Sicily Recommendation

There are trains from Palermo Centrale to Cefalù, taking an hour at most. Some good sea views if you sit on the left-hand side!
There isn't more than a day's worth of sightseeing there, but it is a lovely place to relax! How many nights do you have in total? The tour doesn't spend very long in Palermo itself so I would be inclined to spend an extra night there too.

It looks like surprisingly many of Palermo’s top sites are not included in the tour. I would stay in Palermo and visit them all.

You may spend more time on trains if you opt to stay in Cefalu, because--as already mentioned--there's a lot more to see in Palermo.

Looks like a great way to recover from your flight and settle in for a couple of days, especially if you enjoy a beach town. Easy transfer from Palermo. We’re staying at Scirocco, based on my research- but we haven’t gone yet. Don’t miss the cathedral, the hike up La Rocca, or the cannoli!

Haven't done the tour, but I can see the tour has only 2 nights in Palermo at the start. I think you could probably use one or two nights more in Palermo and use that extra time to visit sights not included in the tour.

Cefalù is an easy day trip from Palermo (about one hour via train or bus) if you want to include it in your list of places to visit while you are in Palermo.

Where to stay in Palermo is up to you. The easiest would probably be to check in the same hotel as the tour a few nights earlier, that way you save yourself a hotel change. If that option is not available or too expensive, I would probably also consider staying those extra nights in Mondello, a district on the northern side of the city which is famous for its beach and beach life. You can easily commute from Mondello to the city center by city bus or taxi, and it's probably more relaxing than the bustling city center of Palermo.

We enjoyed this tour so much the first time, we took it again (slightly different itineraries). Both times we stayed in the tour hotel for a few days before the start of the tours. There were plenty of things to see and do while in Palermo. One of the tour itineraries included an overnight in Cefalu and while a lovely and peaceful town, there wasn’t a lot to do there. But it is “restful”, as someone else said and does have a lovely beach. I would suggest extra time in Palermo and a day trip to Cefalu. We took a really fun food tour in Palermo, a “street food “ tour. Awesome and ummmmm…..unusual food and drinks and lots of it!