Sicily Food Adventure

My daughter Jane and I enjoyed a most wonderful holiday in Sicily last April 22nd to 29th. There was so much to see and do and Rosario looked after us so weii from meeting us in Palermo airport til we said goodbye at Catania. He went to so much trouble to find us lovely restaurants with delicious food. He helped us understand the menu and it was lovely for our group to dine with the local people. Our tour was amazing and Rosario and his colleagues had such a wealth of knowledge about all the wonderful places they showed us and their history. The opportunity to visit the farm and see the cheese being made and of course taste it was wonderful. Also to see the Masala wine being made and taste it. The market, the olive farm the winery and wine tasting was brilliant. The cookery class was amazing and it was great to learn how to make the dishes and then be able to eat them. The hotels were all excellent and Guiseppe was an excellent driver and all our travel was very comfortable.

Really enjoyed the trip. A fascinating island, great food, wonderful history. My only criticism is that we tried to cover too much, which at times led to us only reaching our hotel at 19.00.

An insightful view of the food influences, inspired by the Arabs and Normans. The island itself is incredibly fertile, enjoying an ideal climate for the cultivation of produce, such as olives, oranges, lemons, aubergines, tomatoes, pistachios and almonds, not to mention the fresh seafood caught right off the coast. A visit to the renowned wine cellar on Mount Etna, to enjoy a wine tasting and lunch, followed by a walk around the most active volcano in Europe.

This was my first holiday outside the UK since the first covid lockdown and it was excellent. The group remained covid-free for the entire week - a bonus! Rosario was enthusiastic and energetic throughout. As his first group in 2 years, he was determined to ensure we enjoyed ourselves!

If you idea of a Mediterranean holiday involves languorous lie-ins & bobbing about on a Lilo with a spritzer, forget it! We were an international group of 16. We were very busy. We visited places we could not have found independently, and discovered the secrets of wine, olive & cheese production. We sampled lots of lovely Sicilian foods, visited food markets, feasted on caponata & pesto made by ourselves, tried street food ("what IS that?" - "Cow spleen-its very popular...."). The trip was quite hectic, Rosario our excellent guide had us whipped into shape from the start- NO lie-ins, no matter how much we consumed the night before. We were on the coach by 8 or 9 am, ready to face what the day presented. It was also full of contrasts, from busy markets to gentle countryside, from chi-chi resorts to the blackened slopes of Mount Etna, we got a real flavour of Sicily, including even a bit of Inspector Montalbarno. Rosario joined in with us and was both helpful and caring of our various needs, and Guiseppe our driver was just brilliant. A kind, friendly, helpful, careful driver who lugged our suitcases as well as driving and looking after us. The relatively small coach easily negotiated roads that would have been tricky for a bigger bus. Most of the hotels were perfect for our needs, and mostly very well located.

This trip was an excellent experience blending history and tourist sites with food experiences. The itinerary is well done. We were a small group of 7, and got along well, and our guide Tiziano was energetic and good natured, and attentive to everyone's needs. He was very organized and everything went off as planned. He was also personally helpful to me on 2 occasions, with forgotten eyeglasses and arranging individual transport to the airport. I really enjoyed all the tasting/eating experiences, including olive oil, cheese farm, wine tastings, cooking class, street food tour in Palermo, and group dinners. We moved a lot, staying one night in most places, but that was enough to see everything, and get a feel for the towns. The travelling distances were not very long between towns, so we had plenty of walk around time. My only criticism would be of the choice of the Siracusa hotel, which could be greatly improved, even if it meant charging a bit more for the trip. The rest of the hotels ranged from decent to lovely. Would definitely travel with Exodus again. Great value.

I travelled with my husband and we have both enjoyed our trip. our guide Titsiana was excellent, being informative, friendly, accommodating and anxious to ensure we all enjoyed our trip. Timings of all pick ups and activities was perfect. Activities including wine tasting, cheese making, cookery and olive oil tastings were all enjoyable and very well organised.

We chose the trip after seeing an advert in the Guardian and decided that it sounded fun - mixing food and drink experiences with archaeology, history and geography. We weren't disappointed. Though we don't normally go for group holidays, this trip worked well. The opportunity to share food and drink tastings with the group added a dimension that would have been missing if we had been on our own. Rosario, our guide, and Maurizio, our driver, both worked dilgently to ensure we really enjoyed the trip - getting us to everywhere we needed to be without fuss or bother, and handling queries and minor problems with unfailing patience and good humour. In a relatively short time, we saw a good cross-section of the island, and came back with happy memories and a much stronger 'mental image' of Sicily. Thanks to all concerned who made this work.

A wonderful introduction to this enormous island, combining the must-see sites (Etna etc.) with wine, cheese, chocolate, gelato and other tastings. A lot of movement with 6 different hotels.

Our first experience of Sicily so chose this holiday. It gave us a mixture of culture, Greek, Roman as well as modern. A variety of food and drink experiences as well as exploration of the countryside. The small group and an excellent leader made for very good holiday travel.