Palermo Private MINITOUR of WEST SICILY 4 Days with Guide Driver

Our tour group of six people (2 grandchildren: boys ages 7 and 9, 2 parents, and 2 grandparents in their late seventies) visited Palermo together on December 24 - 25, 2025 as a part of a two-week-long family tour of Sicily and Rome, Italy. Our group has traveled to many destinations, but in all of that travel, we wanted to commend our Palermo guide, Giorgio Faraci, as particularly outstanding. He has a deep knowledge of Sicily and specifically Palermo history, geography, culture, architecture, and so much more. He has extensive experience as a guide, and speaks excellent English. Giorgio is sensitive to group needs and is able to adjust to circumstances. On December 24, 2025, Giorgio met us about 3:00 p.m. on December 24, following a performance we had enjoyed at the Museo dei Puppi (Marionette Museum). We had traveled that morning from Rome to Palermo by plane, so by the time he began guiding us on foot, the streets were clogged with shoppers and pedestrians, and it was nearly Christmas Eve, a big holiday in Palermo and indeed all of Italy. As well, there were many extra church services being held for the holiday, and so there was a lot of traffic both vehicles and pedestrians. I wondered how we would be able to move through the crowds, much less see the churches and other sites we had hoped to visit. Giorgio immediately saw that we were "flagging" a bit from travel, although eager to walk. His first move was to feed us, and we enjoyed some iconic street food at a stand that he suggested, eating it while we got acquainted and he provided us with useful information. Then he took us from that location toward the Cathedral on via Vittorio Emanuele (one of the main thoroughfares) and we visited churches and other sites we had hoped to see, including the Cathedral. We arrived at each church between services and he was able to present information, inside and outside, about each building without disrupting anyone. That was an accomplishment! We moved at a comfortable pace but made excellent use of our time. Giorgio even pointed out a large parade float honoring Palermo's patron saint, St. Rosalia, which was parked nearby where we were walking. Of course, a huge parade float waiting for a parade caught the attention of our boys. Seeing this float was one of the things that they particularly remembered from the day, and because they saw that, they remembered multiple other things they had seen and Giorgio had described that afternoon and evening. We then returned to our hotel for the night, well after dark. Giorgio picked us up early on December 25. We were scheduled to have a cooking class later during the day, but we had a planned walking tour first, with Giorgio, that led us from our hotel in a different direction, toward Teatro Massimo, one of the key sites visitors would want to see. Again the streets were crowded, but Giorgio navigated through them and simultaneously narrated what we were seeing. It was a fascinating walk and a lovely start to the day, since the weather was sunny and mild. This tour was a wonderful start to a memorable day. By this time, we had seen nearly all of the central historic area that we had hoped to see. Our cooking class teacher met us at the end of this walk to escort us to her home where the class would be. Giorgio and our driver met us later at the teacher's home at the end of the cooking class, and he joined us to sample the food we had made and to visit with the teacher, her family and us. It was very comfortable to sit and visit with them. We did not feel rushed, and the atmosphere was that of a lovely social gathering with amazing food and very substantive conversation in which all were welcome to join. Then Giorgio and our driver took us on a brief car trip around the Palermo harbor area and other sites around the city center that we had not previously visited. We saw some yachts and interesting vessels as they moved out of the port on Christmas day, which may be unusual. Giorgio made sure that we saw it. That evening marked the end of our planned touring with Giorgio, but it is important to mention Giorgio's wealth of knowledge about Palermo, and his openness and friendliness. His way of teaching is conversational and inclusive. He is approachable and respectful, with a great sense of humor. However, what he says when narrating is also highly substantive. Everyone is comfortable joining in, and he welcomes questions and comments, including from the children. He is particularly good with family groups such as our multi-generational group. Giorgio's enthusiasm for Palermo and his desire for his guests to have a wonderful time are obvious and heart-warming. He has a gift for the teaching that he does while guiding. We have seldom met a guide who is also so highly educated in his subject. It was a great privilege to have him as our guide. We recommend him highly and without reservation to other groups and individuals visiting Palermo.

We just finished an excellent 6 day private tour of Sicily with Mimmo. He made driving Sicily's sometimes treacherous roads safe and comfortable and gave us the benefit of his extensive knowledge of many historical, natural and commercial sites. Mimmo has a passionate curiosity that translates into his digging way below the routine when and by who of Greek and Roman ruins to the fascinating why and how, which we greatly appreciated. We were also delighted by his taking us way off the tourist trail to experience the best of Sicily's small town restaurants, bakeries and shopping. His German-Sicilian background gives him a unique awareness of the quirks of both cultures, which he happily shared with us along the way. All in all a 5 star experience that I can wholeheartedly recommend to others.

It was our pleasure to meet you. Your personality, humor, and in-depth knowledge of Sicily's history contributed to our WOW experiences. The beautiful places you arranged for us to visit from Palermo, Ortigia and Taormina, over our 2 week stay, were top knotch. Too, a special thanks to your colleague, James, who is wonderful. We will always fondly remember the leisurely Sunday lunch with you and the amazing tastings Valerio created at La Manna Di Zabbra, along with many more fabulous memories. Without a doubt, Mimmo, you are highly recommended as the "go to" professional to work with on any tours of your beautiful island of Sicily..

Rarely do you have a tour with an extremely knowledgeable guide who presents interesting history of area covered. Also, Mimmo has a great personality and sense of humor