Sicily 2020

In October, we were able to wish happy travels to a group heading off to Italy on our beloved Classical Sicily tour, led by the one and only Oliver Gilkes. The trip's accompanying tour manager, Debbie Paton, has shared a series of snapshots from the tour, which you can view below, along with a bit of insight into what an Andante Travels tour experience is like in the current climate. 

1) How was the travel experience in the world of COVID-19?     
The airport was quiet – we all had to wear ours masks except from when eating, and the flight was full. No food or drinks were served and there were no in-flight magazines. We were all asked to try and remain seated throughout if possible.

2) How did you find completing the pre-travel documents? 
We completed nine forms in total: three different hotel forms, three forms for the flight, one form for the Sicily government, and UK forms 48 hours prior to returning, and then a coach form. The trip took place just before the new rules came in regarding taking a COVID-19 test 72 hours before, however.

3) Did you feel safe on tour?
I felt very safe on tour, everywhere was so quiet and all of the sites were deserted – it was mostly only us visiting! The coach was a 52-seater and we only had 11 guests and 2 staff, so there was room for us all. The coach was cleaned every night and we all kept to the same seats throughout the tour. We all had our COVID-19 packs, which are part of Andante's 11-step initiative, containing masks, gel and sanitising wipes. Everywhere we went, our temperatures were taken and all places had hand gel for us to use. Because it was so quiet, I felt this was to our advantage in a way. All of our hotel rooms had removed the mini bars, all television remote controls were kept in a sealed bag and there were no drinking glasses left in the rooms. Lifts were limited to two users at a time, too. These restrictions didn't detract from the enjoyment of the tour at all and in turn they made us all feel very safe.

4) What were mealtimes like, given this new era of social distancing? 
Well, at dinner we were on tables of two or seated at a long table with gaps between us, and we were all served the food – there were no buffets. At breakfast there were also no buffets and instead we went up and asked for the food and coffee, which the hotel staff then served to us individually as requested. This was a bit tricky sometimes, but it all worked out well.

5) How were site and museum visits, could you maintain social distancing?  
The museums we visited were all empty, but we all wore our masks and were able to social distance very easily – and there were no other tourists at all.

6) What do you feel about Italy’s approach to the virus and ensuring people can go about their holidays?
I felt they were better than us at home in the UK. The rules were much clearer – you wore masks all the time so there was no confusion. However, I saw on a lot of occasions that people were asked to wear their masks properly! The people we encountered were delighted to see us and obviously their businesses have been badly affected, as have ours. Even the smaller sites were well prepared, offering hand gel and so on, and all of the site museums had very clear signs so we always knew what to do.