Messina, Sicily - "Godfather" tour

[thetone]

Has anyone had any experience, either good or bad, with a “Godfather” tour out of Messina? I have done some research and it seems like it could be a great time. I am very interested and would like to hear some other opinions. Thanks.

[dibbitz]

Hi. I just saw this thread....hope it is not too late. We took that tour while on a HAL cruise in April 2009. Although we usually do our own excursions, we were there for only a portion of the day, had heard that Taormina can be very crowded and touristy, and didn't want to take a chance .....our tour guide was Tomas..we had a great time. Tomas was very entertaining, charming and informative. We went to several hill towns in Sicily away from Messina and didn't even see other tours or tourists. The first town offered a beautiful view of the volcano and the surrounding countryside. It was as if we had the place to ourselves. Tomas gave a running commentary the entire time we were riding from place to place. We saw beautiful views from every angle. At every stop it was as if he knew and was friends with every one in town. At the last stop, we had lemoncello, a local treat, and sat on a beautiful patio overlooking the valley. I had his private website but have since lost it and I am terribly sorry for that...I would take that trip again in a heartbeat, and I am not even a fan of the Godfather movies. If you want pictures, I have some I can email you.

[kbalthaser66]

Hi. I just saw this thread....hope it is not too late. We took that tour while on a HAL cruise in April 2009. Although we usually do our own excursions, we were there for only a portion of the day, had heard that Taormina can be very crowded and touristy, and didn't want to take a chance .....our tour guide was Tomas..we had a great time. Tomas was very entertaining, charming and informative. We went to several hill towns in Sicily away from Messina and didn't even see other tours or tourists. The first town offered a beautiful view of the volcano and the surrounding countryside. It was as if we had the place to ourselves. Tomas gave a running commentary the entire time we were riding from place to place. We saw beautiful views from every angle. At every stop it was as if he knew and was friends with every one in town. At the last stop, we had lemoncello, a local treat, and sat on a beautiful patio overlooking the valley. I had his private website but have since lost it and I am terribly sorry for that...I would take that trip again in a heartbeat, and I am not even a fan of the Godfather movies. If you want pictures, I have some I can email you.

 

Could you please email me some of the pictures - we are looking at this tour as well. Thanks so much. kbalthaser66@yahoo.com

[thetone]

Dibbitz - can you send me a link to the tour or your tour guide?

Thanks.

[dibbitz]

Hi. Will try. It was a HAL shore excursion...I think the only one we took. We were only in port half a day so we were nervous about going out on our own and didn't want to just stay in Messina. Let me see what I can find out and will get back to you. L

[dibbitz]

Dibbitz - can you send me a link to the tour or your tour guide?

Thanks.

 

Hi, I believe the tourguide's name is Tomas Pante....I had his website, which is suntours.it but when I tried to google it, nothing came up. I had looked at it before. It was great with recipes, stories, etc. so I am not sure what happened. I did find his name on a Sicily tourism website under tourguides with a gmail address so you might try that. As I said , it was a HAL excursion called "the Godfather tour" or something like that. I am not a particular fan of the Godfather movies, but these are areas where the filming took place, the wedding scene, etc. Tomas told us that he also does tours in Spain during the summer months, and he will find you places to stay, connect you with other activities etc. He seems a pretty industrious fella, and certainly filled with personality. Am not sure what the charges would be.......hope this helps. L

[UsGlobetrotter]

Hi, I believe the tourguide's name is Tomas Pante....I had his website, which is suntours.it but when I tried to google it, nothing came up. I had looked at it before. It was great with recipes, stories, etc. so I am not sure what happened. I did find his name on a Sicily tourism website under tourguides with a gmail address so you might try that. As I said , it was a HAL excursion called "the Godfather tour" or something like that. I am not a particular fan of the Godfather movies, but these are areas where the filming took place, the wedding scene, etc. Tomas told us that he also does tours in Spain during the summer months, and he will find you places to stay, connect you with other activities etc. He seems a pretty industrious fella, and certainly filled with personality. Am not sure what the charges would be.......hope this helps. L

 

 

The name of the tour guide is Tommaso Pante and the website is www.sunway.it Tomasso was a treat/gift/amazing. I'm probably leaving something out! Since we had never taken a tour of any kind before, we didn't know what to expect. Tommaso now sets the standard for any future tours. We will be disappointed if a tour guide doesn't match his mastery. His sense of humor, joy of life, pride in Sicily were contagious.

[ny cruisequeen]

We did not do the godfather tour but we used MarioAstone@tiscali.it

He has that same tour. He is wonderful! We went to Messina, Toarmina and Castelmola instead. They were just so picturesque. I f you want a full review and pictures I will attach. This was BEST tour ever. He is great, his price was great and the day was perfect!

Email him and he will send you all the info.

[UsGlobetrotter]

In Messina my best tour experience was with Tommaso... I only can recommend him!

Edited October 20, 2011 by UsGlobetrotter

[UsGlobetrotter]

In Messina my best tour experience was with Tommaso Pante www.sunway.it ... I recommend him!

[thestokes]

We did that tour in October and loved it! Prior to going, we did a marathon viewing of the movies. Enjoy!

[ROCruiser]

We went to Savoca, not on a tour, but in a taxi. We were going to just go to Taormina, but the taxi driver talked us into adding Savoca for 10 euro more pp. We were happy that we went. My son had some beautiful pictures on his blog: http://foodlustandwanderlust.wordpress.com/2013/07/26/in-the-footsteps-of-michael-corleone/

 

I also have a write up on my blog but not as good as his.

[Grego]

Good information on the side trips out of Messina. We need some ideas for an upcoming stop there in October aboard the Regal Princess.

[numbersix]

Another possibility would be Sicily with Mario:

 

http://www.sicilywithmario.com/

 

We did the Godfather Tour with him from Catania in December...we had a great day!

 

We loved our first time in Sicily!

[stipmom]

We used Sicily with Mario for a godfather tour in May 2012 Will be back next year and looked to book them again but they will not guarantee the guide unless you are 8 people. One of the guides gets a poor review on trip advisor so I would not book them unless I knew who I was getting. Since they will not do that I will be looking for someone else. If you are 8 people I would not hesitate to go with them.