Travel & Tour Services
Though Best of Sicily is not a tour operator or travel agency, we do offer customised services for visitors to Sicily who require assistance during their business or vacation stay. Best of Sicily offers these services because of the difficulty usually involved in trying to find somebody in Sicily who is "just right" for these tasks. This is a referral service; we don't employ these specialists directly but we'll be happy to put you in contact with them. Visit our Travel Centre for hotel reservations and other services to help plan your trip. More specialised services are described on our consulting page.

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Interpreters: For business meetings or conferences, you may require an interpreter fluent in both English and Italian. The interpreters available in Italy are usually teachers or tour guides who speak Italian as their mother tongue and learned English through study. Ours speak both languages fluently, but some are actually native English speakers. This is especially important in commercial or scholarly matters, where a keen understanding of the business and academic terminology of both languages is very important. An additional advantage of our interpreters is that you can email or fax them details of the topics you plan on discussing before you arrive in Italy. Being familiar with your particular needs means that they can provide you with a better service.

Tour Specialists: As we mentioned in our FAQs page, you can probably communicate reasonably well in Sicily even if you don't speak Italian as long as you spend most of your time in areas that concentrate on tourism, and you'll probably find your way around without much difficulty. Other travelers prefer the hassle-free simplicity of an organized tour of Sicily, leaving the hotel bookings and road maps to somebody else. But even if you prefer to travel alone or in a very small group, there may be times when you would like a guide to accompany you on a personalized tour of certain sights. Unfortunately, tour operators don't usually cater to the needs of the smallest groups, while the larger group tours don't always offer much flexibility. An English-speaking specialist could be the perfect solution if you require an escort for your small group (up to four persons) on a customized tour of particular places of your choice.

Professionalism: In theory, almost anybody can claim to be a professional guide or interpreter, and many people do. The Web is full of sites advertising such services, including several based in Sicily. Some of these "guides" operate illegally in Italy (i.e. they're not registered to provide the service they perform). As part of a specialised network developed by Best of Sicily, our tour specialists are qualified guides familiar with Sicilian history and culture. They're genuine professionals, and that enhances the quality of your visit. The following rates are competitive, comparable to the "official" fees paid to guides certified for historical sites.

Rates and Conditions: The rates for both services are €250 (about US $250) per day plus expenses. This is based on a seven-hour day, and expenses include things like meals, automotive fuel, admissions costs for certain historical sites, etc. With expenses, the total cost could be slightly higher than €250 per day. Email us (services@bestofsicily.com) your requirements for further information. Guides and interpreters must be booked at least four weeks in advance of your arrival; availability varies greatly from week to week and month to month.