Best of Italy and Sicily

We felt the itinerary was well thought out and very organized. Our guide was knowledgeable. Our personal opinion regarding the areas we visited…. Started in Sicily - could’ve spent less time there. Maybe 2 nights instead of 4. Would’ve liked to had another day in Sorrento, maybe Rome and we had almost no time in Florence. Pisa was a letdown and knowing that now, we would choose to skip it entirely. European hotels are not known to be great, so our expectations were not high. That being said the hotels were clean, the breakfasts provided were a good variety but the rooms were small and just OK. The best hotel on our initial itinerary was swapped out for a much lesser hotel - this was a disappointment. I believe there is a disclaimer that the hotels shown may not be available at the time of booking. This is understandable, but a comparable hotel should’ve been chosen. Like I said it was the best hotel on our itinerary. I think we looked it up at being $450 a night. We ended up going to a $200 a night hotel. The group dining choices were made probably for accommodation, variety and entertainment. I’m sure Trafalgar puts a lot of time and effort into itineraries. However, when we dined on our own, the food was spectacular. When we dined with the group there seemed to be a lot of fillers in the menu such as eggplant, potatoes, and bread. Our guide ordered for us or it was done ahead of time by Trafalgar. This might be great for some people, but it would’ve been nice to have a few options to choose from. The areas we went were famous for fresh seafood. There were many people in our group who did not enjoy fish and that was a problem for them. We both love seafood, but even then it would’ve been nice to have a choice of what we ate. It almost felt like the meal was picked to keep the prices down, but appear to have an abundance of courses coming out. Again eggplant, potatoes and fishy fish dishes. The entertainment at the restaurants was very enjoyable and a bonus… , and our service was always exceptional.

We had the time of life traveling through Sicily and Italy. Not one stone was left unturned for discovering this beautiful country. Trafalgar tour Director Elvira and Driver Gianni made our trip very special !

Itinerary too compact. Not enough time to take wanted photos or to truly experience the local culture. I would recommend the trip be extended a couple of more days. Also, it was a disappointment that the stopover in Rome did not include Saint Peter’s or the Vatican in the schedule.

The itinerary is extensive with the purchase of the Optional Experiences. It is recommended you purchase all the Optional Experiences to make sure you visit everywhere possible within the time frame of the 13/15 days. We visited Restaurants, farms, Coast, markets etc which we would not have been able to do so on our own. Such beautiful and memorable spots. Thanks Trafalgar for your ongoing help in providing interesting Tours throughout the World.

This itinerary was great. You see mostly everything Italy has to offer in this amount of time. You see way more than what they advertise. The only thing we did not like was if you don’t buy the optional experiences, you would have a lot of down time. The experiences that were included did not take long, maybe 2-3 hours a day and that was it. We did all of the optional experiences and spent an additional $2,300 (for 2 people). We wish they would have just been included in the price of the entire tour.

We had a great trip. Itinerary was excellent perhaps a little more time in Florence would be good. Our tour guide, Barbara, was terrific and very helpful throughout the trip.

I have been to mainland Italy trip before; I want to experience Sicily this time and my son like to see Italy especially Mt. Etna, Pompei, Trevi Fountain and Colosseum. He enjoys the isle of Capri.

I chose this Trafalgar tour of Sicily and Italy, because it highlighted the regions, cities, and cultural areas I was interested in. The tour was very well organized, the hotels were clean and beautiful, and the restaurants served excellent meals. I would recommend that Agrigento be eliminated from the itinerary and another day added in Florence. There was not enough time to enjoy the city.

What a packed full vacation. From Palermo to Venice there was so much to see and it was all beautiful. Everything was done so well from the moment we met up the first day to the very last boat taxi ride to the airport in Venice. , (the most awesome guide) was incredible. On top of all the beautiful places she took us to see and dine always had everything under control. This tour being my first, I was not sure how traveling with a group would turn out. It was great! With all the crowds at tourist locations, we would walk right through and go directly to what ever had us scheduled to do. On top of that, we made so many wonderful friendships and memories. Also, a huge thank you to , our incredible driver. If you want to see all the highlights of all of Italy, then this is the tour to take !!!!!

Our itinerary was quite busy with fantastic places, options and experiences along the way. The iconic sights, the countryside, an the culinary experiences should not be missed. Our TD, was excellent in every detail, couldn't improve on that. Had the best experience, with at the helm. This vibrant happy lady was so knowledgeable and experienced, we knew we were in great hands from the minute we met her.

The Best of Italy and Sicily is an AMAZING trip! You will never believe just how much you will see and experience in this time frame. Absolutely outstanding trip of a lifetime!

The best of Italy & Sicily was absolutely amazing. Your choice of towns food & wine surpassed our expectations. We couldn’t believe our beautiful our trip was.

Excellent trip. Our TD, and driver, were pros. Enjoyed the optional experiences of eating at local farms. Highly recommend the tour

was the best tour guide ever, and was an excellent coach driver. The only things that could be improved were: 1, Trafalgar should provide water on the coach; 2, Wifi/internet on the coach died after a few days and never returned; and 3, with the unstable state of the airlines, Trafalgar should reimburse customers for travel to and from the airport/train station regardless of whether it coincides with the beginning or end of the tour, or make transfers an "optional experience ".

Give your travelers an example of an itinerary on how fast this trip rolls. Give us examples on how 1 day travel experience vs a 2 day travel experience. In addition not all hotels are located where you can walk and view the cities. Next get your Euros before you leave your country or bring a debit card. In addition give the travelers an idea of travel times-comfort stops were frequent and great. I did not care for all of the sales pitches especially since I paid a lot of money for the trip. Tell the tourists if you sign up for optional experiences that you will have limited time. Lastly the radios need updating for persons with hear issues and the lines while touring should start out with a rotating order-just like the bus seating chart. You asked for constructive criticism and I gave my opinion. I still think it was an awesome trip due to and the people on the trip. I wishhe Sistine Chapel would have been included.

It was great. We got to see everything that was important to me.

A LOT of walking and surfaces are rarely smooth, but you'll see so much in two short weeks. You have options for exploring on your own, but we took all of the optional add ons and we weren't disappointed.

I really liked the itinerary. I thought the did a great job of adjusting it for the holiday and anything else that came up, so we didn't get stuck in to much traffic and made the most of our time. She also was very helpful to help you of you wanted to go somewhere during free time.

It is a wonderful itinerary if you want to see everything there is to see in Italy. We saw so many things that we didn’t even think we were going to say. Our tour guide was awesome. She made sure that we were comfortable that we saw everything as easily as possible and give us a lot of advice on what is the best way to see everything. Our driver was amazing so interesting to watch him. Navigate the very narrow streets and hairpin curves. Highly recommend this tour if you want to see everything there is to see in Italy and more.

The trip went everywhere you want to go! Our trip director and our driver were fantastic! Hotels and food choices were great and did everything she could to accommodate us on the tour. The itinerary was thorough and allowed us to see everything in a pretty reasonable amount of time. Local guides were excellent ! That is a super important part of the trip in Italy! They know all the historical information you could need to know! Excellent thorough trip!

The trip was planned out so well places and history was so informative above all our tour guide was a wealth of knowledge. His enthusiasm was infectious and knowledge the regions we visited was second to none. He is such an asset to Trafalgar I loved the whole experience can’t wait to go back 🙏

Great trip..Just plan on doing the extra options . They were worth the extra money.

Best travel director: Best Bus Driver:

You should definitely mention that there is an extraordinary amount of walking on cobblestone streets and vertical climbing compared to other trips you have. Also some of the "specialists" (like the one in Venice" were not that great. However we want to state that you tour director was excellent.

It was a fabulous tour. was a very professional, organised and knowledgeable tour director. He handled the large group with ease and nothing was too much trouble. was an expert coach driver. Even the local guides commented on his skill. The only change I would recommend is a further nights stay in both Rome and Florence.

Fantastic tour. Tour guide and Bus driver were fantastic. They knew their stuff

Loved the tour. My disappointment was not having St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel as part of the tour. Excellent tour director in . His knowledge of Italy and Sicily made for an educational experience. My only other suggestion would be if the tour sizes were smaller. Maybe 15 people instead of 30 as it is hard to get around with the larger number. Loved our excursions and had a wonderful experience. It really was the best.

It was a lot of fun. We hit the major sites. The food was fabulous and so was our tour guide.

Hi I really enjoyed the trip it was excellent our tour guide was excellent he was professional and also extremely nice I would gladly do it again if he was our guide loved it but I was very much disappointed in accommodations I had several unfortunate experiences with rooms I hated Mercure Palermo they gave me a dungeon to sleep in I paid extra for myself as I travelled alone and they didn’t give me a proper room did his best to help but they still didn’t help but it fine I still enjoyed my time in the tour because of and our driver

The itinerary was really well envisioned, allowing us to experience a large number of Italian cities, including several in Sicily (for the first time). The optional experiences enabled us to partake in additional tours and activities. Most of the tour participants opted for these additional optional experiences. I loved the ability to visit Roman and Greek ruins, to visit farms and vineyards, and to partake in cultural experiences.

The itinerary was perfect! A few 2 night stays in one hotel was perfect to do laundry. Our Driver, was absolutely the best. He kept us safe and his driving skills for navigating some very tight places was extremely impressive. Our Tour Director (), was fantastic. His knowledge and stories of every place we visited were so interesting. He treated all of us like family, making sure everyone was enjoying themselves and taking care of people who needed extra care. It's obvious he loves his job. I hope our next Trafalgar trip has people just like and , but I know they have set a very high bar for others.

It was a wonderful whirlwind tour of Sicily and Italy. Our tour guide was absolutely the best.

This is the best way to every site and hidden gems. And to share the moments with other travelers has been the greatest experience of my life time. Having a guide to teach us of the history of what we were seeing was priceless. The whole tour seemed personalized to each one of us. It was extraordinary to visit my ancestors where they came from. It was so beautiful and enchanting. The guided tour on the bus was so knowledgeable about everything we saw, and the special experiences I can’t describe how much I enjoyed it. The whole experience was amazing.

Excellent itinerary! It was a lot packed into each day but well curated. I felt we got to see a real taste of Italy and each stop was unique to the area. We covered a lot of ground literally, and it was fantastic to see all the differences within each region. The tour director was outstanding with the information he provided, his attention to details and he went above and beyond to ensure everyone enjoyed their trip. The driver was also top notch, we always felt safe and secure despite those narrow and windy roads!

If you want see Italy, this is a great trip to take. There is so much history, cultural and beauty to experience. To see buildings that were built 500-600 BC was amazing. Every place that we stopped had had history. Venice and its history was amazing. You will enjoy this trip.

Good overview of the country for first time visitors

very busy, see many things, be on top of your game

The breakfasts were almost the same for the entire trip. The hotels were 3 star at best. Locations were often not near attractions or shopping. Some without AC and unbearably hot. Some beds were so hard it was difficult to sleep. Dinner meals at some of the hotels very mediocre at best. The included itinerary was lacking in quality especially in Rome. Did not go into the Pantheon, basilica or a city tour. Most of the enjoyable parts of the itinerary were the optional experiences that were extra. We paid what I feel was a lot for this trip and we did not get our monies worth. I heard many guests on this tour comment to me that they would never book with Trafalgar again. My travel partner and I will not book with Trafalgar again either after this experience. I travelled to Italy with Trafalgar in 2018. It was a far superior experience!

It was an amazing trip! I loved the smaller villages especially. You had a chance to really see the true Italian culture. Our bus driver did a great job maunervering that bus through some tight spaces. Wondering job. Our tour director had immense knowledge of every where we traveled. A bit too much information all at once though. The farm to table dinner was disappointing. The food wasn't that great. Plus we didn't hear about their crops and the workings of the farm. Overall a fantastic trip. Loved every minute.

Our trip was filled with lots of Sicily and Italy destinations. The tour director was fabulous. Very knowledgeable and funny which made the days enjoyable. The bus driver was great, very skilled and friendly. The biggest complaint is we felt rushed throughout the trip. We had very little time to ourselves to rest, shop, or just relax in some of the cities we stopped at. The hotels were so-so. Very crowded and busy during breakfast which was unnerving. Next time we’ll choose a trip with less city visits.

Our guide and driver were an excellent team, our step on guides were very gracious in sharing their knowledge. The Make Travel Matter events made us feel welcomed and surprised us at every adventure. The itinerary was aggressive, but it had to be, to see all the places we visited, each day more wonders to discover. Trafalgar delivered The Best Of Italy and Sicily, we knew this was the trip we wanted and we have no regrets of missing anything, and we have amazing memories, thanks Trafalgar.

Great experience, didn’t have to think about anything and just got to experience Italy. It was amazing

There is a lot to see on this trip and the pace is quick. It does go quickly. There is a fair bit of time spent on the bus, as expected because of the distances between the cities on the itinerary but the bus is comfortable and the stops are well planned and regular. The hotel accomodation was generally good, but sometimes a little further out of town than expected. In some places you didn’t actually stay in the town it said (e.g. it says stay in Taormina and you stay in Naxos; stay in Sorrento and you stay outside of Sorrento). For the price, more should be included on the trip. In many of the cities there was barely an orientation or any kind of orientation or information about the city was only available on an optional excursion, which of course costs more. There is a bit too much focus on the optional excursions. I loved all the parts that were included, but it often wasn’t enough and we spent a lot of our time exploring cities independently. Included meals were generally of good quality but for those who had special dietary requirements it often seemed like it was organised last minute. The group of people we had were excellent company and the bus driver was expert and the tour leader helped answer many questions and was good for helping out in tricky situations.

It's action packed - you see a lot. There is quite a bit of walking - not just on the optional outings. Sights are amazing.