Things to do in  Sicily

I did both the Baroque Shades of Sicily and the Mt. Etna and Taormina day tours with Alessio as my guide. They were fantastic! Alessio is so knowledgeable of the different time periods, the architecture, and the history of Sicily. I learned so much and have a greater appreciation for the history of the places we visited and Sicily as well. I also learned about the different agricultural specialties if you will within the region which I enjoyed. Alessio is very attentive and made sure I didn’t lose my footing when we were walking around the craters at Mt. Etna. He also knows the best places to stop for pictures, cafe, and food (also all places with nice restrooms). And his driving was smooth which was also very appreciated as I sometimes get motion sickness, but did not through all the windy roads. I highly recommend this tour and tour guide. When I come back to Sicily, I will reach out to him first to see which tours he has available.

The tour starts early in the morning from Palermo. But it has to, if you want to see Etna and Taormina in one day. The driver/guide Joshua was great. Fluently in Italian, English and German he could share some of his knowledge of Sicily and the places we visited. If you go to the Etna, it is recommended to buy a ticket for the whole tour: Cable car and trucks taking you as close as possible to the summit of the volcano. Interesting experience. Also the visit to Taormina was worth the time, although I wouldn't stay there for more than one day. Nothing to do ... If you are in Palermo and want to visit the Etna, I can definitely recommend this tour.

Had a good time on this tour, getting to see some stunning parts of Sicily we wouldn’t have found on our own. Our tour guide (Giuseppe) really looked after us and made every effort to ensure we all enjoyed the day.

This was the perfect tour. It covered all that we wanted to see from the Commissario Montalbano programmes but also, our guide, Alessio, was also extremely interesting and well-versed in the overall history and geography of Sicily. He spoke perfect English and Italian and was very accommodating and the length of the tour was just right.

Valeria was an excellent guide. She was extremely knowledgeable about Syracuse, Ortygia and Sicily. Her passion for history was evident. And we were able to see in detail by walking that any other form o f transportation. We would highly recommend both Valeria and the walking tour over

This was a great tour, got to see the Aeolian archipelago in a day and also the wonderful Stromboli island and it’s volcano. The negative is a very crowded boat and partly caotic arrangement for someone not speaking Italian. However the trip can be recommended as a must during a stay in Sicily.

This was a very worthwhile trip! A fantastic way to see Sicily's lovely scenery and experience the beautiful wineries and culinary delights. Our driver was very knowledgeable and tailored our trip perfectly. Thank you!

An excellent tour well worth the very long day out which also allowed us to see much of the Sicilian countryside. The Valley of the Temples was absolutely stunning and the local guide was extremely knowledgable. The mosaics at Villa Romana del Casale were well preserved and gave an insight into life when the Romans occupied Sicily.

What a truly delightful experience! The atmosphere that Alfredo and Patrizia created for our wine tasting event was authentic and relaxing. Alfredo knows his wine and Patrizia created delightful treats to accompany that are unique to Sicily! Would highly recommend this event to anyone new to visiting Palermo. You will not be disappointed!

It was a great tour. I enjoyed all of the food. I wish there was more food, but this isn't a big enough issue for me to drop the star rating. Thank you to the tour guides. It was a pleasant walk. It was great that we got to see some sights on the tour as well. Definitely consider if if you are coming to Sicily

This tour was more than expected! Nicos, our english speaking guide, was wery knowlegdable and helpful/kind. He explained a lot about voulcanic activity and guided us well to cool viewpoints throughout the trip. The vulcano was super impressive, and this was definitly worth the time and money. The best part of my trip to Sicily. Just a small note: 5 hours is not the case. From the meeting-time at 08.30 it took about 6,5 hour until we were down at the parking lot again.

We had a wonderful time being driven to some of the beautiful sights and historical places of interest in Sicily. The duomo in Monreale is a masterpiece, representing the merging of diverse cultures; the story of the Castello di Castelbuono and the significance both it and the relics of Saint Anna have today are evident in the pride of its inhabitants; and finally the bastion at Cefalu provides a stunning view of the coast. Giovanni was a great guide through all of these and provided us with interesting and relevant information during the day. Recommend this tour to see some highlights in comfort and style!

We booked this tour only a couple of days in advance after a different tour we had booked was cancelled. We are very glad we did! Since I had not cycled in quite a while I was worried it would be hard work for me, but the cycling was easy, some short uphill stretches but felt like we were going downhill or flat most of the time. We were also worried about the traffic in Palermo but we mostly kept to pedestrian areas on this tour and where we did cross roads Laura made sure we were safe, we felt like we were in good hands! The bikes were also well maintained and we appreciated the bottles of water and bags for the back of the bikes they provided for outer stuff. Laura was an amazing guide, very passionnate and gave us lots of information. We saw most of the main attractions in Palermo city centre (many more places than were listed on the tour page) and sampled some great street food. Laura did the tour in English for us - her English was excellent and she answered all our questions in a lot of detail. She had a great sense of humour and was very friendly. I would highly recommend this tour - we did it on our last full day in Palermo but I would recommend doing it at the beginning of your stay as Laura gave us lots of recommendations for places to see and eat and we wish we’d had more time to go to them after. We did manage to go to the Bistrot she recommended after the tour and it was some of the best, most interesting food we’d had in Sicily - grazie mille Laura!

Marco picked us up from our Catania accommodation he provided two water bottles which we were so appreciative of plus he gave us a bag of oranges from his tree (unfortunately my husband left them behind husband was told off!) such a beautiful gesture. First stop was Savoca - Marco’s knowledge of the Godfather movies was outstanding, along the way he provided excerpts from the movie showing the scenes from Bar Vitelli and the church where Michael and Apollonia were married. We went inside this beautiful Chiesa - and we actually felt like we were part of the movie when we walked back down towards Bar Vitelli . Marco also provided really interesting information about the actress who portrayed Apollonia and Francis Ford Coppola. We stopped at Bar Vitelli (Savoca) for a coffee and the most delicious Italian sweet treat of a ricotta filled cannula shell which originated on the island of Sicily. Forza d Agro was next and Marco took us to the square beside the church where a significant part of movie took place whereby Michael Corleone was hidden inside a pack on the donkey. Marco then asked if we would like to walk to the highest point in Forza d Agro up these beautiful old, winding cobblestones streets that had amazing old Italian small villas some abandoned, some restored. The view when we reached the top was outstanding there was also a very ancient Roman castle built around 1117. Marco also provided lots of information about Taormina. We would love to come back during the spring. We really felt we knew Marco and his family, his mama and her cooking sounds amazing. To sum up Marco deserves a pay rise he is AWESOME!! Con amore Adriena & Craig Smith

Haven 't been to Sicily before but Katia, our tour guide, made it a great first time experience. Most tour guides are silent most of the time but she provided insights on the history of Sicily, facts about places we travelled through, provided a half hour walking tour of Taromina plus provided plenty of time for a personal walking tour (and told us the best Canoli shop) and provided information on the way up, and within, Castelmola. I usually fall asleep on bus trips but this one I stayed awake the whole time. Would do it again. I am afraid of heights and the bus trip up the narrow two lane roads was uncomfortable but worth it once you got to the top.

A very long day- and tiring as we did a lot of walking. Give yourselves a day off after doing this! It was a long drive from Taormina to the south of Sicily. Our guide gave us some information about the country. We had beautiful weather, so the temples were stunning. Our local guide was good, although there were long delays as she had to do each talk twice, once in German, then in English. We had some free time after the guided tour. Then we drove to the Villa Romana del Casale, which was a delight. Not to be missed if you like Roman archaeology. The mosaics are so well preserved and tell so much about the owner of the villa. Stunning. A very long journey home- returned to hotel about 8. traffic round Catania is very slow. Nevertheless, an excellent day out, and stunning scenery.

Being from California, my friend and I wanted to experience some varieties of wine that were new to us. We tasted many wines and learned a lot about the grapes as well as the volcanic soil and regions of the vineyards in Sicily. Perfect tasting assortment and quantity of wine at the 1st winery. There was also a great tour of the outdoor property, however, it had recently rained and the mosquitoes were very active. We enjoyed the wonderful food, especially the pasta at lunch, at the 2nd winery, but wished that we had more room for the food at the 3rd winery. All of our hosts were very gracious. There were generous amounts of wine to taste and the ability to have wine shipped home, if desired. We had ample time to experience each winery, without feeling rushed. Lastly, we truly lucked out having Raffaele as our driver. He is very knowledgeable of the Mount Etna region, charming and drove very safely. He deserves a raise! Thanks Raffaele! Hope to visit Sicily again!

Girogio was such an engaging and knowledgeable guide for what turned out to be my favorite day in Sicily! After hearing his descriptions of wht we were going to see as we were driving to Etna, we asked him how he knew so much and he told us he had a degree in geology! It was so wonderful to get so much fascinating inside info on what makes Etna Etna. He was funny and super personable, endearing us all to him, especially, as he drove us to a little family farmhouse/winery for a special little dinner and wine tasting. We then accompanied him to Al Cantara Gorge, which was just breathtaking... and I'm not just talking about the temp of the water! He was competent, fun, friendly (the other guides we saw all seemed to be happy to see him and joked around with him as we made our way around Etna's many craters. And the mountain was rumbling that day! I said to Giorgio, "What was that?!" And he said, "She is there!" eyeing the highest peak, which was spewing some smoke or steam. So incredible. I would recommend this breathtaking tour to anyone, and if you can, make sure Girogio is your guide. Have fun!

This was one of the best tours we took and worth every penny. We were picked up at the cruise port and brought to a farm where we got to ride horses and try different foods made there. Our tour guide stopped and got us coffee, ice cream and sent us home with pastries. We also stopped for pictures along the route too. It was a great tour and such a great way to see beautiful Sicily.

This could not have been a better experience. The tour company did a really good job of providing us information before we arrived in port so we could easily find our driver, Carmelo. Carmelo gave us a lot of helpful information about Sicily, had local snacks (including fresh cherries from his own trees), and made us feel completely relaxed and welcome. After arriving in Taormina, we met our guide, Josey, and she gave us the most indepth and tailored tour of Taormina and Castelmola. This tour sets the bar for all excursions in the future and will be hard to beat. Highly recommend others to take this tour, and absolutely recommend paying the 10 euros to see the Greek Theater...the view and stories behind this relic are unbeatable.