Making travel arrangements in and out of Sicily

We took this fabulous tour last year. We flew into FCO Rome, then a few hours later, we flew on ITA (which took over Alitalia Airlines) into Palermo where the tour starts. We flew on ITA out of Catania at the end of the tour, back to Rome. Fortunately, I booked 2 one way flights, not round-trip, because the first trip had to be changed due to our arriving a day later than intended. A woman went bonkers on our initial AA flight into Rome, and we had to stop in an east coast city, stay overnight, and then depart the next day. My advice, leave a buffer of a couple of days before the tour begins in case of any delays. We missed out on a day of our own, but did not miss any of the tour. Also, I would recommend flying first class on ITA if you get a good fare. When I had booked, it was not much more than economy, and it allowed me to change my flight with no fee and bring my oversized carryon on the plane.

We took a roundtrip flight on United from Chicago through Zurich to Palermo. A separately booked flight from Catania to Rome to spend a week there, and then straight back to Chicago from Rome on United.

We are planning to do this same trip so thank you for asking this question!! My question to anyone who has done the 11am tour of Sicily is regarding how strenuous the tour is. We have an elderly uncle who uses a cane to walk and are hoping he could still enjoy this trip.

bewiered
It's best to start your own thread for many reasons.
That said, RS tours included a lot of walking, and he will need to keep up with the group. He will also need to handle his own luggage, including sometimes up/down stairs. Is that going to be an issue?