Dining Options on Rick Steves' Sicily Tours

I've not done this particular RS tour but on the ones I have done, 11 out of 12 guides were able to get me vegan meals. IF it wasn't going to be possible, they told me ahead of time and I could make other arrangements.

The 12th guide was just sort of in over their heads and I realized this additional task was just more than they could manage. It was directly post-Covid. They "made me vegetarian" which involved a lot of cheese so I just ate around what I could and supplemented on my own.

I do recommend that you get some snacks from a grocery store once you get to your destination so you have back up. I usually carry packets of Justin's Almond butter but that has to go in my 3-1-1 bag. I also have in the past traveled with a jar of PB2 (the dry peanut butter you reconstitute with water) which works OK for a filler.

Thanks for the replies. I'd be interested if anyone has dealt with this on a Sicily tour in particular. Before we sign up and then meet our guide, we'd hope to know more about what is possible on Sicily. We can't "make other arrangements" if the Sicily's local food culture and availability does not offer opportunities for meatless meals. In that case, perhaps this tour is not going to work for us.

I just did this tour. There is a LOT of fish served, just FYI. I am vegetarian - not vegan. I did not have any trouble eating. There's lots of veggies served - and for group meals, I was served vegetarian food without fail.

Thank you NWValerie - that's exactly what I was hoping to know.

If you let the RS tour department and guide know in advance, they should be able to arrange special meals for you. There are many items that don't contain meat, although some might contain seafood. One of my favourites on that tour was Pasta all Norma which is mostly vegetable based, although it does include some cheese I believe.

You might find this website helpful - https://www.thenomadicvegan.com/ultimate-vegan-guide-to-sicily/ .

I was on this tour earlier this year and there were 2 vegetarians in our group. They were served special meals during the group dinners that looked quite good. I have found that if you fill out your tour paperwork with your dietary issue or requirement and then remind the guide during the welcome meeting they are more than able to accommodate this during the group meals. A bit of flexibility does help as well. I am allergic to nuts and chicken, and I've not had any issues with having meal tweaks during any of my tours. Enjoy the tour!!!

We just did this tour a few weeks ago. Eating in Sicily will be difficult for anyone who doesn't eat cheese, wants a variety of veggies, or are on a low-carb diet. But it is possible. Lots of pasta and pizza, and some of the group meals were buffets that included several veggie dishes. I try to have meatless meals several times a week, but it was a challenge on this trip. I missed potatoes, broccoli, spinach, and lentils. We saw wonderful looking broccoli and cauliflower at markets and grocery stores, but they weren't on any restaurant menus!

The breakfast buffets at the hotels all included yogurt (but not Greek-style), fresh fruit, olives, cheeses, green beans & carrots(!), bread, and pastries. A lot of restaurants for on-your-own meals offered some type of salad, but be aware that the meatless salads may consist of a few types of greens with maybe some olives and some shredded carrots, and the only dressing they use is olive oil. Next trip I plan on grocery shopping first so I have salt & pepper packets, sunflower seeds, nuts, lemon, etc to jazz up the salads! In Palermo, the tiny Ecologica Bistrot had hummus and falafel (and lots of German tourists).

For meals on your own, you'll also easily find Margherita pizzas, four cheese pizzas, Caprese Salad, pasta with pistachios, etc, plus the yummy fried rice balls stuffed with cheese (I liked the Pistachio Arancine at Prestepino in Catania the best).

For group meals ... I don't like eggplant (too bitter for me) but I totally gobbled up the sweet and sour eggplant dish served as part of one of the courses at a group meal. When you go to make cookies with Maria Grammatico, the buffet includes delicious roasted onions and potatoes, as well as eggplant lasagna. And at the late lunch at the "working farm", they served a very tasty pasta with lemon sauce.

Let the guide know the FIRST DAY of the tour what you can and can't eat, and they'll notify the restaurants for the group meals in advance. Stephanie was our wonderful guide for the Sicily Tour and she helped 3 other tour members with their non-meat meals. For meals on your own, look at online menus for restaurants around the hotels to see what's available. A lot of restaurant menus listed the Italian ingredients and the English translation. However, some ingredients weren't translated, so have a translation app on your phone handy, or else you might end up eating sheep intestines on a pizza like I did (it actually tasted ok)!

Forgot to mention that you'll also find couscous and risotto at lots of restaurants. Also, many salads will include capers as well as sun-dried and fresh tomatoes. And all the hotel breakfast buffets had fresh tomatoes and mozzarella.

If you have Prime Video as a streaming service, watch "Rick Stein's Mediterranean Escapes", Season 1, Episodes 2 and 3. He's a British seafood chef who visits Sicily in those two episodes and discusses several vegetarian pasta dishes, as well as swordfish.

I don't think there is any reason to avoid Sicily as a vegan, but I think I would go independently. I would feel much more comfortable doing my dining research myself and not having to work around group meals.
I am a pescaratian so it's much easier, but I still do extensive cuisine research before a trip to know how to order well.

Thanks to all for your comments - very helpful. With your help we now have a much better sense of things. There's probably no need for anyone else to comment here. We're all set.

When you fill out the paperwork online, put all of your dietary restrictions and then tell the guide again when you have that first meeting. I went on this tour last year, and for the hotel breakfasts and any of the group meals the staff bent over backwards to accomodate those with special diets. We had two people that had to eat gluten free, one person who did not eat meat and another person that did not eat fish. They had no problems at all.