Sicily Holidays and Tours

Very enjoyable and informative fortnight in Sicily. The leader Antonio was excellent. He knows and clearly loves his subject matter and engaged all of us in it. Not much down time but we did expect that.

The trip was fantastic. It was full on and we found it a bit tiring towards the end, but we saw so much. Antonio our Guide was excellent. Antonio's lectures were great and put what we were going to see the next day(s) into context making it an even more interesting and enjoyable experience for us. Our room in the hotel in Syracuse was a bit tired and the bathroom needed work, the hotel in Palermo was a bit soulless, but in a good location. Overall the quality of accommodation was good. Our transport and drivers were also very good. The itinerary for the last 2 days needs looking at, particularly the trip to Etna in the morning and Catania in the afternoon. There is little for people to do if they don't want to do the full Etna experience (i.e. go up), other than to look at the lower craters and visit the shops / restaurants. After being up at altitude we then found the afternoon trip to Catania hard work and maybe as Sicily's second biggest city a few hours in the afternoon doesn't do it justice, but again we still managed to fit a lot in. Maybe Etna should just be an option, or have a day of it's own with those who don't want to go given the opportunity to do something else. The hotel for the last 3 days in Giardini Naxos was right by the sea and there were plenty of lovely coves to possibly visit with stunning scenery. I'm not sure if we got the most out of that location, as we were so busy. Just thoughts. All in all an absolutely brilliant trip, which we would thoroughly recommend and as previously stated, Antonio is an incredible person and Guide.

In Depth is absolutely the case for tour with a focus on learning and understanding all the sites visited. Antonio was a tireless guide and a sociable host. Sicily has an incredible collection of World Heritage sites, beautiful coast and fabulous food. It felt safer than other tourist destinations and less “tourist-weary”. Hotels were in ideal locations for the very busy itinerary and some had more facilities than others but the welcome was always genuine. I feel very fortunate to have seen Sicily in the way we were able to on this tour

After a week with Explore in Sicily some years ago, I chose this trip for a deeper diive, which it really delivered. We visited a wealth of extensive Greek and Roman sites, striking baroque towns, stunning Norman cathedrals, the bustling capital with its palazzos and restaurants, and saw stunning statues, temples and views. The leader was an excellent, enthusiatic guide, teacher and tour manager who helped us grasp the many layers of Sicilian history and architecture. The food was lovely. Recommended if one week is not enough-and if you have the energy!

A wonderful tour of the main sights of Sicily (and there are a lot!). It's an amazing place to visit. Hotels really well located. Antonio is incredibly friendly and knowledgeable, coupled with huge enthusiasm and great organisational skills. Perfect choices of restaurants for group meals. We have travelled with Explore for many years and all tour leaders have been excellent, but he is certainly one of the best we have ever had. It's a particular bonus that he is the tour guide everywhere as well as the tour leader.

Our tour leader, Augusto Duarte. Fantastically organised, Very informative, well paced days, good company, fun to be on tour with. But, more importantly. On the final day of the tour I had a medical incident. Gus recognised the severity of the issue, immediately called for an ambulance, managed the rest of the group, accompanied me to ER, translated , calmed and reassured me, then via the Explore Help Desk reunited me with my luggage. While I was in recovery he even checked on my condition. I couldn't have asked for a better guide, way above and beyond anything I've ever experienced before. Thank you Gus.