It was great Claudia at Etna People was able to accommodate my last minute request to take a trip…read moreto Mt Etna, they sent two SMS messages with details about my guide Emanuele and that he would pick me up from the entrance of Isola Bella at 9:05am. It was great they were just 1 minute late as they were stuck behind a truck unloading for one of the nearby cafes. Once aboard Emanuele introduced me to everyone and made sure we were all ready for an amazing day out exploring Mt Etna. This wasn't the cheapest tour option but it was all inclusive so you can't really go wrong as all the additional costs add up quickly on other tours. Our guide was really great on the way to Mt Etna as he made everyone feel part of the group and had some fun true/false questions about Volcanoes and the history of Mt Etna. He was also talking about the age of the different lava flows and how you can tell the age of a lava flow by the colour of the rock and if there is vegetation growing there. The shots below were from a lava flow about 200+ years ago apparently after 200 years it's very hard to easily notice the difference in age. After a fun drive upto the chair lifts at the base of Mt Etna we arrived and Emanuele got out the provided hiking equipment. I would listen to the guides advice and take the hiking shoes they offer as your own shoes will get rather dusty and certainly take a jacket and gloves for sure if you are here in early spring (April-May) as it does get very cold on top of Mt Etna. It's best not to wear shorts if you are travelling in Spring as two people did on our tour. It was really great being part of an organise tour as Emanuele was able to organise all the tickets for the chair lift ride and we were able to skip the massive line as we already had our tickets and were in an organised group. It was the first benefit of getting an all inclusive tour that we didn't waste anytime waiting in line. Once we arrived at the top of the chair lifts 2000m up Mt Etna we walked down a bit to some massive 4WD buses to take us up to the 2900m point to the base of the main crater. Passing a lot of people in the chair lift and in the 4x4 bus I was glad I opted for the transport option as a number of people we passed were really struggling to climb in mountain ash and loose rocks as you can see from the chairlift view below. We had a good amount of time at the top of Mt Etna and our guide stopped every 40-50 minutes as we walked around the crater to explain a bit more about what we were seeing and about the geography of the craters and geology of the area. This gave us plenty of time to take some amazing photos and the only thing that was missing was a great photo of the tour group while on the mountain. I'd make sure you pick a day that doesn't have too much cloud cover as you won't be able to enjoy as much of the mountain. After the exploration of the crater finished we headed back down via 4x4 buses to the chairlift and stopped at a lava tube, again all the equipment was provided including hard hats and led lamps to explore the tube. One of the ladies was claustrophobic so she stayed outside while we explored inside the lava tube. The tube was small but that was because the other 1.5 kilometers was closed off to tourists, but our guide was able to tell us the history of how the tube was created and how the locals used the tubes to create ice in winter. For lunch we stopped at Cantine Don Saro, a lovely little winery where had a lovely lunch package included in our trip. We were seated and soon greeted by The Don who talked about his wine, food and enjoying life. The table had several wines during lunch a white, a red and a rose but I didn't have any but most people seemed to enjoy them all. Entree was a plate of local salami, soft cheese, potato bake, garlic bread and Parmesan cheese. The food was good and certainly appreciated by everyone at the table, some of the ladies on our table received some free gifts of jewelry as a thank you for visiting the winery. They also have a number of great wines for sale in their store so I would suggest you pick up a bottle or two if you can. Our last stop was Alcantara Gorge which was an amazing lava flow that has been reclaimed by the river for form an awesome natural attraction, it's a paid attraction but yet again it was paid of the all-inclusive tour. The water was quite cold but it was so refreshing to walk through and some people on our tours were even brave enough to let their friends push them into the stream, but this was not me this day. Our guide talked a bit more about the rock formations that we were seeing and how they were created and how they were similar to the Giant's Causeway in Ireland. Probably one of the more expensive tours I've been on but certainly one of the best I have been on, can't recommend it enough, you must do a tour with Etna People for sure! They also have several other tours such as an all-day hiking trip, maybe next time

Best volcano tour ever! I've taken tours to see volcanos in Hawaii before but Mt Etna still blew me…read moreaway. The views were magnificent and was glad to spend the day with an amazing guide and great people. Ezio was our guide for the Etna Day Trip in November and was super knowledgable. We took all the backtrails and avoided the tourist crowd (so glad!,) and had the most amazing views of Etna and the Gorge Alcantara. Itinerary: Hiking to Etna craters, Lava cave exploration, Lunch & wine tasting at an Etna winery, Gorge Alcantara. They provided helmets, flashlights for the lava cave part of the tour, and hiking shoes for people who don't have proper footwear. All you need is atheletic-ish clothing and a warm jacket. Highlight of my Italy trip. Highly recommended.

I recently hired Sunny Sicily for a private tour of Sicily including tours of ancient ruins,…read moreprivate cooking classes, winery tours and wine tastings. There is no better way to tour a foreign country than in a beautiful Mercedes with a friendly private driver who is fluent in English, has 15 years experience in the tour/travel industry, and is savvy to the needs of the upscale traveler. Paulo Gallo, co-owner of Sunny Sicily, was my guide/driver and he was amazing. Educated, intelligent, funny, compassionate, he was the perfect host and was sensitive to my travel needs and quickly adapted to any requests I had for a change in schedule, hotel, etc. As a local, born & raised in Sicily, his knowledge of the history of the region was extensive. He was extremely helpful coordinating hotel reservations and dinner reservations as well. I look forward to returning to Sicily for a more extensive trip and would definitely hire Paulo or one of his other drivers again. Excellent service.

From the owner: SunnySicily provides tailored ground travel solutions, primarily for the travel sector but also…read morefor business, leisure and special events in a wide range of executive & luxury vehicles.

Excellent cooking class and lunch. You meet Massimo in a convenient spot in the town center and…read morethen proceed to the market. He explains the common and uncommon foods to the area, including black market seafood. Talking through the available items you'll learn about typical recipes and techniques. After he purchases ingredients, you'll walk up the street to the restaurant to learn to make fresh pasta, seafood, poultry and a starter. We had the fun of making caponata per the original recipe. While you do a good portion of the work on small cook tops at the end the chef puts it all together and serves. You'll enjoy some wines and bread with your food and as much conversation with Massimo as you'd like. He's also a great resource for the best restaurant and bar recommendations in town. He typically books small group of not more than ten to keep the instruction specialized. However he's said that he's also comfortable with a large group if they all know each other. Having given these classes for 6 years, he is well spoken, charming and funny. I'd highly recommend his class!

From the owner: Join Chef Massimo in Taormina as he leads you through a guided market tour in our Shop With The…read moreChef Tour showcasing Sicily's colorful foods. After the market tour, everyone returns to the kitchen for your hands-on cooking class. Visit the fruit & vegetable vendor to find out what's in season and the fishmonger to choose the best fresh catch of the day in Taormina's historic fish market. Pick up the ingredients for your hands-on cooking class while learning about the local in-season products, Massimo's family recipes and traditions. Next, head into the kitchen for your hands-on cooking class featuring Sicilian specialties such as Ricotta-stuffed zucchini flowers, a rainbow of fresh sautéed vegetables such as peppers, eggplant and zucchini caponata, stuffed artichokes with Chef Massimo's secret stuffing recipe, fresh egg pasta and either a fish, meat or vegetarian main dish such as involtini, rolled stuffed beef, local fish cooked Taormina-style, or polpette, meatballs. Each hands-on cooking class includes the preparation of a full Sicilian menu including a typical Sicilian dessert. Lunch follows featuring the foods prepared in class and is accompanied by local Sicilian wines, dessert included. Cooking Class and Market Tours are available Monday to Saturday and begin at 9:00am and located in the center of Taormina.

Dina was a wonderful tour guide who was both enthusiastic and knowledgeable. We liked her so much…read morethat we even tried to get her to come to other cities with us to give us tours. Her English is also very impressive! I would recommender her to anyone visiting Taormina!

From the owner: Tourist guide in Taormina, excursions in Russian, English and Italianread more

We booked a tour that got rearranged due to weather in Sicily. Michele was very helpful in…read morearranging an alternative day trip private tour that included Tauramina and Castamola. Sam was our tour guide. He was an amazing and knowledgeable young man that made us feel like special guests in his local town. Grateful for his knowledge and time he spent with us. Would definitely recommend Sicily4You!

Worst customer service ever. They pick and choose to whom they want to give a refund. Our cruise…read morehad a last-minute port change the day before we were supposed to dock in Messina. I canceled the excursion first and then contacted Viator because I could not contact the tour operator. I found out after the fact I had to contact the tour operator first before canceling. I tried contacting tour operator on numerous occasions before the excursion but didn't get a response. So I always contacted Viator (third party company whom I booked the excursion with). My SIL who was on the same excursion was refunded and told them I was with them. They still would not refund me but they did refund her. We were on the same excursion and had to cancel for the same reason. Difference is she waited to cancel until she talked to them. My bad on that. They should treat the customers the same way. Especially when my SIL explained the situation and told them I was with her.