Sicily Tour Suggestions

Hi Jim, I hope you will contact the RS office and discuss the Palermo hotel. This recent trip report also mentioned it as a negative because of some potential safety issues. I stayed at a nice hotel last May in Palermo for 5 nights for the same price as this hotel RS tours use, so there are decent options. One of the couples at my hotel’s breakfast room was beginning their RS Sicily tour that afternoon.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tours/trip-report-sicily-late-march-2025

I sent the suggestions to the office and never had a reply, thus I posted it here. Our hotel before the tour a half a block away - the Palazzo Cartari was amazing

We have done 12 RS Tours, not Sicily but have personally talked to numerous people who have and raved about it. Out of all our tours there have been times that: I didn’t care for some of our hotels, weather that prevented us from seeing or enjoying sights that we highly anticipated seeing, sights we thought bla and others we wished we had more time at but all in all we’ve enjoyed our tours. RS Tours aren’t for everyone and they state that.

Sicily was the favorite of our tours so far. We loved the Ambasciatori Hotel. I think it's pretty clear that RS tours are not luxury tours, and their primary criteria is location, not comfort. Their stated goal is to introduce people to travel and encourage independent travel. So leaving you with a lot of free time to plan and execute is part of it.

Hi Jim, overall it appears you had a great time on the RS Best of Sicily tour which is what drawn me to your post. Rick Steves did ultimately add an extra day to Catania Best of Sicily 12-Day tours are offered in 2026. It is my understanding RS listens to both his tour guides and reads tour reports. I have taken a RS tour in the past and realize certain days can be opt out, however, timing is everything. You didn't mention your experience after reaching Catania regarding specifically the WWII museum, so I am assuming it was on a positive note or was generally okay. On the other hand, I would rather skip this activity. I am traveling with my daughter who is a librarian and fully onboard with taking this on, however I get a sickening feeling in my stomach just thinking of going into this museum. Because of the timing moving from one city to the next by bus I wasn't sure if the bus would stop at the hotel first which in my mind would be unlikely, because most hotels everywhere do not offer a room first thing in the morning. Or that the bus would stop at this museum after giving the instructions on how to get around Catania. The WWII museum is the only part of the tour that is giving me issues and wondered if there was a way to gracefully back out of seeing this WWII museum that could be recommended, while the rest of the group go inside. I dislike that I may make my daughter uncomfortable about doing this activity with others, because I have thought about just doing this activity despite my deep seated feelings towards it. My father was in WWII, received 5 medals of honor, and throughout my life heard nothing but WWII stories. On a short note, my grandfather was in WWI and had also received five medals of honor and yes heard many stories from him as well. Bottom-line, I am not sure about reliving those days of my youth by seeing the actual guns, uniforms, and such. Your thoughts or others who had experienced this WWII museum in person may help in quieting my nerves.

Kat V. About the WWII museum. What made this museum unique for me, was that it is not a US-centered perspective. The museum was from a local perspective, for which you may know, Italy was an ally of Germany until the end, and the allied bombing and invasion of Sicily was not totallly a joyful experience. There is a simulated bomb shelter experience that unnerved a few folks. And they make a point of how the US used the mafia to help the invasion, leading to their resurgence post-war. Sure you cans skip it, just talk to your tour leader about where to meet up after the visit. I cant remember if it was on the way to the hotel, or the next day.

I have taken the Sicily tour and loved it, including the tour hotel in Palermo. Just booked our 12th Rick Steves tour for next year. This post just proves that RS tours will never please everyone, that’s why other tour operators exist.

This is also for Kat V with reassurance about not having to visit the WWII museum. When I was on this tour in 2022 I opted out of going inside and instead found a coffee bar across the street. It was easy and rather pleasant to sit outside and have some quiet time. I'm sure your guide would direct you to a place for a refreshment while you waited for the group.

My husband and I traveled independently to Sicily in 2019. We loved everything about our trip, but I could see where you had issues. Yes, Mt. Etna has unpredictable weather, and unfortunately, when on a tour, you usually have to go with the pre-arranged dates. We stayed outside the main tourist area in Palermo, and the apartment was clean and safe. However, the neighborhood was a bit rough for us. We didn't have any problems while we were there, but we did walk along one street that we probably shouldn't have been wandering around in that particular neighborhood. We opted for a local guide walking tour and there were parts of the city that he didn't feel comfortable walking around. We went to the Ballarò market and felt it was more for locals than tourists, it was interesting to see, but we didn't really feel that it was worth our time, since several other markets and places of interest are more worth spending valuable time exploring. Did you go to Taromina on the RS Tour? We stayed there for about a week and took the train to Syracuse/Ortigia as an overnight. We did not explore Catania, but we did arrange a day trip up to Mt. Etna from a local guide. He took us through several towns along the way and pointed out where lava flows had done damage to homes in recent years. We went up to an area where we got out and walked around a crater; it was like walking on Mars. We also stayed in Cefalu for several nights and hiked up the Roca to the Temple of Diana. If I were to go back to Sicily, I would focus more on the South side of the island to see the Greek ruins.

Thank you both stan and lipomad for your comments. I am realizing my uneasy feelings are about reliving my youth when my father was alive and well. In short, his unexpected death devastated me to the core. Those stories my father told brought out my imagination, and at the same time he managed to guide me away from becoming a copycat writer. The courage to face something that represents those stories shouldn't have to be totally without merit. After thinking it over, I just might take a peek into the world that existed in my father's war stories with my daughter. Our shared experience in Sicily is about visiting all the places my mother's family lived and spoke about in their youth. Thereby keeping an age-old promise to my mother that I would be her eyes to the places around the world she had dreamed of visiting. Suddenly 2013 seems like it was yesterday. Moreover, I am more aware how quickly time plays tricks on our minds, giving us false hopes and dreams of places we may never visit if left up to chance. I am admirer of Rick Steves because of his quest to fearlessly see the world and in doing so he found a way to share those experiences others. After additional research, I did find some interesting places near the WWII museum. There is Museo Antichi Strument da Scrittura (a museum on writing instruments) and a museum on ancient maps of Sicily. The area is a treasure trove of interesting things to see and do. Once again, thank you for your kind words of encouragement to circle around and take another view of what’s to come in the near future. In short, my eyes are wide open and my thirst for adventure is too.