory Matteo, was so friendly, and his father, Salvatore, was great teaching us how to use the pottery wheel. The whole family were so personable and in fact we had a great time in Montelupo. Super easy to get there on the train, the ceramic shop is an easy walk (we did it in 100 degree F heat with suitcases in tow!), and had delicious gelato from the shop next door. We highly recommend spending a day in Montelupo. What a refreshing change of pace.