Ancient Sicily

Very good trip with excellent very knowledgeable and helpful tour leader. Need a reasonable level of fitness as the various sites require a lot of walking. Many highlights particularly Monreale and Villa Romana. Poor hotel in Siracusa

One of the very best Explore leaders. Made the history of Sicily come alive. Excellent itinerary giving a comprehensive experience of the whole island.

Sicily is beautiful and interesting. Our tour guide Antonio was excellent. Places of interest didn't disappoint at all. Wonderful ancient sites, views and experiences. Restaurants good. Only disappointments were a couple of the hotels and buses. Poor bathroom experiences, two gardens slugs on the floor in the first one in Syracuse and inadequate shelving for wash bags. No soap provided and a very noisy and crowded breakfast room in the longest four night stay hotel in Palermo, although the central location was very good. Two of the buses had seat belts that were broken or stuck. The air conditioning in another didn't reach the back seat, so it was uncomfortably hot.

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.

Our guide Antonio was exceptional. He has a solid background and delivery of the varied sites. He was flexible and easily met requests that the group had (in particular the Puppet Show in Palermo- would definitely recommend.) We visited 7 of 8 of Sicily's World Heritage sites, all amazing! Our driver Franco was friendly and always had our safety at the forefront. Hopefully Explore will take our recommendations for looking at differnt hotels in Syracuse (preferably Ortigia Island), not a great location, especially on day of arrival, before meeting up with the group.

Antonio has been leading tours around Sicily for 30 years and knows his way around. In his hands, we were fast tracked to all the sites, avoiding the long queues that were very apparent at popular destinations. Something I think that we all took for granted. Over the years, he has determined the pace that will best suit. A considerable art. We were never rushed. He was always good humoured and incredibly knowledgeable. The trip gives a very good overview of the entire island. For me, perhaps too much of an emphasis on the Greek and Roman. Free time made it possible to catch up on the Norman and Baroque. Not to mention the Puppets. I had a good time with a very congenial group of like minded travellers. Hotels weren't great but were adequate. Some could have been better located.

Guide Antonio outstanding in all respects: knowledgeable, adept @ providing historical & cultural context both at sites & in 5 preparatory lectures, pleasant demeanour, patient. Driver Franco a sweet guy & excellent driver attentive to safety. Some days felt long in the heat & crowds - obviously beyond control but worth noting for prospective clients. Accommodation as expected & acceptable, except for Syracusa where too far from amenities - close to Ortygia preferable esp given day of arrival when time to explore between arrival & eve grp mtg. I’m one who enjoys performances eg music esp in churches & any local culture. It would be nice to know options where available. I asked re puppet performance in Palermo & Antonio facilitated, to the enjoyment of maybe half the grp. It was a highlight we would have missed if I hadn’t requested.