Poor health

Are you talking about the Best of Sicily Tour? If so, they lay out the groundwork for physical agility needed on their website. https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/sicily

Our tours are physically active! It's an essential part of the Rick Steves tour experience. On our Best of Sicily in 11 Days tour — among other things — you'll need to happily…

• Carry/roll your luggage over uneven pavement (possibly several blocks) and up stairways to reach your hotel, then up several flights of stairs to reach your room.
• Be on your feet, walking and standing, for up to three hours, indoors and outdoors, in all weather conditions.
• Sleep with street noise and no (or weak) air conditioning.
• After orientation and transportation lessons, be able to navigate towns and cities on your own.
• Scramble around ancient sites with rocky paths and slippery stairs.

Welcome to the forum.

Look at the itinerary. Each day lists walking range with hills, etc. Sicily is rated as a “strenuous”. I will be doing my fifth RS tour this year but have not taken the tour. The tour ratings are fairly accurate.
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/sicily

I know others will weigh in. If I was taking the tour I would be walking at least four miles a day with stairs and hills, plus doing strength exercises as prep.

You need to decide if your health issues will allow that much exercise. You can opt out of activities if necessary.

PS: I just want to add that I’m 74. I’m starting to have problems that inhibit some of my physical activity, like back and hip issues. So far that has not stopped me from any tour activities.

Hi. My husband and I went on the RS Sicily Tour in Oct 2016 when we were both in relatively good physical condition and found some of the walking strenuous. It was very warm which didn’t help. The tour was great but I know that we could not do it again with our mobility issues. I love Italy but as a whole it is very hilly. I’m attempting a trip this April staying in only two flatter cities for a week each to see how it goes. A plus is that mainland Italy has very good public transportation options.

If you tour on your own, rather than with the RS group, you can tailor things to minimize walking. Rent a car and stay at hotels that offer parking, invest in taxi fare to get from one side of town to the other, and skip the climbs up mountains or church towers. You’ll still have to walk some, unless you have an off-road wheelchair with fat tires and someone to push you, but I think it’s doable. Also consider going off season when it’s not so hot. Good luck!

I have not taken this tour. I took the Greece tour which is also marked strenuous. After research, I found that the strenuous hikes were in the afternoon and were optional. I suggest you figure out what the strenuous days are and if the most strenuous activities are optional. There was so much to see on the Greece tour that didn't involve the more serious climbs. IMO. Some I chose to spend in the town or village, some I did. Perhaps the office could help clarify.

I'd also like to add that strenuous is arbitrary. My initial impression was strenuous for my younger self, but I learned their wording caters to older people. Greece was not strenuous unless you chose to make it so with certain climbs. I wish their terminology was better. I've been weighing their definition of "brisk". Is this 3 mph or less or more. LOL.