I absolutely loved the trip to Etna and Taormina. Despite half of our group opting for an English-spoken guide, our driver only spoke Italian. This wasn't a problem- as a group, we managed to get by. My one criticism would be regarding the pick up time. I had to chase for confirmation of a pick up time from the host the night before and eventually was told this would be 7am. However, when I left my apartment at 7am on the day, the driver waiting outside seemed angry- saying that I'd been keeping him waiting for a whole twenty minutes prior to this. Aside from that, we had sufficient time in both areas. 2 hours in Etna, which was just enough to get the cable car to the top and return. Then we had another 2.5 hours in Taormina. I had researched a lot in trying to find the most cost effective trip to Etna from Palermo, and this was by far the best option!

I love doing food and history walking tours when I travel - I find they are a wonderful way to learn more about the city you are visiting and the local cuisine (and helpful to orient yourself to the city). This tour was interesting - we mostly tried the street food from one place in the Capo market (arancina, panelle (a fried chickpea batter "cake", pane con la milza (oh my this is boiled and then sauteed spleen and lung from a cow served on a soft roll with very salty cheese - I would say this is for folks who like liver or kidney), sfincione (like pizza with no cheese), crocche (a potato croquette), and cannoli. Our guide was very knowledgable - I learned that there are actually tour guide schools and our guide spent 2 years studying his curriculum. I would recommend.

Glad to have the opportunity to leave a review. We were lucky enough to get Francesca on a Sunday. She is knowledgeable as well as flexible ( given we are both over 65) Francesca was able to impart a wealth of knowledge we would never have known otherwise. She also showed us many locations of historical significance and explained their background. As well as this we visited the local markets and streets and , Francesca explained some of the Palmero culture which were just as much fun. Not to mention a couple of little shop detours on the way. Our trip to Palermo was greatly enriched by Francesca’s tour. Grazie Mille Francesca !

Etna was natural and beautiful and a bit of a challenge scaling, but well worth the effort . Toarmina was beautiful and the Amphitheatre is a real treasure. However the was made really great due to our guide and driver, Michael. He was very friendly, informative and gave good advice and tips about both parts of the trip. He was very punctual and gave us plenty of time and notice st Rach stop. Nothing was too much trouble and his conversation was also a nice distraction . Can’t give more praise fora great experience, Thanks Michael. From the Liverpool family

There were seven of us in a van. It was a long day, but we saw a variety of things. I hadn’t realized it was more of a driving service than a tour, as there was little in the way of explanations of what we were looking at. We were essentially dropped off. (That may have been mentioned in the fine print I didn’t read.) But the driver could not have been more pleasant, spoke perfect English and answered any questions we had. Erice was attractive but way too touristy for me.