Popular Architecture in Catania

Great day out in Siracusa and Noto. Francesco, our guide, was extremely friendly and knowledgeable about all the spots we visited. He really made our day! The all booking process was pretty smooth except one call I received the day before telling me that my pick up location had changed. After looking it up on the map I called them back and managed to reconfirm the original pick up location which was ultimately more convenient for us. Besides that and wishing to spend more time in Ortigia, everything was fine. We also enjoyed the food and drinks provided and the other customers we met during the tour.

We learned more about Syracuse, Notto, Catania, Sicily, the Greeks, Romans, Carthaginians, Normans, Phoenicians and Sicilians in one day with our guide Alessio, than in all our pre-trip research. A great story teller, Alessio mapped out the settlements, battles, power struggles and mythologies behind the sites we visited. A day later, when we struggled to find a cab to the airport, he even combed his network to help us out. We hope Alessio is still telling Sicily’s story when we next visit. Mille grazie!

Emmanuel is very skilled and brings enormous knowledge of geology, culture and archeology to his work. He was able to manage quite difficult, nuanced questions and gave us complex information in a completely digestible, sensitive and often funny way. I really appreciated his capacity to reflect history, environmental impacts and cultural differences in such a balanced discussion - just made the value of my experience so much richer.

I have joined and met tour guides in my travels but Alessio Patane is by far the most professional. He accepted the tour even if I was a solo traveler. He was on time and was spot on in all my questions. There was never a dull moment in the tour. He was passionate in explaining the narrative behind the places we visited and was ready even on questions beyond the tour. I highly recommend this tour and Alessio Patane.

Luigi did a great job - had to restructure to take account of pending Fiore event in Noto and manage a very diverse group. Spoilt us by throwing in visit to Oceania black sand beach at end as we finished the formal tour early - again because of cruisers