Catania: Valley of the Temples & Piazza Armerina with Brunch

I had a last minute constraint and the operator was very flexible accommodating it. Thank you very much again! The tour was as per description: smooth pickup, Mirko is very knowledgeable and shared many things along the way. We had 2h to walk ourselves around Valley of Temples, then a quick lunch at the museum restaurant where we could choose a sandwich that we ate with wine and water. Then we drove to the Roman villa, had a little more than 1h there and drove back to Catania. Everything went very smoothly.

Farbio was a wonderful driver/host. He made sure we had clear directions at the Valley of Temples on where we needed to go and where the meeting place was once we had walked through the temples. He took us to a lovely spot for lunch and they also catered for one of our group who is a celiac. After lunch we went to the Piazza Armerina. It is such a beautiful place and the mosaic’s are amazing. We had a wonderful day out on this small group tour. I would highly recommend it to everyone. Even our 9 year old group member said it was ‘amazing’. Definitely a tour for all ages.

Our tour of the Valley of the Temples was a great experience. Our tour guide, Damiano was friendly, engaging, and shared interesting historical details about the history/heritage of Sicily. Although our original visit to Piazza Armerina was changed to the Turkish Steps due to last-minute cancellations, the alternative turned out to be a wonderful experience. The tour was well-paced, informative, and enjoyable from start to finish. The transportation was smooth and well-organized from pick-up to drop-off, making the entire experience stress-free and comfortable.

I wasn’t expecting a guided tour of the temples and the villa however a little bit of interaction from the driver would have been nice, perhaps an Italian music playlist or a little information of where we were going etc. Lunch was chaotic, with one member of staff serving at the cafe and no set area for the tour clients. That said the trip was booked as a way of getting to both places which were spectacular and a must see :)

Our guide, Emiliano, was very pleasant and shared his extensive knowledge of Sicily and its history. He insured that we were comfortable and the van's a/c was a welcome respite from the heat. Driving from Catania to Agrigento and Piazza Armerina and back would have been extremely challenging on our own. Grateful that we did not. Oh and lunch was delicious and very filling.

Overall happy with the day. We got unlucky that our Piazza Armerina visit was canceled and we went to the Turkish steps. They were interesting but we didn’t get the full experience as they were closed due to wind. Lunch and the Valley of Temples were excellent but we did need every second of the allocated 2 hours to view the temples and could easily have spent longer. Very happy with Emiliano and the historical context he gave during the drive.

Excellent organisation, Angelo was a attentive guide and provided us information on history and life today in Sicily. We enjoyed our trip a lot, The Minivan was spacious and confortable. The only problem is, if you sit in the back, you can hardly hear the guide talking in the front as the road is a bit noisy while driving. All in all we had a good day. This trip is an efficient way to visit the Valley of Temples and to see the astonishing mosaics on the way back near Piazza Armeria. It is a long day, but worth it. Wear good footwear, it includes lots of walking. A big shout out to Angelo for doing a fantastic job as a guide and driver.