Southern Italy 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.

My husband and I were thrilled with our recent trip to Italy that Zicasso’s travel designer put together. We began by attending a family friend’s wedding, held in Ravello, on the Amalfi Coast. Due to my husband’s mobility issues, we were met by a driver and headed to the Amalfi Coast. The driver was first class and the trip was very comfortable.

After the wedding festivities, we were able to have the most wonderful experiences visiting the towns of Amalfi and Positano, and our base for one week was in beautiful Sorrento. We attended a cooking class and enjoyed eating what we prepared. We had in-depth learning opportunities in Naples and Sorrento. Every guide we had spoke excellent English and was so knowledgeable. We especially enjoyed Pompeii! A super-fun day was had on the small group tour of Capri. The crew was fantastic and very accommodating in consideration of my husband’s mobility issues.

From beginning to end everything went well. The use of a messaging app was great for making sure everyone was on the same page.

The only thing that was a disappointment was the pizza in Naples. It wasn’t the best.

The hotel in Sorrento was phenomenal - it couldn’t have been better. The view of Mt. Vesuvius from our balcony helped create memories we will have forever. The hotel in Rome was also very nice. It was right in the middle of the main attractions.

We are very happy with our experience with this travel company and would not hesitate to recommend it!

Zicasso's travel designer did an excellent job planning a three-week trip for us in Naples, the Amalfi Coast, Capri, and several cities in Sicily. We appreciate that she met with us by Zoom on two occasions to tweak the draft itinerary to be sure it was the trip we were looking for. She listened to us and created an itinerary that met all of our needs.

The guides, drivers, and accommodations were excellent. The guides all spoke excellent English, were easy to understand, and obviously well educated and informed about the details of the history, architecture, art, and culture of each site we visited. The experience was educational, in addition to just enjoying the beauty of Southern Italy and Sicily.

We had one potentially disruptive event when a labor strike caused a cancellation of our flight from Naples to Sicily. Her team did an amazing job of creating an alternative, involving going by train to Rome, then catching a plane from Rome to Catania, and our arrival was only a few hours later than the original itinerary. Our word to describe their creative plan is "Brilliant."

Overall it was a great and memorable experience, thanks to the excellent recommendations, planning, and making all of the arrangements for our visit.

We will have no hesitation to recommend her and her team to our friends and family. Thank you for arranging for us to benefit from their incredible services.