Sicily Tours in May 2026

What people love about Sicily Tours in May

• LauraTraveled in September

  4

  Excellent hotels and trip. Times kept to by everyone. Bit of confusion over one tour on Lipari but it was all cleared up quickly. One thing would be prior knowledge of what will be for lunch. I would rather go get my own on some days as certain food items were not to our liking. Our guide, Angelo, eas very good. Made sure my sister had her vegan choices and clearly pointed out what was appropriate.

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  Sicilian Secrets – Tour of Sicily & Aeolian Islands
• BrentTraveled in March

  4

  My wife and I utilized Tourradar for the first time, booking a food and wine lovers tour through Sicily Activities. This was our first-time visiting Italy and we arrived on March 14th, 2022 from the US. Overall, we rated this tour a 4/5 stars with many portions of the trip well exceeding our expectations while some parts of the tour did could be improved. The size of our group ended up being 5 adults. I cannot say enough about our tour director Massimo and Sicily Activities. Excellent to deal with in every aspect. The coordination and communication were effortless. The daily itinerary was clear and we experienced no travel issues. Upon our arrival into Catania, we were promptly met at the airport by Antonio, who was also our local guide for the next 3 days. Antonio was a true professional and a very passionate guide. I cannot say enough about our time with him, Antonio made this trip a positive experience. He is an asset to Sicily Activities! Our time in Taormina was magical. Following our arrival at Hotel Ariston, we went on a walking tour of Taormina with three different stops. There was no going hungry on this night as we experienced varying foods and drink. The following day was probable one of the highlights for us when meeting Giovanni for our cooking experience. The experience was everything we expected and much more. A lasting experience full of fun and enjoyment. Food was excellent with no shortage. I would recommend skipping breakfast this morning. For our 3rd day in the Taormina area, we traveled to a winery near Mt. Etna followed by lunch nearby. These two events had room for improvement. Although Antonio did his best as our guide, I found each these events lacking. The wine tour of the Gambino winery was basically a run of the mill wine tasting that I have experience time and time again. The property is small and not very scenic with no room to explore the surrounding countryside. The winery was not pushy, but at the end of the tour we were guilted into buying wine memberships. Our second stop for lunch was a roadside restaurant filled with working men of the area (no woman) and an excellent but brief and informal lunch was provided). Again, this occurred on a small piece of beautiful property, however we had no opportunity to explore, nor did I find each location close to Mt. Etna. There was room for improvement here. Day 4, we travelled towards our new destination of Syracusa, stopping for a walking tour in Noto followed by lunch in Marzamemi. Again, I found room for improvement on this day as well. Antonio did a great job providing information of the locale, but we did not try the local Modica chocolate or Sicilian ice-cream because the business was apparently closed. This should have been addressed before the tour with an alternate. Our brief 2-course lunch in Marzamemi also had room for improvement. The restaurant did not appear to be ready for our visit and was very impersonal. I don’t believe we truly experienced the “food culture” of this area with 2 brief dishes. Upon arrival into Syracusa, we stayed at Hotel Alfeo for the next two nights. Syracusa was another magical place to visit and we had a 24 hour period of “free-time” allowing us to explore the Ortigia. Our only tour in Syracusa began the following evening in which we visited three different restaurants and ate similar foods as we did in Taormina. Our tour guide Elisa was very pleasant and recommended various sites we had previously visited during our free time. Unfortunately, we could not act on many of her recommendations because our tour left the next morning for Palermo. In another recommendation, the night tour of Syracusa should have occurred the evening of our arrival, therefore we could utilize the recommendations provided by our guide during a day of free-time, instead of vice-versus. Also, trying the exact same cuisine as we did during the Taormina night tour was repetitive. Our next day began with a wine tour at a “castle” in the countryside of Syracusa before traveling to Palermo. The wine tour and lunch was excellent and very personal, however there was no castle by any time of definition. This is a small two-room family winery that has been around for hundreds of years. Again, no opportunity to visit the countryside or walk around the property. This tour also occurred prior to a 4+ hour drive to Palermo in which there was no where to stop along the way. The grueling drive made this entire day unpleasant. I suggestion would be to get the drive out of the way before committing to any type of morning food or wine tour. We arrived in Palermo later in the afternoon and stayed at Hotel Garibaldi. The next day was a walking tour of Palermo and some of the markets. The tour was conducted by Frederico who was professional but impersonal. We were combined with another tour group of 7 people including a screaming baby. This larger group made it very difficult to enjoy the walking tour of the narrow markets and was not what was advertised in our group. The food was good as we experienced some of the local cuisine that I had not previously tried. Due to flight schedules, Massimo was able to add an additional day “free-day” in Palermo for my wife and I which we enjoyed. Our early morning shuttle to the Palermo airport arrived on-time and without issue. Each of the three hotels were supposedly rated as 4-star, however if comparing to hotels in the US, each one would barely make a 3-star cut. All were clean, without security concerns, and centrally located. Hotel Ariston in Taormina was by far the best place we stayed. Beds were hard and uncomfortable and the room was extremely small. In return we had one of the best views in the world. Great service and breakfast would decent. Hotel Alfeo in Syracusa provided a large, clean room. Service was lacking with a small breakfast, no bar or dinner service, and limited amenities (claiming covid). It was nice to look out onto the street but all I heard was car alarms and sirens all night long. Hotel Garibaldi in Palermo had a comparable size room with better amenities, breakfast, and limited bar and dinner service. Walls were paper thin and all you could hear is the elevator machinery all night long. Each of the hotels had uncomfortable beds (must be the Italian standard) and no laundry service. For American’s visiting, we learned a couple of things that were not clear prior to our travel. Unless you are traveling on separately purchased tickets, your luggage will get checked through Rome to your final destination. Unlike in the US, you do not need to pick up your luggage while going through customs/passport control on your way there. Upon return to the states, you will have to get your luggage at JFK before continuing onward. Make sure you back the KN95 masks, which are required to be worn on the flights in Italy. We had no issue with showing our CDC covid cards (6 months from last shot) instead of the “green pass” and we were only checked at the hotels generally. Some of the restaurants outside of the tour would check when they figured out you were a tourist. As far as money, we set-up an account with Wise (prepaid) and converted Euro’s before leaving. Anytime we used the card for purchase or ATM withdrawal, funds were taken out in Euro without fees. We provided our tour guides with gratuities of approx. $10 euro per tour per person. Other than the guides, no one expected gratuities. Thank you Massimo for the excellent trip! My wife and I greatly enjoyed our time in Sicily!

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  Small Group Sicily Food & Wine Tour (Maximum 8 Guests)
• SammyTraveled in April

  5

  Angelo was a great tour guide. The wine tour was fun. The sights we were taken to were nice to see.

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  Sicilian Secrets - Tour of Sicily 6 days