Sicilian Secrets - Tour of Sicily 8 days

Customer Reviews

• AR

  Angela

  · November 7th, 2024
  Had a wonderful trip around Sicily with great guide Rita and the loecal guides who were very knowledgeable and informative. Rita really looked after us and made us feel special and cared for. Sicily was amazing and we were taken to the most incredible sights. The tour was extremely good value for money and the hotels were very good. I read a previous review where the customer complained about the bus not dropping them at the hotel door. This is because the buses can't access some narrow streets and we never walked more than about 100 metres. Everything was smoothly organised. Would highly recommend.
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  Dimensione Sicilia - Dimsi Incoming Operator Srl commented on this review

  Thank you, Angela! We are happy that you enjoyed traveling with us and appreciated the beauty of Sicily! We hope to see you again for another trip with us in Sicily
  Trip date: October 2024
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  Nina

  · November 1st, 2024
  Overall the tour was good, with some "glitches" here and there. Our tour leader, Rita, was very nice, thoughtful and accomodating. Our tour guide Lorenzo in Agrigento was outstanding. In Palermo Paolo was excellent. Hotels were good, but dinners were served very late, and dishes were almost identical. The only meat was Pork, and it wasn't great to say the least. Lunches were ok.
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  Dimensione Sicilia - Dimsi Incoming Operator Srl commented on this review

  Thank you for your review, Nina! We're delighted you enjoyed the tour and appreciated our guides. It would be a pleasure to have you return to Sicily for another tour together.
  
  Trip date: October 2024
• LT

  Laura

  · October 28th, 2024
  The itinerary included what seemed to be all the major cultural and archeological highlights of Sicily in a safe, busy, and well-paced tour. There is a lot of walking, as indicted in the description of the tour, and we enjoyed the healthy exercise. It is a full agenda.
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  Dimensione Sicilia - Dimsi Incoming Operator Srl commented on this review

  Thank you, Laura, for your review! We're thrilled that you enjoyed our tour of Sicily, which was full of cultural and archaeological discoveries. We hope to travel together again soon!
  Trip date: October 2024
• VS

  Vita

  · October 16th, 2024
  First day bus was not air conditioned There were 52 people.on the buss Guide needed to speak 3 languages Italian Spanish English Hotel in Agrigento had low water pressure. Hotel room in Palermo was very small. Refrigerator did not work. Hotel in Acitressa did not have air conditioning for 2 nights
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  Dimensione Sicilia - Dimsi Incoming Operator Srl commented on this review

  Dear Vita, thank you for your feedback We are sorry for your concerns, You could have contact our emergency number active everyday, and we would have assisted you with such inconvenients. We hope that you've enjoyed our Tour and Sicilian beauties... Show more
  Trip date: September 2024
• LS

  Leonard

  · September 16th, 2024
  If you are considering the “Sicilian Secrets Tour of Sicily” an 8 day tour by Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC (sold/marketed through TourRadar) RUN LIKE YOUR HAIR IS ON FIRE!!! TourRadar is fine, but stay away from any tours that they offer from Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC. When shopping for a tour, my suggestion is read the advertisement/tour details for the tour you are considering very, very carefully AND ask a lot of questions (and TourRadar WAS quick to respond). But if you don’t know what to expect on the tour, it is difficult to ask the right questions up front. You don’t know what you don’t know. We went on this (“Sicilian Secrets Tour of Sicily”) tour AFTER a two-week Perillo Tour of mainland Italy and they (Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC) made Sicily terrible for us. Because we went on the tour with Perillo, we had a reference point of comparison between the two tour companies. This Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC tour is a one-star rating versus Perillo’s mainland Italy tour which was a five-star rating. Let’s start with Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC “airport transportation” to the tour’s starting hotel at a cost of $55.76 U.S. dollars per couple. To start, I had to contact TourRadar to learn WHERE in the airport we were meeting the driver for our transportation to the hotel where the tour was starting from. TourRadar quickly responded and we (after having to ask) easily found our driver. The problem is, the driver, the tour operator’s driver brought us to the WRONG HOTEL!! The driver had another pick up at that hotel, so he could not take us to the correct hotel (about ½ hour away), so he had to make arrangements with one of his coworkers to come pick up us (there was not a charge). So instead of being able to check into our hotel to relax, go to dinner (NOT included by the tour) and be ready to meet our tour guide the next morning, we were immediately stressed out. Next, unlike Perillo Tours, I don’t know “who” rated the “Sicilian Secrets Tour” hotels 4 stars, but most, were at best 2-star hotels. Most had only ONE elevator, that can fit a maximum of 4 people with 4 suitcases. With 46 plus people in your tour, imagine how long it can take to get up and down from your room to the lobby with your luggage on check-in and check-out day! The hotels did not have the personnel to take your luggage to your room…. You had to do that yourself. Your entire room in the hotels could range from fairly spacious, to the size of a large walk-in closet. Some bathrooms were very small and some are acceptable in size. Showers can be as small as a “phone booth” (if you are too young, you don’t even know what a phone booth is). If you are traveling with two large suitcases, you could not open both at the same time and there was zero to little closet space. One of our hotels (II Principe Hotel in Catania) had ants in the bathroom and we saw a small lizard-like creature run across the hallway floor in the hotel (I guess it was supposed to eat the ants). To be fair, our tour started at the II Principe Hotel and that first (and only night), our room was very small (the size of a large walk-in closet with an equally small bathroom), however our tour also ended at the same hotel and the room we had for those last two nights was four times larger with a good size bathroom. So, your accommodations are a crap shoot, it is the luck of the draw. Also, at the II Principe Hotel they had vans to take your luggage to and from the hotel to the bus because, due to the narrow streets, the bus was unable to get anywhere near the hotel. Nevertheless, this was NOT a 4-star hotel…. not in your wildest dreams. Now comes the good (sarcasm) part….. most streets in Italy are very narrow, cobblestone and most/many times the tour buses can’t get right in front of your hotel. However, with “Sicilian Secrets Tour of Sicily”, YOU had to bring your suitcases from your room to the bus…. sometimes multiple blocks away!! This is NOT the case with Perillo Tours. Perillo Tours handles your luggage. There were instances where the tour bus could have parked in front of the hotel (making it easier for you to handle your own luggage), however we learned that apparently, the tour operator (Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC) had to pay a fee for this accommodation and they don’t to that. Therefore, YOU pay the price of having to carry your own luggage to and from the bus….. once again, that could be for multiple blocks (on cobblestone streets). On the checkout day while staying in Ragusa at the Mediterraneo Palace Hotel (NOT a palace by any stretch of the imagination… and NOT 4-star as advertised by the tour), it was pouring rain and we had to take our luggage about a quarter of a mile from the hotel to the bus. Luckily, my wife had the insight (I thought she was nuts when she said she was doing that) to pack an umbrella and I made two trips with our luggage from the hotel to the bus. Those who did not have an umbrella were soaked. The poor bus driver who had to stand outside the bus and load all of the luggage into the bus was soaked. The hotel in Agrigento (Colleverde Park Hotel) WAS very nice and could be rated at a three-star hotel. The hotel room in Palermo (Hotel Mercure Palermo Centro) was ok and again a three-star hotel. But once again, YOU drag your luggage multiple blocks to and from the hotel. Both Perillo and Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC provided some lunch and dinner meals as part of their tours. However, Perillo’s meals INCLUDED water and wine while with Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC, that was NOT included. During those meals (lunches and dinners), towards the end of the meals, a waiter brought over ONE bill for the entire table (sometimes the tables had as many as eight to ten people) and the bill had to be passed around so everyone could figure out what they owed. Some people got up off the table earlier and did not pay, leaving the tour guide to hunt them down. Speaking of water…. Perillo provided UNLIMITED cold water on the bus at “No Charge”. This was so convenient and important after coming back to the bus after a long, hot, humid tour. With Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC, you had to pay a Euro for your water. Which is NOT a lot of money, but it just continues to illustrate how Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC is operating the tour “On The Cheap” and “Hiding Costs” (which I will get to next) and properly accommodating their tourists. An example of them “Hiding Costs” and NOT being totally up front, IF you have the insight to ask TourRadar before purchasing the tour, you learn that Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC “HIDES” the costs of the entrance fees to many of the sites you are visiting AS PART OF THE TOUR (NOT sites that are Optional). I asked up front and knew everything on the tour was not covered. However, I did not realize that if you elected NOT to go to a site (for instance, Agrigento Valley of the Temples …. Which is a MUST see) there is nothing else to do once you step off the bus. It is not like it is a choice to visit the site. You would not have anything else to do for as much as two hours in the sweltering heat. In many instances, the tour buses can’t stay in the area of a site, they have to drive off someplace else to park. It is not like the entrance fees are terribly expensive, but think about this….. when you reach a specific site that requires a fee, 45 or more people exit the bus and must get on line to purchase tickets for the site. There are other tours on line. There are other tourists on line. You are wasting valuable time on line in the sweltering heat buying tickets! Maybe the tour guide can collect the fees from each person/couple and buy the tickets for you, but you still have to wait (while the tickets are being purchased) and if you planned on using a credit card for your admission fee, that does not work. Once again, these were not “optional tours/sites to visit” …. everyone wants/has to go. For example, if you elect not to go to the Taormina Greek Theatre ($13.50 Euros per person), you would have two to three hours free time in Taormina…. There is not that much to see in Taormina. Therefore, going on the tour is NOT really an option. There are other similar entrance fee examples that should just be included in the tour price. In contrast, Perillo has “Optional Tours” listed up front AND any of the “must-see/participate sites” entrance fees are included in the tour price. Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC, “HIDES” these necessary fees which only amount to an additional $194.86 U.S. dollars per couple. They should have just included them in their per person tour price and stop screwing around. Included meals….. both tours included breakfast. However, there was NO COMPARISON between what Perillo Tours provided as compared to what Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC provided. With Perillo, not only was the water and wine included … with Perillo, you also had a choice between two entrees…. With Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC, you got whatever they contracted for in advance. If you don’t eat fish (and that is what they served most of the time, because in Sicily that is less expensive) you are out of luck. Some people who are Vegan or Vegetarians did make arrangements up front with TourRadar that they would have something else provided to them. But once again, if you did not know in advance, you ate (or did not eat) what was served. Another cost that Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC “HIDES” is the hotel taxes for wherever you stay. They are nominal (never more than about $11 U.S. dollars). However, it is a nuisance at the end of each of your hotel stays. Perillo includes the hotel taxes in the cost of the tour. Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC is hiding costs in an effort to make it seem like their tour is less expensive. All of these “hidden fees” add up. Also, another IMPORTANT accommodation that Perillo provided that Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC does NOT provide…. a tour bus with a bathroom! For some of the tour, you can be on the bus for more than an hour or two. Unlike the mainland in Italy, rest stops with facilities in Sicily are very, very few and far between. In one instance in Sicily, a gentleman had to go to the bathroom and the bus was forced to pull over into a rest stop area (that had NO facilities) and he had to go into the brush/woods to relieve himself. That does not happen with Perillo because their tour bus has a bathroom. Lastly, with all of the screw ups and disappointments with Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC, I had the insight (a couple of days in advance) to ask the tour guide what they had listed as our arrangements for transportation back to the airport at the end of our tour. Luckily, I did that, Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC had us going to the airport to go onto Malta instead of back to the United States. Within an hour, our tour guide quickly straightened this out. The “Tour Guide” (Angelo) and “Bus Driver” (Pino) were very good and they did the best they could under the circumstances of what they had to work from Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC. Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC and their “Sicilian Secrets Tour” went to all of the right places/sites…. however, it was a very, very poor experience (2-Stars at best). I do NOT recommend taking a tour run by them and TourRadar should remove Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC from their tour offerings. Unfortunately, the timing and length of the tour of Sicily offered by Perillo did not match what we were looking for or the timing that worked for us. THAT (Perillo) would have been the way to go. This review might sound like someone employed by Perillo, but it is NOT. We were just fortunate enough to take two tours, by two different companies, back-to-back, and have a reference point for comparison. Stay away from any tour by Dimecnsione Siclia & DMC.
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  Dimensione Sicilia - Dimsi Incoming Operator Srl commented on this review

  Dear Leonard, thank you for your feedback It took a while to read the whole review but we would like to respond to every pointed matter. First of all we would like to clarify that Dimensione Sicilia never hid rates, it is all specified in the... Show more
  Trip date: September 2024
• ES

  Elise

  · September 12th, 2024
  It was good but would have been good to have a bit longer as it seemed we rushed along. We were told we would see the Turkish Steps for a quick stop but didn't. The multilingual language got confusing at times with 3 languages being used by our guide There wasn't enough variety of food might pay to have choices of meals as not everyone has the same tasted especially when it comes to seafood. We tried everything but our daughter didn't eat seafood Overall it was a great tour we loved it and met some amazing people.
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  Dimensione Sicilia - Dimsi Incoming Operator Srl commented on this review

  Thank you for your feedback, Elise! We’re glad you enjoyed the tour travelling with us. We’ll consider your suggestions to improve future experiences.
  
  Trip date: August 2024
• 

  Jody

  · September 10th, 2024
  Sicily was awesome. Great places to visit, hotels were nice, guide was very knowledgeable, food was good as well as the wine. The bus didn't have air conditioning in the back which made the day very long, hot & quite miserable. Especially since it was in the high 80's/mid 90's and humid. I wouldn't have minded paying for all the extra entrance fees if I would have been informed upfront. Very poor design and annoying. Make sure you bring Euro coin money because you have to pay to use the bathrooms and some are not so clean.
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  Dimensione Sicilia - Dimsi Incoming Operator Srl commented on this review

  Dear Jody, Thank you for your feedback! We're glad you enjoyed Sicily and we hope to welcome you back for another amazing experience in the future.
  Trip date: August 2024
• LM

  Laura

  · September 9th, 2024
  Was NOT advised that the tour was going to be trilingual. Had to sit thru 2 languages to get to the limited English that was spoken. Took so long just to get any information because of this I know we missed things. I have been on dozens of tour with Trafalgar, Gate 1, Globus, etc. and NEVER had to personally pay hotel/city taxes in EVERY HOTEL! Also never had to personally pay entrance fees for exhibits/attractions. They are covered by the better tour companies. I know they are included in the price of those tours but your hidden fees are a bait and switch. You should put these items IN BOLD on the tour so travellers aren't surprised and [removed in moderation] whey they are smacked with them before it's too late to book a better tour company. I will be leaving reviews regarding this on every forum I can think of.
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  Dimensione Sicilia - Dimsi Incoming Operator Srl commented on this review

  Dear Laura, Thank you for your review. We appreciate your feedback and regret that your experience did not meet your expectations. We would like to clarify that, as stated clearly on our website, city taxes and entrance fees are not included in the... Show more
  Trip date: August 2024
• 

  Anonymous

  · September 8th, 2024
  The only issue she had was all the "walking". I expressed this when I first called about it letting them know she's over 80 years old. The only thing I would recommend is to check the "age" requirements for "each" tour as they are each very different. It's needs to be tweaked better so the elderly tourist can make a better informed decision as to whether or not they can physically do the tour. Outside of that, she loved the tour guide and the hotels that she stayed at. Good job!
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  Dimensione Sicilia - Dimsi Incoming Operator Srl commented on this review

  Thank you for your review. We are happy that the customer enjoyed our beautiful Island. We hope to welcome you again soon!
  Trip date: August 2024
• DM

  Denis

  · August 28th, 2024
  Trip was enjoyable but very full on. Could have done with some down time, particularly in the evenings.
  

  Dimensione Sicilia - Dimsi Incoming Operator Srl commented on this review

  Thank you so much for your kind words. We look forward to welcoming you back to Sicily for your next adventure together!
  Trip date: July 2024