The Ultimate Travel Guide to Sicily

A really good set of free ebooks. Definitely worth a read before you go to make sure you don’t miss anything. Many thanks David

We had a wonderful experience with our Sicily trip. The preparation was excellent, communication was always smooth and easy, and the itinerary was perfectly designed and well thought through. What we appreciated most was the genuine attention to our individual wishes, the flexibility throughout the journey, and the patience in accommodating our preferences. The team’s deep local knowledge, combined with their true friendliness and interest in creating a personalized experience, made this trip very special. Highly recommended.

Our trip to Sicily was memorable, meaningful, and exciting, and went perfectly smoothly, thanks to the guidance we received from Time For Sicily. Francesco’s personalized attention allowed us to customize the exact experience we wanted. He helped us decide how to cover the western and eastern parts of the island; taught us how to book trains; recommended small fishing villages and towns we would have never thought to go to; and reviewed the accommodations we chose to make sure we were poised to see key sights and also experience local culture. His knowledgeable suggestions, combined with his warmth and humor, make him a trusted resource. Do not go to Sicily without talking to Francesco first!

Time for Sicily is like having magic in your pocket. We are seasoned travelers having been to over 30 countries traveling mostly with minimal help. But, for our trip to Sicily, we really wanted an insider to help us with understanding and arranging our 17 day travel through Sicily. That included trains, buses, taxis, and private drivers as well as organizing our itinerary with where to go, how to get there, how long to spend at each stop , and what not to miss. Of course, there was a lot of input from us on our thoughts which made for a great collaboration. Then there is the formal itinerary Time for Sicily prepares with real time links to the sites, restaurants, transportation, places to do laundry and more. And, ever so helpful is the detail on train station locations snd access and whether you can walk to/from with your luggage. AND, while on the trip and using WhatsApp, whenever we had questions, Time for Sicily was there with practical feedback, making phone calls for us, and so much more. We never felt alone ever. Time for Sicily is fee based which is wonderful. We paid a very reasonable flat fee for their expertise and that’s it. Time for Sicily helps you with all aspects of your trip including lodging, transportation, etc. with no extra charge. We highly recommend them!

Time for Sicily helped us have a spectacular short stay on this wonderful island. My wife and I wanted to spend five days in Sicily in September, 2025 as part of a European trip that also involved three cruises. We visited Sicily in 2022 and wanted to experience places in Sicily we didn’t see then. We wanted some history, great food, delightful scenery, experiences where we would interact with Sicilians and travel on trains. We found Time for Sicily through the web site they’ve prepared describing traveling around the island by train. After filling out some details about our intended Sicilian travel to Sicily, we were contacted by Francesco Messina, who was friendly, knowledgeable, patient, thorough and understanding of my traveling requirements and objectives as a blind traveler. Our limited time in Sicily plus the fact we booked lodging at the Villa Neri hotel off the beaten path on the island, required a compact and cohesive travel plan. My sighted wife did not want to do any driving so arranging all of the necessary transportation links for our stay was paramount. Francesco worked with us to prioritize our interests and suggested options that we would not have considered on our own. From the time we landed at the Catania airport until we left Sicily five days later we were comfortable, delighted, well fed, challenged and informed. We met many friendly and helpful Sicilians, from our daily drivers, our tour guides and people including wonderful staff in the great places where we dined. Francesco arranged all of our transportation, restaurant bookings, personal guided tours of Catania and Syracuse and a fantastic cooking class at an organic olive farm. He was always available when we had questions or when we ran into minor glitches requiring his advice or assistance to circumvent. His concern, excellent communication skills and deep knowledge of Sicily made us feel comfortable and welcome every minute of our time in Sicily. His choice of tour guides made our visits to downtown Catania and to Syracuse delightful. Lucia, our guide to Syracuse was especially helpful to me, she provided guidance and information that brought the archeological ruins in the town to life, even when I couldn’t see them. Francesco and Time for Sicily gave us the best five days of travel we have experienced. We are looking forward to visiting Italy and re-visiting Sicily in the future with the help of Francesco and Time for Sicily or Time for italy.

The Time for Sicily guide is wonderful, with all the maps with the places to go, where to eat and where to stay, it was a completely invaluable guide to our trip to Sicily The format was ideal, I had it in pdf format on my iPad. I used Notability to view it and make notes, so much easier than carrying bulky books although I am afraid I didn’t experiment with the interactive part. I cannot over emphasise how useful this guide is. One could plan ahead with timings of walking distances to stations and hotels. Extremely useful tips like: Catania Airport is a 13 minute walk to the station and how to get the bus up to Taormina from the station. It is concise clear with just the facts and it must have taken a lot of research, I cannot recommend it highly enough. If I would suggest any guide to Sicily this would be it.

We contacted Time for Sicily with our tentative plans for advice and guidance. After our phone call with Francesco and Paola the trip was clarified to perfection. We have day to day plans, sites to visit with time of day, travel alternatives, accommodation and regional food specialties. We would not have been able to develop such an exciting and relaxing schedule without their assistance. No hidden costs with full disclosure. We have 100% confidence recommending their services for anyone planning a visit to Sicily. We are now very excited about our trip knowing we have been looked after by the BEST. Tim and Angela, Australia

As people who love to travel, especially to Italy, we planned a trip to Sicily. During the preparation we bumped into the website 'Time for Sicily'. First we could download an e-book. After this we were invited in a very friendly way to make contact in person. These contacts were very well organised and fruitful. A big 'thank you' to Francesco and his team. Sicilia is a project for 3 years: this year we made a round trip through Eastern Sicily. Next year we would like to go to the western part, and finally also to the Eolian islands. We surely will come back to 'Time for Sicily'.

I downloaded a couple of free guides and am especially interested in the rail itinerary. Francesco was very helpful with suggestions if I needed more detailed planning.