Thoughts on Group Leader
Our group leader, Alessio, gave a personal touch to each experience and made the trip memorable. He regularly went out of his way to make sure everyone in the group was happy.
Reviews
Your Words – We tell it like it is! Holiday Reviews by previous Exodus travellers
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Reviews
Sicily Food and City Adventure
My wife and I had a great time on the trip. Our tour leader, Alessio, did a fantastic job and really made our daily adventures both fun and educational. 5 Stars for him!! We usually do not travel with group tours, but in a place like Sicily it made the daily travel arrangements and transportation much easier and seamless.
Everything was wonderful, except for a few of the hotel accommodations which were a bit uncomfortable.
Some of the highlights for us were the cooking class, temples in Agrigento, the Villa Romana, street food tour in Palermo, Mt. Etna hike and the wine tasting at Gambino Winery.
Loved it!
We’d do it again! Loved the group we travelled with. They made it a great trip along with our group leader Francesco. Sicily is beautiful!!!
Most Inspirational Moment
Buffalo farm & tour of orchards, and foods, of course
Thoughts on Group Leader
Francesco was the best and so was our driver Franco!
Advice for Potential Travellers
Give it a try, but plan on going on a diet when you return home. Pastas, breads, cheeses and wines were Devine!
ADY: Sicily Food Adventure
An insightful view of the food influences, inspired by the Arabs and Normans. The island itself is incredibly fertile, enjoying an ideal climate for the cultivation of produce, such as olives, oranges, lemons, aubergines, tomatoes, pistachios and almonds, not to mention the fresh seafood caught right off the coast. A visit to the renowned wine cellar on Mount Etna, to enjoy a wine tasting and lunch, followed by a walk around the most active volcano in Europe.
Most Inspirational Moment
Learning from the accredited Tour Guide, which was allocated for the day, how the Temples of Agrigento was built.
Thoughts on Group Leader
He was very engaging and informative.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Bring a warm jacket for your Mount Etna hike.
Sicilian food adventure
An amazing trip exploring so much of Sicilian history and typical foods the Island. Our tour leader Tiziano went above and beyond his role to show us as possibile throughout the trip. We saw so much in 1 week.
Most Inspirational Moment
So much included to choose 1 moment.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Tiziano was amazing. He was friendly, helpful, approachable and super conscientious. He did as much as could and more to ensure our trip was a superb adventure.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Be prepared for some long hot days on an amazing island with so much to offer.
Sicily - an island of contrasts
The tour introduced us to Sicilian food and we experienced making pasta, drinking Marsala wine, tasting mozzarella and warm ricotta straight from the buffalo cows, and visited an organic olive farm. This was in addition to eating loads of delicious street food, and exploring fish and vegetable markets. And then we visited beautiful historical towns of Ragusta and Nota – and learned about the ancient history of Sicily in the Valley of Temples in Agrigento. I also walked around a crater on Mount Etna. What a week ! Full of fun and learning.
Most Inspirational Moment
Seeing the exquisite Roman mosaic in the Villa Romana del Casale.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Francesco was passionate about his country, knowledgeable and good fun. A perfect group leader. He saved the day for me when I left my jacket in the first hotel and arranged for it to be couriered to the last hotel so I had something warm when climbing Etna.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Remember your colleagues names ASAP. Go with the Sicilian flow.
A packed week of food and culture
It’s incredible the amount of activities and experiences that this trip packs in. It’s pretty full on. But extremely interesting and rewarding, in terms of the amount you learn about Sicily… especially its food and culture.
Most Inspirational Moment
Our tour leader, Alessio, made the trip. But the nights in Palermo and Ragusa were the best. As those cities were most interesting. Along with the vineyard visit on Etna. All the visits to the produce makers (olive oil, cheese, wine) never felt like merely a sales exercise. There was no hard sell. But all were interesting. And delicious in terms of sampling. The mix of accommodation types was really good.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Alessio was brilliant at making sure everyone was enjoying themselves. You felt in very capable hands. We didn't have any dramas on our tour but I'm sure he would be excellent at sorting anything out if required. His local knowledge, as a Sicilian himself, and enthusiasm for the food and culture of Sicily is incredible. He can talk (!)but always in an interesting and sometimes amusing way.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Don't do this trip if you just want to sit on the beach or by the pool. You won't get much chance of that. Our group were almost all 50 years plus. There aren't any onerous levels of exercise involved but you do need to be able to manage a certain amount of walking. I would suggest that doing this in the spring or autumn is best to avoid the intense heat. But it did feel a bit end of season'ish in late September.
Sicily Food Adventure
An incredible week exploring Sicily! We toured food markets, made pasta from scratch, did an olive oil tasting at a local farm, saw fresh burrata being made at a buffalo farm then sampled cheese products, went to a beautiful winery on Mt Etna, then did a hike to the Volcanos craters. We learned so much about Sicily’s history, and culture, and of course, had lots of delicious food and wine!! I am already planning my next trip to Sicily!
Most Inspirational Moment
all the local experiences (family run cheese farm, olive oil, wineries, cooking classes, etc)
Thoughts on Group Leader
Veronica was amazing - so knowledgeable and passionate about Sicily! Marco our driver was also great!
Advice for Potential Travellers
Book a post-night in Catania! After an incredible week of exploring the island, it is nice to spend one extra day by the seaside or exploring the city of Catania
Sicily
Trip itself was good, weather not so good, but our memories of the holiday were spoilt by the delays to our return to England. While Etna erupting and closing Catania airport was no ones fault, British Airways did nothing whatsoever to help us find a replacement flight, in the end we had to find one through Expedia and fly back with Easyjet at considerable expense to ourselves. We did try to contact Exodus for any advice or help they might give, but had zero response, not your best moment.
Most Inspirational Moment
Getting back home with no help from Exodus or British Airways
Thoughts on Group Leader
Excellent
Advice for Potential Travellers
Don't rely on Exodus to book your flights, ours kept changing, and as they were very early outwards and very late return we had booked hotel rooms, but they resulted in staying at the wrong Heathrow terminal on departure, and paying extra because we had to change the dates. On return the Hotel we had booked at Gatwick was superfluous as the flight was cancelled and we flew to Luton 12 hours later.
Etna in action!
This is a fantastic tour if you’re interested in both the food and the history of Sicily, as the tour combines both of them very well. The trip manages to pack so much in, every day there is something new to see, a new place to visit and a new tasting experience. The tour hops from hotel to hotel, using 5 different establishments, everything from small boutique style, to a holiday village with dome shaped bungalows and a 2 night stay in a large hotel complex on the outskirts of Catania. My week was full of a few unexpected things! Lost luggage between Milan & Palmero airports, absolute torrential rain on day 1 while in Palmero, an abandoned walk on Etna due to more extreme weather and to top it off an eruption of Etna on my departure day which coated Catania & the airport in a layer of black volcanic ash! This resulted in the airport being closed, several flight changes and finally getting home 2 days later than planned! It’s a packed itinerary, some early morning starts and a lot of distance covered in the bus. A good guide book together with the trip notes will help you no end.
Most Inspirational Moment
Lots of moments to mention. Visiting a mountain village to learn how to make pasta, the whole village was covered in thick fog! The visit to Ragusa, a perfectly beautiful town, I wished we’d had a little more time there. Being in Catania when Etna erupted! Although she ruined my return home, as a bit of a volcano enthusiast it was a bit of a special moment being part of that.
Thoughts on Group Leader
Alessio was a superb group leader. As an original native of Palmero himself, his knowledge of Sicily was unsurpassed. I found him informative, a great story teller and I appreciated that he shared a lot about life in Sicily as a real local, it gave what he said true authenticity. He very clearly knows his job, and seems to know someone familiar in every town! I liked that Alessio wasn’t overbearing as a group leader, if people wanted a bit of ‘space’ away from the group there was always time to do this.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Despite thinking May would be glorious weather, I’d pack a raincoat and an umbrella as well as your sun cream.
Food Trip to Sicily
A thoroughly enjoyable, varied holiday. Plenty of interesting visits, no shortage of excellent local food and wine.
Most Inspirational Moment
The cookery experience, and then enjoying the results!
Thoughts on Group Leader
Knowledgeable and enthusiastic, Francesca worked really hard to make our trip work.
Advice for Potential Travellers
Wear loose clothes! Be prepared to hotel hop and abundance of coach travel.