Sicily Cultural, religious and historic sites Trips

I really enjoyed this trip to Sicily. It was definitely full on, we saw and did so much! The days were long but filled with good information and beautiful sights. Our local guides, with one exception, were fantastic. They offered a huge amount of information and history and made our tour more valuable. My fellow travelers were a great group of people and we really bonded well. I did feel at times the days were so full it didn't leave much time to explore on our own or time to stop and enjoy some places and some felt unnecessary. Maybe we could have spent more time in other places? But I appreciate that we got to see the whole island vs any other tour company I looked at. Our hotels were good, typical of my other Explore tour. They were clean and the breakfasts were adequate and the staff were always wonderful. Since we only stayed in most places for 1 night, the location wasn't as much of a concern since we were quickly on the go. The private van was the perfect way to travel and very comfortable. But there were times having wifi would have been nice. Our tour guide made fantastic dinner recommendations and we almost always ate as a group. I wish he had provided us with a bit more general info as we moved from place to place but overall he did a good job.

This is a comprehensive tour. My definition of a great trip is the combination of leader,program and group- it these are all excellent it can’t be bettered. This was my 37th tour. The efficient group leader could have added some extra information as we travelled through different areas. He didn’t want to make a tip kitty so we were constantly tipping as we went along. I think this may have been more costly for us and extra work for himself and is annoying as it interrupted the visit and we didn’t always have the correct money/change. It would have been useful to have a daily briefing indicating timings for the day ahead. We had our trip notes,but timings are very useful both for travel times and breaks.eg.one day we had a long lunch time and if we had wanted to swim it would have been good to know in advance this wouldnt have involved what I affectionately call an “Explore Scramble”. - a massive rush to meet on time. Yes- we may’ve needed time reminders as we went along. The itinerary was excellent and luckily the group was lovely. So it was a good trip.

Really great trip, Antonio is a fantastic leader, extremely knowledgeable about Sicily’s history and he imparted his knowledge with skill and humour. We were slightly concerned before the trip that there wouldn’t be much walking, we’ve been on over 10 holidays with Explore and they’ve mainly been chosen so that we get exercise as well as sightseeing. We needn’t have worried, we put in the kilometres exploring some of the large temple sites. As we went in October, we anticipated mixed weather but generally it was lovely and warm. The slopes of Etna were a bit chilly but definitely not to be missed. A great holiday and a great bunch of fellow travellers, very multinational group.

We chose explore for the itinerary having considered many other companies and we were not disappointed. Placido, our tour leader was great fun and looked after us very well. The use of local guides in most places provided in depth knowledge.

We really enjoyed Malta and Sicily trips. All guides at sites visited were v knowledgeable and informative; both tour leaders, Chantelle and Daniele, were enthusiastic and went to great lengths to make our trip the best possible, and we had some interesting and fun fellow travellers. Thanks very much.

Superb tour, Antonio was the best leader I have had in now 9 Explore trips worldwide, which is a high bar indeed. He effortlessly delivered the right amount of background information for an island with a hugely complex history, thoroughly professional in all he did. His lectures were interesting and well pitched. Accomodation standard and location was excellent, as was the itinerary and pace of the trip. Some of the island's gems were jaw dropping in their magnificence. The group ran like clockwork and everyone enjoyed the trip enormously. I would love to go back, and this was my second trip to Sicily with Explore. Well done Explore!