Preparing for Secret Sicily 2023

Thank you for entrusting Experience Sicily with your travels!

Your Itinerary

Secret Sicily, Saturday, July 15 to Monday, July 24, 2023

Read the Day by Day Itinerary

NB more specific details for your travels will be published in the final itinerary to be issued about one month before your arrival in Sicily.

Your What to Expect preparation document will be sent to you May 31, 2023.

Optional Palermo Prelude Package

Palermo offers travelers intriguing historic sites from ancient Phoenician ruins to spectacular Arab Norman palaces to dazzling rococo baroque churches. These attractions are punctuated by dynamic outdoor markets, extraordinary street food, and live music from opera to folk. Street- to contemporary art will provoke you, and the shopping with high-end to artisanal offerings will thrill you. Arrive early to acclimate to Sicily and explore Palermo with the guidance of Experience Sicily.

Ask us about adding this optional prelude to your itinerary.

Palermo Pre-Tour Package

Join us for this small-group, pre-tour Palermo itinerary from Wednesday, July 12 through Saturday, July 15. 

Palermo Pre-Tour Wednesday, July 12 through Saturday, July 15 

Day 1 | Wednesday, July 12 – Transfer from Palermo Airport, Orientation, and Dinner as a group

Day 2 | Thursday, July 13 – Market, culture, street food tour (includes lunch) led by expert, local guide, Opera dei Pupi performance and demonstration, Dinner on your own, Time to enjoy the festivities around the Feast of Santa Rosalia

Day 3 | Friday, July 14 – Tour Monreale Cathedral with expert guide, Time on your own in Cefalù, Evening’s Il Festino festivities for the Feast of Santa Rosalia in Palermo (lunch and dinner on your own)

Day 4 | Saturday, July 15 – Visit the Catacombs of Palermo, Travel as a group to Licodia Eubea/Secret Sicily’s home-base with lunch at a family-run trattoria along the way … Start of Secret Sicily …

$1,500 per person, double occupancy (Single Supplement $115). Land only.

4 days, 3 nights

  • Led by Experience Sicily’s Owner/Curator Allison Scola
  • Includes 3 nights of 4-star accommodations in Palermo’s historic center
  • Price covers costs of all group activities and related gratuities
  • Includes three breakfasts, two lunches, and one dinner
  • Includes airport transfer from Palermo Airport and all group transportation, including transfer to Licodia Eubea, our home-base for Secret Sicily

Let’s Get Started

Start here to learn about next steps to prepare for your departure.

To get to Sicily, you will be booking a Round Trip ticket. For Secret Sicily you will fly into the Catania-Fontanarossa Airport in Catania (CTA) and fly out of Catania-Fontanarossa Airport in Catania (CTA). These flights are not included in the Experience Sicily tour costs.

We strongly encourage you to use our affiliated travel agency, Travel Long Summit (based out of New Jersey) to help you reserve your flight to and from Sicily. This is a small business and you can speak to a real person! They know our clients and tours very well. The contact information is included below.

When you arrive, we bundle travelers from the trip based on arrival times for airport transfers to the hotel. The same happens for departure. This is included in your Land cost for the tour.

Concerns About the Pandemic and Travel in Italy

As of June 2022, there are no vaccination requirements to travel to Italy or upon your return to the United States. Masks are not required in spaces around Italy.

For Experience Sicily Tours, we are requiring proof of vaccination or recovery with antibodies for the safety and comfort of all our participants. During our tour, we recommend wearing your mask on the tour bus for the first few days.

We are continuously updating our policies according to CDC recommendations.

Please refer to the Welcome Letter for our Tour Cancellation Policy and Terms and Conditions. 

Travel Insurance

Experience Sicily tour packages do not include insurance coverage. Experience Sicily all-but-requires that you purchase a comprehensive travel insurance policy to protect your trip investment. A comprehensive insurance policy includes coverage for medical expenses, evacuation coverage, loss or damage to luggage, personal accident, loss or damage to property, trip cancellation or postponement, personal liability, legal expenses, and emergency expenses. It should also include coverage for pre-existing health conditions.

Video Agenda:

  • When to purchase travel insurance
  • Why to purchase travel insurance
  • What policy benefits should you consider

Next Steps

  1. Review your Welcome Letter and electronically sign the Terms and Conditions Acknowledgement.
  2. Pay your travel package invoice. See the invoice sent via Intuit/Quickbooks for payment instructions.
  3. Submit the Traveler Details form for each person in your party at https://experiencesicily.com/traveler-details/.
  4. When completing the Traveler Details form, you will indicate if you’d like us to reach out to you regarding covering your trip investment with travel insurance. If you elect to have Experience Sicily help you purchase a comprehensive travel insurance policy, we will be in contact in the days ahead to help identify and purchase the right policy for you.  It’s best to purchase a policy within 14 days of the first purchase towards your trip.
  5. If you elect to decline travel insurance, we will send you a Travel Insurance Waiver form to complete.
  6. Purchase your flights to Sicily. For help identifying and purchasing your flights, please contact our agency partner. See the video above for more explanation.

Marlene Gelardi
Sr. Vice President
Travelong of Summit
4 Chatham Road
Summit, N J 07901
908-263-7716-Direct
908-277-2700 x 316
marleneg@travelongsummit.com

When contacting Travelong, please have ready/send them your exact travel dates, your full name as it appears on your passport, and your birthdate.

Further Ahead

  • Please submit your Emergency Contact information by May 16, 2023. We’ll send you a reminder closer to when it’s officially due.
  • Your What to Expect travel preparation document will be delivered to you by May 31, 2023.
  • Your final, detailed, electronic itinerary will be delivered to you on or about June 5, 2023.
  • The official start date of your tour is Saturday, July 15, 2023.

The Experience Sicily Team

Over the course of the next months, you may hear from different members of the Experience Sicily team.

Allison Scola
Owner/Curator
Englewood Cliffs, NJ

Evelina Buttitta
Curator
Palermo, Sicily

Elizabeth Uppenbrink
Client Support Manager
Rockland County, NY

Anna Scola
Program Coordinator
New York, NY

We look forward to delighting you with a phenomenal trip to Sicily!