Exploring Sicily Traveller Reviews

Two activity packed weeks that contained a cornucopia of experiences--wonderful historic cities and antique villages,marvelous boutique hotels,intriguing archeological sites,fascinating people,remarkable ancient places of worship,splendid vistas, excellent museums,and great food and wine--all packed into full days with an easy rhythm that was wholly enjoyable.

The home staff was courtesy personified and generously helpful.The field staff carefully chosen,well informed,accessible and with no hype.They were also excellent managers.The program was thoughtfully planned,and a well orchestrated mix of experiences. The quality of accommodation,transport and food and wine was outstanding.Whether affordable is a personal consideration but,based on experience, the package provided great value for money.

This archeological tour of Sicily was well organized, covering sites over the entire expanse of the island, with first class lodging and meals and comfortable transportation. The van driver was expert in reassuringly negotiating all traffic conditions. Unforeseen personal needs of the group's members were quickly accommodated by the guides as if they were routine. The two guides were thorough and knowledgeable in presenting the rich history surrounding the beautiful archeology and the early Greek settlements, as well as more recent history of the island. In the end I came away with the memory of beautiful ancient temples, with a historical and cultural enlightenment, and some understanding of and fondness for the present day Sicilian.

The tour operator organized excellent coverage of the must-see ancient sites of Sicily, combined with the best accommodations for hotels, food and wine.

This was an excellent two-week tour of Sicily, covering historical, archaeological and culinary highlights from all around the island.

The guides -- a professor of archaeology and a local tour guide -- were terrific. They were extremely knowledgeable, very pleasant to be around, and on top of all the logistics. The accommodations and food were first-rate. The bus driver was skilled and also very pleasant.

We visited most of the major archaeological sites of Sicily during the two week tour. In addition to the major sites, we visited chocolate-making and olive oil processing sites. One of my favourite locations was an ancient quarry where we could see how the Greeks carved the column pieces from the native limestone. It was fascinating!

It was a small group, so the bus was small and able to get to sites that large tour buses would not be able to access. The subject matter expert, Spencer, was very enthusiastic and was always willing to provide answers to our questions, no matter how arcane. I learned so much from him. Our local guide, Lucia, was also very knowledgeable and patient with us and our idiosyncrasies. Together, they were a strong team who made the entire trip a wonderful experience. The food was also varied and always enjoyable. The tour made an effort to provide us with meals that were locally sourced and were spcialities of the area.

Exploring Sicily was 2 weeks of delving into ancient history, modern food and wine, with great travel companions; superbly well organised and lead by Peter Sommer Travels.

Exploring Sicily was my 6th Trip with Peter Sommer Travels - and I enjoyed it as much as my 1st! They never fail to enthuse you about ancient cultures; and then combine it with modern culture of food, wine and wonderful travel companions. The Leaders are always excellent, personable, well organised and very professional.

The 14 day 'Exploring Sicily' tour with Peter Sommer Tours was outstanding - providing the opportunity for in depth immersion in the complex Ancient (and Medieval) History of Sicily. An additional focus throughout the tour was the opportunity to sample excellent Sicillian food and wine.

Both of our Guides were professional, exceptionally knowledgeable with excellent communication skills. Comments from other participants with previous experience, suggests that this is a prominent feature of Peter Sommer Tours.

Comprehensive and well planned two week journey into the history and culture Of Sicily. Led by a guide of considerable knowledge and enthusiasm. Much recommended

This is my second trip and was as impressive as the first to Turkey. Certainly hope to travel with Peter Sommer again. A high quality memorable experience .

Having enjoyed three previous truly wonderful tours with Peter Sommer Travels, I had prepared myself to not expect too much during our two-week tour of Sicily since I did not want to be disappointed. From the onset, I realized that our fourth tour was going to be another amazingly wonderful tour experience comparable to the first three. First, the hotels were varied in type and style, but all absolutely nice places to stay (to say the least). Second, the tour content was once again a thoroughly satisfying mixture of ancient ruins, lovely landscapes, magnificent churches, fine museums, and vibrant cities. Third, the two guides (Michael Metcalfe and Lucia Iacono) were fantastic (more on them later). Fourth, the food and wine were a fabulous taste of Sicily literally and figuratively. Fourth, the 14 guests were a "self-selected" group of well educated, intelligent, travelers who sought an archeology-focused tour experience rather than a tourist vacation. And they were wonderful people with whom to be traveling. Of the 14, six of us had traveled together previously on Perter Sommer Travels tours. Fifth, given the winding mountain roads and the outrageously creative city traffic, our tour was a great success in no small part to a fabulous, careful, conscientious driver Giancarlo Gradino, who was also a most pleasant fellow traveler during the tour.

Michael Metcalfe was assisted by Lucia Iacono and the two of them were phenomenal guides/tour operators. They each had wonderful personalities and exhibited a) concern for each traveler's needs, b) patience in dealing with situations, and c) wonderful senses of humor which helped make the two-week experience truly wonderful. Given all the sites, all the ruins, all the museum exhibits, it is important to note that these two group leaders are phenomenally knowledgeable. They conveyed portions of their knowledge to us without ever talking down to us and encouraged us to ask questions if they had not touched upon some point of interest. Although their knowledge was impressive, their enthusiasm for their subjects was infectious. They really enhanced our appreciation of what we were seeing and why it was important in an historical and/or socioeconomic context.

Spring was glorious, Sicily has much more varied food than its reputation has it. Tour guides were great as were their selections of hotels, restaurants, sites & more. The occasional closed museum or missing collection (we experienced 3 to various degrees) were a disappointment, but we're learning this happens on most European tours at least once.

Thorough and customer-oriented, unlike larger operators with which we've dealt. All personnel in direct contact were polite and attentive, helpful and never misleading.

Extremely enjoyable holiday, led by very knowledgeable and engaging guides..

We have traveled with Peter Sommer Travels on three previous occasions, and have thoroughly enjoyed each experience. . The combination of beautiful and historic venues, extremely knowledgeable and personable guides, and small group size makes for a wonderful experience. We come away from the trips having learned a great deal of the history and archeology of the region, while also experiencing the bountiful local cuisine.