8 Days Small Group Food & Wine Tour of Sicily (Max 8 Guests)

Posted By : lakelady2017
The Food & Wine, small group tour of Sicily by Sicily Adventures, was an amazing experience. Massimo and Graziana were always prompt, organized and courteous and full of information. If you love food and wine, you will not be disappointed! So much food! We experienced Sicily with professional guides, especially Denise and Giovanni, who went above and beyond!! A cooking school dream experience. Always on time, pleasant unique hotels, 2 fantastic wineries and many outstanding restaurants! We would not hesitate to highly recommend this tour offered through Tour Radar! Grazie Mille 🇮🇹💋
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Posted On : 2024-06-24 05:10:24

Posted By : _Z5447IG
I can’t say enough good things about our experience in Sicily thanks to Massimo and his team. Excellent, informative tour guides…Denise, Carlos, Antonio and Sem. The cooking class may have been the highlight, but all of the activities were fun and the pace of the tour, planned activities/free time mix was perfect. Will definitely recommend! I will return to Sicily many times and will definitely go on other trips with this team!
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Posted On : 2024-06-17 10:41:10

Posted By : M4366OQjessicac
We had an amazing time in Sicily thanks to this tour company (Sicily Activities). They specialize in small group tours. We were a group of 7 people. They customized a tour of Palermo as well as the most beautiful towns on the west coast of Sicily (Cefalu, Castellammare, Trapani, and Erice). Alex and Graziana handled all of our needs. They were great. I highly recommend this tour company.
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Posted On : 2024-06-17 07:25:52

Posted By : SaraL107
This tour was not at all what we expected, and the other 5 guests were just as surprised (and not in a good way) as we were. Most importantly, there is no onsite tour guide. Massimo and Graziana, who organized the trip, communicated with us via WhatsApp. We have no idea where they were located (they might be AIs). We got a short general itinerary before arriving in Sicily and then were told via WhatsApp where to meet our local guides for the day's tour (usually walking with some food or wine tastings). Some of the guides were great and some were mediocre. But they did not work for Sicily Tours and we could easily have booked them on our own. They did not know what we had already done on the tour and had no idea what we were doing next.

There was nothing customized or personal about the tour. We had expected we'd visit a winery or two that were not open to the public and learn in-depth about the varieties of wine in Sicily from an expert. Instead, we went to the same wineries as every other tour group and were often combined with other groups and individuals for a walk around the vineyards and the winery buildings. Then we'd have a light lunch (usually each of the groups got their own tables, thank goodness), which included some glasses of wine. At one place, carafes of wine were placed on the table with no explanation whatsoever about them.

The food tastings were equally generic. There might just be the seven of us with the local guide, but we went to the same places as all the other tours and often sat at tables alongside the other groups. Servers would bring plates or platters of food and sometimes the guides would try to explain what we were eating. Sometimes not. The food was nothing special (think cheese and meat boards, fried arancini, and lots of sardines and anchovies).

The cooking class in Taormina took the prize. The itinerary said we'd meet Chef Robert (I think that was his name) in the town square and he'd take us to the market to pick out the ingredients we'd be using to prepare pasta, bread, fish, and other delicacies “with our own hands”. There were 30 other people at the specified location to meet Chef Robert. He led us all to a small market-like place, but if there really was a market there, it happened early in the mornings or only certain days. On our day, a few tables were lined up with some fruits and vegetables on them. Chef Robert explained the difference between white and green zucchinis and made a few other observations about eggplants, lemons, and tomatoes. He had to yell because there were two other groups of 30+ people at the location with their own yelling chefs. Then the chef took a plastic bag with a few ingredients already packed in it and he led us to a restaurant (the same place we’d had tastings the first night) and instructed us all to sit at a long table set for 35 people. A few of us left at that point as we had no interest in participating in a cooking class/demonstration for a huge group. Massimo refunded 100 euros each to the three of us who didn’t participate, saying the whole thing was a mix-up. That was a nice gesture, but who wants to spend their vacation being disappointed and complaining?

We did not mind the amount of time on our own in each location. The planned tours were usually only a couple hours a day. In fact, it turned out to be the saving grace of our trip through Sicily. We walked the cobblestoned streets of each town, took boat rides around the coast, visited ancient ruins and churches, and looked up information about each of the sites ourselves. The Sicily Activities tour was superfluous to the tour we ended up planning and executing on our own.

The one thing Sicily Activities did well was to ensure the transfers to and from airports and between the towns were carried out efficiently. And checking into and out of the (just OK) hotels was always smooth (we each checked in on our own, not as a group). Sicily Activities does not arrange any help with luggage even when the meeting points for the transfers were some distance and lots of staircases away.

Sicily Activities has a lovely website and lots of good reviews but they offer nothing a reasonably savvy person could not plan entirely on their own. Perhaps the fault was our own – we thought “small group food and wine tour” meant we’d actually learn about the food and wine of Sicily as well as some history and culture. So as my title to this review says, if you book with Sicily Activities, keep your expectations in check.
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Posted On : 2024-06-07 14:11:03

Posted By : 239marisan
I had the best experience with Sicily Activities. The tour was super fun and I don’t think I would have experienced everything without being in this tour. The tour guides were so friendly, especially Orozio, Antonio and Stefania. It was worth every penny, a trip I will remember forever ❤️
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Posted On : 2023-10-09 04:17:58

Posted By : NoorCanberra
Great trip, knowledgeable and charming guides, all experiences meals and accommodation excellent and worked like clockwork . Our family group of 4 covering 3 generations had nothing to do but enjoy and plan our spare time, easy in lovely Sicily. Thanks to slender an and all the team, guides and drivers that made it all work. Noor
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Posted On : 2023-09-14 12:41:02

Posted By : 76kays
We wanted to thank you for a great tour which went like clockwork with everything happening to plan right from our late pickup at Catania Airport to our drop off at Palermo Airport. All of the activities were well organised, the guides excellent and the venues marvelous.

Our add on day visiting Èrice and Tràpani were very special.

Thank you for organising a magnificent sector to our holiday.
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Posted On : 2023-06-17 20:05:51

Posted By : nickataliev
Sicily Activities created a honeymoon experience beyond our wildest dreams with their small group food and wine tour. Every moment felt like a romantic escape as we savored each stop's unique culinary treats and sipped delicious regional wines. Sicily Activities' assistance and professionalism were exceptional, ensuring every detail was taken care of flawlessly. From expert guides to seamless logistics, they crafted an itinerary that flawlessly highlighted some of Sicily's most beautiful towns, each offering delectable delights. The entire experience was pure relaxation, allowing us to fully immerse ourselves in the vibrant atmosphere. Sicily Activities made our honeymoon unforgettable, leaving us with lifelong memories of love, laughter, and delectable cuisine.
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Posted On : 2023-05-19 17:00:54

Posted By : zoemj1129
Our small group food and wine tour was everything we dreamed of and more! The booking process leading up to the tour was amazing. Alex was extremely responsive and gave us all the information we needed to know to embark on the tour. Once the tour started, everything was incredible. All of our guides and drivers were professional, knowledgeable, and personal. The itinerary outlined exactly what to expect and all the activities were so personalized and fun. It was a great opportunity to do a small tour with my family and learn so much about the food, wine, and history of the region. I also felt like the cost of the tour was extremely affordable. Finally, we went in late March which was a fantastic decision- the weather was beautiful and the cities weren't crowded yet as it wasn't quite tourist season. All in all, Alex and her team planned an AMAZING vacation for us. I cannot recommend Sicily Activities enough- if you are visiting Sicily, I cannot think of a better experience!
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Posted On : 2023-04-06 15:19:18

Posted By : salvatorecX4336JI
Everything, every aspect of this tour was amazing! The guides were fun, knowledgeable, great to be around, low key. Absolutely fantastic.
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Posted On : 2022-06-18 09:29:50