Sicily Art and architecture Trips

Our tour leader, Antonio, was exceptional. He was able to give us the background and detailed history of every site and answer every question anyone had. His lectures were all relevant and interesting and helped us understand what we were seeing. The pace of the tour was very good and most stays were 2-3 nights and only one single night stopover. Antonio knew the best time to arrive at every site so we largely avoided big crowds and other tour groups. With one exception our hotels were very well located and comfortable.

You really do need two weeks to cicumnavigate Sicily and see things properly. Any shorter and you'll get just a couple highlights or get very rushed from place to place. This tour had good pace, gave sufficient time in major sites (Syracuse, Agrigento, Palermo, Villa del Casale) and included gems like Morgantina, Mozia Island, and Enna. Antonio is an exceptional wealth of information, its obvious he has a professional background in Sicilian history. The level of historical, cultural and architectural background information was tremendous, helped greatly to put things in context and understand the flow and changes absorbed by this island that resulted in what we were seeing.

This was a really great trip. We saw a great deal and the itinerary really made the most of our time in Sicily. The small group size was a real bonus. The hotels were all good and the transport comfortable, excellent drivers. We really enjoyed the holiday and would thoroughly recommend this to others wanting to see a lot of Sicily in a short time.

We were lucky with the weather and countryside. Apparently the green will go very shortly so this was an excellent time to choose. The route up Etna proved easier than expected. Our guide was very knowledgeable and put much time and effort into giving us information about the island.Well organised !

This is a very busy trip and you are constantly on the move. We covered a lot of Sicily in just 7 days. I got exactly what I wanted out of the trip and was aware of how packed the itinerary was. We saw some of the most amazing highlights of Sicily but there is so much more to see. The mosaics at Villa Romana in Piazza Armerina are just breathtaking; the whole trip was worth it just to see these. We saw temples, churches, amphitheaters galore. The general feeling by the last day in Taormina was that the group had had enough of being guided, so maybe more free time in Taormina without the guide would be a good idea. Fabio our tour leader was just outstanding. He was enthusiastic, clearly loved his job, he was a local Sicilian, looked after us attentively, and was a pleasure to be around. I would highly recommend this trip, but unfortunately due to the issue with the arrival transfer (nothing to do with the leader), and the fact that I have logged a complaint but heard nothing yet, means I will be reluctant to choose Explore again - this is after many years of being a loyal Explore customer. In summary: read the trip notes carefully, be prepared for long minibus journeys, and get ready to experience some of the most beautiful Sicilian artefacts and treasures.

I really enjoyed this trip. It packed a lot in to a week, visiting many amazing sites. The hotels were all comfortable and our tour leader was excellent. A week isn’t long enough to see such a rich island as Sicily but this tour was a great introduction.