Sicily Travel Guide

Zicasso’s travel professional crafted an unforgettable Sicily trip for our group of seven. After discussing our preferences, she designed a flawless itinerary, incorporating unique experiences that became trip highlights. Her communication was exceptional, with prompt responses to our questions before the trip and daily updates for the next day's activities, including driver and guide details, which were incredibly helpful.

We stayed at superb hotels in Taormina, Agrigento, Palermo, and Cefalù, each with stunning views and private tours. Sicily’s warm, hospitable people stood out compared to other European destinations. At our hotel on Via Leonardo da Vinci in Taormina, the staff greeted us warmly, setting a perfect tone. Other stops included Mount Etna, Erice, Castelbuono, and Savoca. All of these locations were great, but don't miss Castelbuono!

Two standout experiences were private meals with families. Near Erice, a chef and his family welcomed us into their sea-view home, preparing amazing Sicilian meals that felt like dining with family. In Palermo, another home chef and her husband created a similarly memorable evening, with lots of great conversation and stories.

Every driver was professional, friendly, and informative, while our guides — often archaeologists or historians — were engaging and knowledgeable.

Highlights included a welcome dinner in Taormina, a farm cooking class, two wine tours with lunch, a Mount Etna hike, a Valley of the Greek Temples tour, town and village tours, cheese and pastry tastings near Cefalù, and a farewell dinner. The Godfather tour in Savoca was special, with our guide introducing us to a local who played Apollonia’s mother, waving from her balcony.

Our travel professional's meticulous planning and personal touches made this trip extraordinary. Thanks to Zicasso for matching us with the tour company and we highly recommend them for a perfect Sicilian/Italian adventure!

Our Zicasso travel specialist did a fantastic job planning our family vacation for five adults.

Each hotel was top-notch. At the villa in Taormina, the rooms were luxurious, with unbelievable views of the bay and Mount Etna from private verandas. The staff were gracious and the restaurant's breakfast buffet delicious. Lunch and dinner were top-notch. The hotel in Agrigento was modern and the grounds were exceptional. It was close to the Valley of the Temples, with amazing views of the ruins from each room and the beautiful infinity pool. The hotel in Palermo was old-fashioned luxury with up-to-date facilities and close to the old town.

Our tour guides and drivers were excellent.

My only regret is that we only had 10 days to explore Sicily as there was so much more to see!

Our agent did a yeoman's job helping us plan this trip.

This was a superb trip that allowed us to combine personal visits to Taormina and Syracuse with a pre-planned group meeting in Catania. Planning and communication were excellent, supported by an app that let us easily view our itinerary, complete with phone numbers for the drivers, hotels, and the tour operator contacts.

The hotels were perfect! They were wonderfully located, with impeccable service in Taormina and Syracuse. Our excursions were private and diverse, and allowed us to combine culture, foodie interests, and free time. The guides were top-notch, knowledgeable, and flexible.

We especially loved seeing the smaller towns of Sicily; Militello, Ragusa, Aci Castello, and Modica. We even arrived in one small town during their annual festival.

We had a dedicated driver for our trip who was, himself, a treasure; always on time, always ready to adjust to changes, and a delightful personality.

This was such a good experience that we have selected Zicasso's tour operator to book another Italy trip next year.

I was connected with the travel company through Zicasso. What an amazing trip! Many thanks to our travel designer of the travel company!!!

Our travel designer and her expert team planned a trip to Sicily for my husband and I, my siblings, and my sister-in-law. We were six and everything about the trip was executed beautifully and with great attention to every detail.

We chose to go to Taormina, Cefalù, Palermo, and Ortigia Island, flying direct in and out of Catania. Our travel designer arranged all transfers by private van for the six of us and we never had to worry where or when we were going anywhere. She was able to make changes on the spot and accommodate our every wish.

Planning the trip was so easy, as she was available to chat with me on the weekends to answer questions and clarify details. She even made dinner reservations in every city. I cannot say enough about her willingness to be available and the choices she helped us make. From the terrific winery near Mount Etna to a drive up Etna, guided tours (we had an incredibly fabulous art historian showing us the churches of Palermo), a day at leisure on the beaches of Cefalù, and an amazing cooking class in Palermo, where we learned about and visited the markets, and made pasta and cannoli, every experience was better than the one before it.

We definitely recommend, with five stars, the travel company. Have them plan your trip to Italy! This was my first time back to Europe since 2004 and it was stellar!

I surely will use this company when I plan new trips to Italy, and Zicasso as well!

When we were trying to decide where to go, we chatted with travel partners in several European destinations. Zicasso chooses the best of the best and our experiences with each of them was exceptional!

We will be back to Zicasso when we travel to other destinations!!

Overall, our group of nine people had an amazing experience. We visited the regions of Abruzzo and Puglia, and both are stunningly beautiful. We had an awesome "cooking-with-nonna" experience in a real trulli house in Alberobello—highly recommended!!

We stayed in some beautiful B&Bs (historic homes) and the owners/staff and breakfast spread were amazing in all of them. We saw so many beautiful medieval towns (Matera was jaw-dropping!) and had so many great, once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

The only thing I'd recommend is to ensure you have a communication plan with your tour agent and private drivers. For example, when we arrived to our initial B&B in L'Aquila, it was dark/locked and no one was there. Apparently, our arrival time was not communicated to the B&B staff (which was a bit frustrating). Also, you should definitely expect to use a translation app to communicate with your private drivers and to ask drivers to communicate daily plans so everyone is on the same page. Other than a few small hiccups, the trip was great. We'd definitely use this group again.