An Experience Challenging and Satisfying

All of the highlights of Sicily were visited with very adequate time for shopping. Having experienced Sicily twice before I found this tour even more enriching to me educationally and aesthetically - the tour guides and others connected with the visit were each very technically prepared to lead us through the history, culture and religious explanations at Monreale to Gibilmanna to the Archaeology Museum to the catacombs of Syracuse to the Cupola of St Peter's . A visit to "Mama Etna" was most awsome.

A little overkill on temples and theatres

I was a Group Coordinator, and offered this tour primarily for Sicilian-Americans. The free time on the tour would allow people to pursue family and/or ancestral towns in the Palermo area, which they did. The long day at the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento ended up being too much antiquity for the average traveler when we did theatres and ruins again in Siracusa the very next day. The theatre in Taormina is lovely with the Etna backdrop, but all 3 sites in the "included" touring is too much. Most of my group did not do the Erice/Segesta excursion because that was their day to pursue family roots - if they had done so, it would have been one more Greek temple! I assume that Piazza Armerina was taken out of the routing because of the restoration work, but the mosaic floors there, or even the ceramics of Caltagirone, would make for a more interesting ride to Siracusa. Even to pass the Valley of the Temples of Agrigento at night when it is illuminated is lovely. But if visiting Agrigento on the travel day is mandatory to routing or timing, I would suggest taking the group to the Baroque towns around Sircacusa the next day and make the archaeological park an optional excursion. I want to offer this tour again, but if I do I may suggest that my group skip the included touring in Siracusa if they are not specifically interested in the classics.

Extremely interesting and enjoyable

I didn't expect Sicily to be so beautiful and so interesting. My sister and I chose this trip to avoid winter weather and got much more than we expected--the Greek temples and theaters, the hairpin turn roads that our driver managed so expertly, Mount Etna, the ancient jewelry in the basement of the archeological museum in Siracusa==I could go on and on!

Springtime in Sicily is Stunning

From the moment our group met up with our wonderfully knowledgeable tour director, Tamara, things went smoothly. Our accommodations were very nice, conveniently located and clean and comfortable. The driving of our bus driver was spectacular. I would not have dreamed of driving on my own in Sicily, but I never had a moment of anxiety that we were in safe hands. And, what can one say about Sicily in the springtime? The smell of orange, lemon, olive and almond groves was in the air. The colors were spectacular. The commentary by our director was spot on. I love learning history and touring ruins, and the ones in Sicily rivaled the ones I had seen in Greece. But if ruins are not your thing, there was so much more to experience, and our tour guide made sure that everyone's interests were accommodated. My favorite experiences were the meal at the Manor House cooked by the Contessa and sitting in the middle of the theatre in Taormina looking out over the sea and Mount Etna. This was a special trip for me and my sister, and I am so happy that Go Ahead did such a great job making it perfect. I will definitely travel with Go Ahead again. I do think it would be awfully warm there in the summer, but we had perfect weather in March.

Best of Sicily with Ms Tamara

Of all the excellent things to say about Sicily and its fine people,,fine food,,beautiful weather,,scenery second to none ,,A cultural diversity that has been so well preserved thru the centuries,,Fine hotels that were chosen for us were excellent and their locations were perfectly suited to our stay...All of this said however was exceeded by the Graciousness,,Kindness and Intelligence of our TOUR GUIDE----TAMARA.....She and Salvo (driver) did every-thing possible to make us feel special...Her sense of humor,,right up there with Gloria and Rob -My family loved her ,,wife and daughter,,The rest of the group felt the same way.........................Judy,,Susan,,Charles Belenchia

an amazing journey

I thought the tour guide was the best ever-Stephania and we had a very personable bus driver Salvo. I thought the trip was an ok value for the money but there were too many free days...granted, there were optional things to do but I thought a couple of them could have been included.

Best of Sicily

I thought the tour was a good mix of activities and time on my own for exploring. All of the local guides were excellent. The optional excursions were worth the cost and well paced. I would have liked a little more free time in some of the hill towns as well as Syracusa. Overall, the tour was a very good experience.

What a great trip!

My daughter and I really enjoyed this trip. This was my second trip to Sicily and I was even more impressed with the island than the first time. This trip took me to places I had not yet experienced such Monreale and Erice--beautiful and "must sees" when in Sicily. All the destinations were excellent. and our hotels were mostly well situated. However, I do think that we optimized the experience with the additional excursions. We took advantage of all of them and they did not disappoint. They were all reasonably priced and definitely increased our enjoyment of the overall trip. Moreover, it still left just the right amount of free time to explore on our own. Unfortunately, the flights were not the best, but that was mainly because the airline changed schedules after our arrangements were made. Finally, I can't say enough about Stefania and Salvatore; the tour director and driver can really dampen even the best planned tours. But they were 5-star all the way. Well done, Go Ahead Tours.

Wonderful Tour...Terrible Flights

Sicily was wonderful! We flew into Rome then to Palermo. Palermo was a large city with wonderful churches and places to explore. Being a city, it allowed us to explore without having to walk far to see different sites on our own. The greek ruins were in excellent shape and quite fascinating. The food at the Sicilian Manor House was out of this world and visiting Mt. Etna was truely a unique experience. The most beautiful town was Taormina but it was very crowded. We also loved seeing the towns and places where the Godfather movies were filmed. But all this was somewhat marred by our flights...especially from Rome back to the U.S. The three of us booked our tour together and months in advance yet on only one flight, our flight to Rome, did we sit together. Making matters worst, we all had middle seats on the other flights. It was a terrible way to end such a wonderful vacation.

Wonderful Sicily Tour

Steffana and Salvatore made the trip exceptionally memorable. Both were extremely helpful, good natured, and both went the extra mile. In addition, the individual tour guides were very informative and full of information about the optional excursions we attended. The scenery was splendid, the hotels were in excellent areas where we could explore on our own time,and we had just the right amount of free time.