Italy Luxury Vacation Review: Sicily, Rome, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast, Capri, Catania, Syracuse, Taormina

We are very happy we had Zicasso's travel agency to organize our trip. Our group of five, including our mid-eighties father, my sister and her husband, and me and my husband, made for a trip with several considerations. We had four geographical locations to visit and the travel connections our team arranged worked out very well. The private vans and drivers were professional, spoke English, and were timely and knowledgeable. They shared so much local knowledge and history during the drives. All the private tour guides were truly amazing, except for one outlier, who was terrible.

Day 1: The greeter at the gate was professional and personable. However, the airport transfers were confusing. One party had a huge shuttle, while the other had a very small car. They had a lot of trouble fitting luggage and themselves into the car.

Day 2: We had an amazing tour of the Vatican. Our guide brought history, the Bible, and current-day Catholic stories to life! In between the Vatican tour and the Necropolis, we had several hours to kill. We had lunch near the Vatican, but were then confused as to whether we had enough time to go back to the hotel and rest before the Necropolis tour. We chalked it up to being on our own, but then had trouble finding the entrance to the Necropolis. The instructions were very confusing and the guide did not show us exactly where to go (she indicated where to go in a general way). Perhaps we were all caught up in our goodbyes with her that we missed the detail. We were late for the tour, but thankfully they accommodated us anyway. We all enjoyed the tour and would recommend it to others. However, we would suggest more detailed instructions, such as a map, to find the entry or possibly a guide to greet us and take us there.

Day 3: The tour at the Borghese Gallery was a low point. We were to be met by a person in a red jacket and umbrella in front of the gallery. Five or 10 minutes after our appointment time, our guide arrived disheveled and out of breath. She never introduced herself or asked for our names. She talked fast and it was hard to hear. We asked her to speak more clearly, but that didn't seem possible for her. We did like the Bernini pieces in the gallery, but her tour was not enjoyable. We ended it early. Afterwards, we thought we could go to the Pantheon, but the line was horrendous. We ate a late lunch and then took Uber back to our hotel. There was no arranged pick-up as part of the day's schedule and although we wanted to explore on our own, the tourist crowds made it very difficult.

Day 4: We were picked up at the hotel and taken to the Rome train terminal. This was foreign to us, but we successfully navigated to the correct train to Napoli.

In Napoli, we were met by our driver for the day. What a great time we had with him! He took us to Amorosi, where we searched for our father's family in the town square in front of the church. Our dad went up to two men sitting in the park to ask them if they knew anyone with the family surname. Our driver helped serve as an interpreter. One of the men volunteered to take us up the road where he thought a woman with my father’s family surname lived. They returned 20 minutes later saying dad's second cousin would like to meet dad. We all went and had a lovely and special time meeting her, her daughter, and grandson. What a huge success!

Our driver then drove us to our beautiful hotel in Sorrento. We enjoyed our stay there. We all had lovely rooms (the other hotel room had a very small bathroom, which was not great) and Sorrento was a nice place to explore and use as a center for more exploring in the Amalfi Coast. We decided to skip the boat tour to Capri due to inclement weather, so day five was a down day that we enjoyed after so much moving around.

Day 6: We had the same driver for our trip to Amalfi and Ravello. He lives in Amalfi with his wife and family, so he pointed out a lot of the sights. We then went for lunch he recommended in the charming town of Ravello, where we ended up being part of an engagement luncheon with a family. That was fun!

Day 7: We enjoyed a Sunday in Sorrento, with people and locals walking around and eating lunch. Our flight to Catania, Sicily, was that evening. Navigating the check-in at the Naples airport was pretty difficult due to baggage limits. Once we were advised that there was a separate area for business class check-in and that excess bags needed additional payment, we were fine. This was an area that our travel company could have been more helpful with.

The driver met us at baggage claim. His minivan was a bit small for all the luggage, but we made it work. Check-in at the hotel at 10.30pm was great. They kept the bar open for us. The bartender was engaging and made us great drinks.

Day 8: This featured a half-day walking tour of Taormina with our guide. We learned about the history of the town, saw the “white lotus” sights and hotel, had cannoli and espresso, and then saw the amphitheater. There was so much history and the guide was delightful.

Day 9: We were met by our driver for the day. We visited Syracuse with our guide, who was very professional and knowledgeable. He joined us on our winery visit. The winery was very memorable and great. We had a beautiful tour of the grounds and an explanation of the grapes and wines, followed by a delicious private lunch paired with the wines. We fell in love with Sicilian white wines and bought some bottles to be shipped home. Our guide took us back to Taormina and promised to pick us up the next day for our trip to Cefalù.

Day 10: Cefalù was a nice stop for lunch. It was a bit rainy, so we didn’t spend too much time there. The Italians like a long lunch, however. Our driver dropped us off at the hotel in Palermo. It was an adjustment being in a big city again. The hotel was beautiful and our rooms nice, but basic.

Day 11: We were met by our guide for the day. She took us to the amazing, golden, Monreale Cathedral. Again, we enjoyed hearing the history of this place and the men who constructed it. This day was Festa della Liberazione, a national holiday. Many people were out walking in the city and it was festive. Our guide made lunch arrangements for us at a nice spot. Again, we enjoyed Sicilian white wine.

Day 12: Our go-home day. Pick-up from the hotel was arranged by the travel agency and was seamless.

Grazie mille to our agency!