About Us

ROBERT, owner/operator

Papillon Service is owned and operated by Robert Iannone, whose experience in the passenger transport business spans more than 30 years. He is held in high esteem throughout Italy for his ethics and high standards, serving as delegate for central Italy at national conferences for the NCC (passenger transport) sector.

Although he was born and raised in France, Robert has lived in Livorno since the age of 8 and is about as Tuscan as it gets. He has a vast knowledge of his country and its terrain, and loves to share it with clients. If you like to joke you’ll be in fine company with Roberto, who, in addition to running the business, is still out with clients on almost a daily basis.

SHARON, admin and sales

A product of both the U.S. and Canada, Sharon has traveled quite extensively in Europe and has been on just about every service Papillon offers (inventing a fair few of them as well). Sharon is the central administrator for the offices in Italy, the south of France, Monaco, Greece, and Barcelona.  Responsible for developing new ports and new excursions, she also writes content for the website and maintains it.

If you have an unusual request for a customized service Sharon will likely be the one to help you sort out the details. Being a native English speaker, she usually is the one to respond to incoming calls.

JULIA, office assistant/client relations

Julia is a native of Tuscany and was one of our best-reviewed driver-guides until she had a baby in 2016. She returned to us in 2017, this time working in front of a computer instead of behind the wheel. If you need clarification about anything or have a special request Julia can help.

Julia is fun to talk to, thanks to her exuberant personality and excellent English, and extremely knowledgeable, thanks to her experience as a driver.

OUR DRIVER-GUIDES

We pride ourselves on having the friendliest and most professional driver-guides around! They are rigorously trained, properly licensed and extremely knowledgeable, and all speak fluent English (some also speak Spanish, French or German).

We call them “driver-guides” because they will give you lots of great information and answer any questions you have as you travel. Just note that in Italy driver-guides are by law not permitted to accompany you once you leave the vehicle.

Rest assured your driver-guide will do their utmost to maximize your touring day as they are expert at making it all fit. They’ll keep their eye on the clock so that you get back to port (or wherever you need to go) on time!

To hear what clients have to say about our team please click here.

OUR LOCAL GUIDES

In places like Florence, Siena, Rome and Pompei you may find a local guide helpful. Local guides can take you inside churches, museums and archeological sites for an in-depth experience with no lost time looking at maps or getting lost!

Please note that local guides must be arranged in advance.

OUR FLEETS

Our fleets consist of sedans of up to 4 pax, minivans of up to 8 pax, and minibuses/coaches of varying sizes.

Our vans and sedans are Mercedes or comparable make with a similar level of comfort and dependability.

In Tuscany we have the pleasure of being able to offer clients “The Beast” – a Mercedes S600 V12 sedan, the only one in the region! It’s the ultimate in executive travel for up to 3 passengers.