Most Inspirational Moment
Seeing the Straits of Messina AND the meal cooked at the AGRITURISMO hotel in Busseto Palizzolo.
Thoughts on Group Leader
He was pleasant, engaged, efficient and knowledgable about his homeland
Reviews
Your Words – We tell it like it is! Holiday Reviews by previous Exodus travellers
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Reviews
Treasures of Sicily
Well balanced holiday with a good guide as well as good local guides who had more detailed knowledge of the sites. Plenty of variety in the other activities,
Classic Sicily
Wonderful trip. Varied, good hotels and the best trip leader. Francesca is kind, knowledgable, helpful.
Probably would have prefered 2 less cities to visit. This would have made the trip a better pace and give us a chance to savour each place.
Most Inspirational Moment
Valley of temples.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Super as mentioned above.
Advice for Potential Travellers
None.
Great trip, fabulous gelato
This was a great, moderately-paced trip. There’s lots to do, but plenty of free time to just sit in a café and watch the world go by… or if you like to keep moving, just grab an espresso and slip around the next corner to see what’s there… This was a pleasant balance of old Greek and Roman sites, free time in pretty towns and villages full of twisting alleys and stunning churches, a couple of light walks, and amazing Sicilian food.
Most Inspirational Moment
We had several hours to explore the beautiful town of Ortiga. It was a microcosm of the trip as a whole... after admiring the ruined temple in the main square, scoring an aranchine (Sicilian fried rice dumpling) and a cake for lunch, I spent hours exploring every tiny alleyway, my camera ever-ready, stopping off for gelato whenever I needed fuelling up...
Thoughts on Group Leader
Francesca was bubbly and enthusiastic, and brought the group together.
Sicily is a varied and wonderful place to,visit
A fast and busy trip that delivered an amazing taste of Sicily. Every site was different and spectacular.
Most Inspirational Moment
Every place was inspirational.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Milena was fantastic. She was informative, organised and caring. She truely made this trip a wonderful experience.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Pack lightly as you need to get your case in the back of a mini bus and live out of a suitcase. Do not look at any photos before you go so that when you arrive at each site you will be amazed.
The magic of Sicily
A great trip and although quite a fast pace there was plenty of time to enjoy the towns, ruins and magnificent scenery. The food and wine was of course splendid wherever we went our wonderful guide Mileena was there with her extremely helpful maps of every town and ruin visited. There is something in this trip for everyone. If you can’t walk far there is always a cafe with a lovely outlook to sit at, on the other hand if you want to walk and climb steps for wonderful views, then you can do that too
Most Inspirational Moment
Visiting some of the towns really early in the morning where there was just me and the street cleaner around. it was so atmospheric to have an espresso in the Duomo square without the hordes of tourists which would appear later. The Sicilian food specialities were wonderful too
Thoughts on Group Leader
Mileena was exceptional. Nothing was ever too much trouble. She was so enthusiastic and the maps she gave us at every stop must have taken her hours to highlight but they were so useful.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Take comfortable walking shoes with you and plenty of sunscreen
A rush!
An enjoyable trip taking in most of the ‘must see’ places in Sicily: a great overview of the island. One niggle, though, is that because of the scale of the place the whole trip seemed too rushed: lots of time in the coach, and not quite enough time at various locations to give them justice.
If you can afford the time (and higher cost), the newly-introduced ‘Sicily Grand Tour’ would be a better bet, but if you are prepared for the pace of this tour the ‘Treasures of Sicily’ does live up to its name.
Most Inspirational Moment
The stunning mosaics at Monreale. The views of Etna were great (except when the scirocco brought in the Sahara sand).
Thoughts on Group Leader
Salvo was very knowledgeable, and helpful. he also made sure there were plenty of loo stops - important given the length of some of the coach trips!
Advice for Potential Travellers
Consider carefully your aims for the trip (see my summary), but then enjoy yourself. Make sure that you have plenty of cash to pay for meals, souvenirs and tips, as you can't rely on credit or debit cards being accepted. If you need more cash, most places have ATMs. When paying by credit/debit card or withdrawing cash at an ATM, you will sometimes be offered the opportunity to pay in your home currency - as a rule, though, this will involve a poor exchange rate and a fee, so you are probably best advised to reject this option and hope your card issuer is more generous. Leave room for the gelati and sorbets (granita)! You will walk them off. As always with such tours, be prepared for some minor disappointments - for example, our tour of the Zingaro Nature Reserve was called off due to the fire risk caused by a scirocco blowing through, and the "elaborate Byzantine mosaics" at Cefalu Cathedral were hidden whilst the building was undergoing some renovation. However, there is so much else to see that such disappointments are unlikely to detract significantly from your holiday.
Treasures of Sicily
A very busy week spent travelling to a considerable number of places. Not much time to see anywhere properly but a good overview of the island. A lot of time spent in the coach.
Most Inspirational Moment
Walking on Etna was an interesting and inspirational part of the trip - if you enjoy views and volcanoes!
Thoughts on Group Leader
Our group leader did not interact with the group and carried out his duties without humour, fun or enjoyment. This was the most disappointing aspect of the week, as having travelled with Exodus before, I have had far better group leaders who can make the holiday wonderful, exciting and longing for more. We had two other tour guides for a short period of time who were knowledgeable and interesting. Vanessa was particularly helpful on our last day helping us with travel arrangements and being a real group leader even diverting the coach to see some extra sites on the way to the airport. What a difference had she been our group leader for the week!
Advice for Potential Travellers
Do not take any extra items unless you really need them. Pack so you can find items easily without unpacking your suitcase each night. Bags of items of clothing are a good idea. Some people used poles when walking on Etna. Take them if you feel more comfortable using them on steep slopes - up and down. Take shoes to wear for swimming in the National Park as the beach is made up of large stones.
Reply from Exodus
We were sorry to hear that Susan was disappointed with aspects of her tour’s leadership as her tour leader usually receives very good feedback; we are in contact with Susan directly in this regard and our local manager has also followed up on her concerns with her tour leader.
Marta Marinelli – Product Manager for Sicily
Sicily
Tour leader, Milanda and driver could not have been better
Loved Sicily and our guide brought the Island and its’ history alive with her vast knowledge and infectious enthusiasm
She is warm, compassionate and very caring of her groups well being
Hotels… good locations… some beds below standard
Have no back issues but if you did mattress standard poor at 2 Hotels
Want to do Umbria Italy next year
Do you have a tour of Morocco?
Most Inspirational Moment
The guide
Thoughts on Group Leader
Read above.... just a special lady
Advice for Potential Travellers
No .... a personal thing
Sicily
The sites we visited were fascinating, the accommodation was satisfactory, the guide was knowledgeable and the driver was good.
Most Inspirational Moment
Some of the remarkable archaeology sites, eg the doric temple at Segesta, and the cathedral at Monreale.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Very knowledgeable, helpful and friendly.
Treasures of Sicily
Brilliant introduction to glorious Sicily. So much to see, so little time, BUT a fantastic introduction covering everything from nature to culture, to ancient temples, wonderful scenery and fabulous food.
Most Inspirational Moment
I don't have just one. I loved everything, but especially the incredibly well preserved antiquities, including from Greek and Roman times.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Salvo was exceptional. Very hard working, making sure we all finished with a strong sense of appreciation of his Island and a desire to return. He was calm, able to adapt to unpredictable changes in weather which involved changes to itinerary. He created the perfect balance between bringing us to places and leaving us free to explore.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Get fit before you leave! It is a magnificent journey with fabulous, full days, which demand some level of fitness. Pack layers covering yourself from warm, to hot to rain.