Would love to hear from people who have taken RS Sciliy tour. I will be flying from Seattle (May 25) and wondered about the best European airports to find a connecting flight to Palmero. Also wondered if Cefalu was a good pre-tour place to stay. Open to recommendations.
Thanks!
There are quite a few posts about Sicily tour logistics, here's a link to various recent posts:
https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=2y&filter=Travel+Forum&query=Sicily&utf8=%E2%9C%93
Generally, Rome is often helpful and was my choice traveling from Philadelphia.
Did you know you can edit your post to correct spelling?
I was on the RS Sicily tour in May 2024. It's a GREAT tour!!!
I (and everyone on our tour whom I asked) had connecting flights in Rome. I stayed in Rome for a few nights after the tour....as did another couple...before flying home to the US.
I 've read positive things about Cefalu. Prior to our tour, I stayed several nights in Palermo and had planned on doing a day trip to Cefalu by train to see the mosaics in the cathedral....until I read the mosaics were not viewable due to being under renovation.
One thing to consider in deciding whether to spend pre-tour nights in Cefalu as opposed to Palermo: there are alot of other things worth seeing in Palermo besides what you'll see on the tour. In my case, it was the churches in Piazza Bellini (La Martorana and Santa Catarina - - - don't miss the bakery with stupendous cannoli) and the Palatine Chapel. Others in my group saw the interior of the opera house.
If you do decide to stay in Palermo prior to the tour, and stay at the same hotel as you will on the tour, I recommend you make your reservations way in advance. RS tour often stay at the Ambasciatori Hotel (we did), and it fills up.
Thank you!
We took this tour at the end of April this year. Our 6th RS tour and a very nice one, although they all are. The weather was cooler than I expected, about 70° +/- during the day and cooler in the evening. We had one cloudy and a bit drizzly day in Taormina. In summary, I liked Palermo more than I expected. I attribute most of this to the Streaty evening food tour and anti mafia tours we took on our own pre-tour. I was disappointed by Cefalu and I was pleasantly surprised by Taormina and could have stayed longer. We did not need to stay an extra day in Catania. I loved all the stops between Palermo and Catania. I would definitely return to Sicily.
We stayed 2 nights before the tour in Palermo at La Terrazza Sul Centro which is a small hotel very centrally located with an awesome roof deck. Breakfast was good not excellent. We took the shared van from the airport and the driver dropped us off less than 2 blocks from the hotel. I liked La Terrazza better than Ambasciatori Hotel which was our Palermo tour hotel. We would have stayed there pre-tour if they weren't already booked. La Terrazza is walking distance to Ambasciatori Hotel.
One day we took the train to Cefalu. Train was crowded, town was crowded. Our highlight was lunch on a restaurant patio along the side of the cathedral, far enough back from the road that it wasn't crowded. Found it in the RS book. Very glad I decided against staying a couple of nights there.
We stayed an extra night in Catania which in retrospect I would not do again since we had enough time the last afternoon of the tour to see all that I wanted to see. On our extra day we ended up doing the super touristy hop-on-hop-off bus ride up the coast which is something we would normally never do but was pleasant.
After our tour, people were going home, back to Taormina, to Malta, to Rome, to London, to drive around southern Italy. Many flights leave early in the morning so there were not many tourmates at breakfast the last day of the tour.
Favorite Souvenir:
I am so not a shopper but I am a cook and love Italian ceramics. My two favorite stores were in Taormina - Daneu 1885 and Materiaprima Taormina. We carried home 3 ceramic bowls and a ceramic garlic keeper.
Flights:
Boston -> Rome -> Palermo on ITA
Catania -> Munich -> Bos on Lufthansa
We were suppose to be in Palermo 3 nights but our flight from Boston to Munich was cancelled after a 3-hour delay and we were rebooked on an ITA flight that left a day later. Lufthansa reimbursed us 600€ per person and for our Boston airport hotel and breakfast, per EU rules, that you only get it if you know to file for it, and for our paid seats reservations. Lufthansa did not reimburse us for our lost night in Palermo or downgrading my husband's seat from premium economy to economy. I was able to fly premium economy.
I read this morning that Lufthansa just acquired 41% of ITA Airways and ITA is moving to the Star Alliance.
In October 2023 we flew Delta Airlines from Seattle to Amsterdam and EasyJet Amsterdam to Palermo. We liked flying to Sicily all in one day with only 1 stop in Amsterdam.
We flew KLM from Catania to Amsterdam and Delta Airlines Amsterdam to Seattle.
We stayed 2 days pre-tour in Palermo and enjoyed the Streaty Food Tour also.
Another vote here for the Streaty evening food tour .
I did the Sicily tour in March of 2024. I flew on Lufthansa from Boston to Zurich, then Zurich to Palermo. On the return flight, I was able to book a flight from Catania to Zurich, then Zurich to Boston. The Zurich airport is the most beautiful airport I have ever seen. It is a very large airport, with all kinds of shops and restaurants and it even has 3 pharmacies. The airline changed the time of my return flight from Catania to Zurich, then my flight from Zurich was changed to the next day. Lufthansa airline was wonderful and when I landed in Zurich, went to the appropriate desk and they gave me tickets for the shuttle to my hotel, that they paid for, as well as vouchers for dinner and breakfast the next day and free shuttle tickets back to the airport.
As for the tour, you will love it...the food was out of this world, the hotels were wonderful, every place we went was very clean, and most of all the Sicilian people were wonderful. Have a great time!
I took this tour in March of this year awesomely guided byDavidTordi and it was fabulous!! Had a free day before the tour began and took the opportunity to visit Cefalu, a highlight for me, so beautiful and friendly. I traveled through Milan for my flight to Palermo. They were working on the elevator at the hotel, and the breakfast room is on the top floor, so we had about 8 flights of stairs to breakfast, but the view is worth it! Cefalu is gorgeous! Highly recommend a visit. Palermo is grittier, nevertheless I enjoyed the stay. Had a marvelous time joining in the Sunday evening passagiata with the locals, great energy! Have a great trip!
We took the Sicily tour in October 2024, and loved it. Although the weather was in the high 70s, it felt hotter. I never needed anything with long sleeves, even in the evening.
Our American Airlines flight was supposed to be non-sop from DFW -FCO, but a mature woman started going bonkers in the back of the plane, screaming, cursing, & pulling at the seat in front of her, so the plane diverted to PHL at 10:00, p.m. & over 300 passengers had to deplane because the crew ‘timed out”. The flight departed the next day. No reimbursement for overnight $300 hotel or the ITA rebooking to Palermo, which was $200 more. Fortunately I had bought a first class, refundable ticket, or the rebooking would have been more. Two different travel insurance policies covered those costs. Takeaway - leave extra time before the trip for unforeseen circumstances & get travel insurance to cover trip interruption/delay. We bought the Allianz insurance available on the AA website when we purchase our plane tickets. The cost was minimal & they reimbursed the $300 hotel bill within the week that we filed.
We had planned to go to Cefalu the day after we arrived, but that plan was nixed when we lost that day because someone who should not have been flying impacted the flight for 300 people.
