About ScooterBella.com

Brett & Eve in Turkey

Brett Naisby started guiding luxury biking and walking tours in France for Butterfield & Robinson in 1990. He left a nascent career with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs to return to Europe in 1994 for B&R, but this time he landed in Tuscany, where he has been living ever since. Brett went out on his own and established CustomWalks in 1996. Over the past 14 years CustomWalks has run hundreds walking and biking tours for thousands of people in dozens of locations throughout Italy, France, Croatia, Turkey, and most recently Algeria. In 2006 Brett  launched ScooterBella Vespa Tours, basing the tours around his home base of Gaiole in Chianti. Brett is now a hiker, biker, and “Vespista”. He continues to oversee all aspects of both ScooterBella and Customwalks Ltd, as he still guides many tours and continues to research and develop new tours. Brett is married to a lovely Kiwi, and they both enjoy spending the winter enjoying summer in New Zealand.

Brett Naisby, Owner-Director, ScooterBella & 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 14 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 Scooterbella 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 – After completing an M.A. in International Relations and cutting short a career with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs Brett’s sense of adventure him to trek in the Canadian Rockies, the Atlas mountains of Morocco, the Southern Alps of New Zealand, and the Himalaya. He has cycled extensively throughout Europe and now enjoys travelling the winding roads of Tuscany on his Vespa. His passion for good food and wine explains why he has been living in Tuscany since 1994. Languages: Canadian-eh, French and Italian.	Carol is our operations manager in 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 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. Like many young Italians, Luca had a Vespa when he was younger and even worked as a Vespa courrier in his  home town of Bologna. Since 2003 Luca has been managing our bike program as well as the ScooterBella tours. Languages: Italian, English, French, Norwegian. Luca leads our bike tours and our ScooterBella Vespa scooter tours.	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 developed our Provence by Scooter tour. She guides most of our trips in Provence and the Dordogne. Languages: French, English, Italian.
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, and leading our Vespa Scooter tours in Tuscany since 2006. Languages, English, French, Italian.	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 - 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 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 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”) - 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, Gabe has two master’s degrees in foreign literatures, and plays percussion in a French jazz group. He now calles Chambéry, France his home.
Giorgio - 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 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 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 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 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 - “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 - Passionate about all things Italian (especially those with two wheels: Ducatis, Vespas, road and mountain bikes), Eli has been living in Italy for the last 20 years. She has a Master’s degree in Italian Literature & she is a certified professional MASTER sommelier, only 1 of 200 in all of Italy. She contributes to one of Italy’s top wine guides, Duemilavini. She lives in Chianti.	Sonja is 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. She is fluent in German, English, French, and Italian, and currently teaches English at a middle school. A lover of nature, Sonja has found her “place” in the Sud Tirol where she now lives with her two beautiful children.
Clair is orginally from Wales, but has been living in Italy for almost twenty years, including 7 years in Naples, 6 years in Rome, 4 years in Ferrara and now she resides in Stresa, on Lago Maggiore. She is a translator by profession and a traveller by instinct. Clair has explored much of Italy, and Europe and recently went to the Galapagos islands. Clair leads our Cinque Terre Walk. Languages, English, French and Italian.	Ilaria: A professional actor, Ilaria also directs theatre programmes for children in Italy. She has worked in the U.K. and Turkey and loves travel and adventure. A keen outdoor enthusiast Ilaria hikes and bikes in the Apennines mountains close to her home town of Bologna. She is one of those effervescent personalities that just keeps you smiling. Ilaria guides our Cinque Terre and Amalfi hiking tours. She is fluent in English and Italian.
Eve is a originally from New Zealand but she has been living in Italy since 1991. With a degree in fine arts and post grad studies in the U.K. Eve (A.K.A. “Dolly”) has become the head designer at Rampini Ceramics, considered by Eyewitness guides to be the best in Italy. Eve loves to hike and bike near her home village of Gaiole in Chianti. She has also renovated two houses in Tuscany, but she won’t be writing a book about it. Eve guides our walks in Tuscany, the Dolomites and Turkey.