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There is a reason we call what we do journeys. It isn’t marketing language. And it isn’t simply a more elegant word for a tour. The difference is in how the entire experience is built. A traditional tour begins with an itinerary: the places you will visit, the hotels where you will sleep, the restaurants where you will eat and the activities that can be fitted efficiently between them. We begin somewhere else.

For thousands of years, the Sicilian olive oil harvest has shaped landscape, food and family life. Today, the best producers are carrying that tradition forward with an extraordinary level of knowledge, precision and care.

What hosting our guests has taught me, and how it shaped our Gems of Sicily journeys for 2027.

This week has been so special for Santi and me because we celebrated our 10-year anniversary. Ten years since we stood in the middle of a Sicilian vineyard and promised each other forever. When we were planning our wedding, there was never really another option. We knew we wanted to get married at a winery. It just felt right.

People often ask me when the best time to visit Sicily is. Most of the time, I tell them April, May, September, or October. The weather is comfortable, the crowds are smaller, and it's easier to spend long days exploring villages, markets, archaeological sites, vineyards, and the coastline without the intense summer heat. If you're visiting Sicily for the first time, those months are hard to beat. But if I'm being honest... My favorite season is summer.

There are certain ingredients in Sicily that only make sense once you taste them where they’re grown. Tomatoes in peak summer. Olive oil fresh from harvest. Pistachios from Etna. And then there are capers from Salina. The first time I tasted them in the Aeolian Islands, I realized most people don’t actually know what capers are supposed to taste like. Not harsh. Not aggressively salty. Real capers are floral, herbaceous and deeply aromatic, with a minerality that reflects the

I’ve seen this pattern over and over. Carefully built itineraries that look efficient: Palermo → Agrigento → Ragusa → Taormina. But in reality, they feel like constant adjustment. Checking in. Checking out. Driving in the heat. Arriving just as a place is starting to come alive… and leaving before you’ve had a chance to settle into it. Nothing is technically wrong. But nothing quite feels right either. You are just skimming the surface on what Sicily has to offer. Most people

We had the most memorable weekend. I’m excited to sit down to write this, because something about it changed the way I see Sicily… and I didn’t expect that. We spent the weekend on Etna - Santi and I, along with Priscilla, and our photographer. We were there doing site visits for our upcoming Elite journeys. And I realize that’s something people don’t always see. Site visits are characterized by long days. We move around a lot, walk through spaces, sit down with multiple peo

I’ve been in Sicily for 10 years now, and I must say that my favorite holiday here is Easter. Not only because of how deeply meaningful it is to me personally, but because of the way it’s experienced here. The tradition of Easter is beautiful in Sicily, but it’s really about the atmosphere. It’s family. It’s a bit chaotic in the best way. There’s always something happening. Kids running in and out, someone calling from the kitchen, someone else setting the table while talking

When families ask me if Sicily is a good place to travel with children, I smile. Santi and I are raising our two girls here. This island isn’t just where we host tours. It’s where we do school drop-offs, stop for bread in the late afternoon, shop at the market, and meet cousins in the piazza while the girls run ahead of us.

I didn’t fully understand Sicily in my first year living here. I thought I did. I had fallen in love with the energy of Palermo, with the markets, with Mount Etna. But it wasn’t until my second spring, after a full year of routine visits to farmers, fishmongers, and wine makers all around the island, that I finally understood its rhythm. That second spring made the difference. When you live here year-round, you don’t just see the seasons, you work within them.

People often ask why I stay in Sicily during the winter. Many foreigners working in tourism leave. Even Sicilians travel elsewhere because it’s not beach season. In fact, the pace shifts. Winter in Sicily reveals something summer never does. The days soften. The light changes. And slowly, you begin to notice that the island smells like citrus.