Trace Your Sicilian Ancestors from Messina Cruise Port

You can walk into the actual house where your ancestors lived, and sometimes meet relatives you never knew existed.

A genealogy tour from Messina cruise terminal that takes you to the Sicilian town where your family was born, with a private driver and guide in English, Spanish or Italian. You visit the local municipality to research birth, marriage and death certificates, walk through the streets and churches your ancestors knew, and can arrange a visit to your family home and meetings with distant relatives still living there. The tour runs three to eight hours depending on what you want to explore, and you choose the town. The operator handles the research and logistics.

The experience

What town are your ancestors from? Tell the operator at booking and they'll build the day around it. You start at the local municipality office, where the guide helps you search official records (birth certificates, marriage documents, death records) that carry names, dates and addresses from your family's past. This is the research part, and it's what makes the rest of the day possible: once you know where your family lived, you have an address to visit.

Then you walk. The guide takes you through the streets, piazzas and churches of the town, showing you the places your ancestors moved through every day. If your family home still stands, you'll see it in person. The operator can sometimes arrange a meeting with distant relatives who still live in the area, not uncommon for travelers to form lasting connections with family members they never knew existed. You move through the town at your own pace, with the guide sharing historical and cultural context so you understand the world your family lived in. Along the way, you can add optional stops for local food, artisan shops or family-run wineries if you want to taste what shaped the place.

A private driver brings you from the cruise terminal to your ancestral town and back, with air-conditioned transport, bottled water and a guide who speaks your language. The whole experience runs anywhere from three to eight hours depending on how deep you want to go into the research and how many places you want to visit. You're not following a fixed itinerary. You're following your family's story.

What’s included

• Private transportation in an air-conditioned vehicle.
• a driver and live guide in English, Spanish or Italian.
• bottled water.
• assistance researching birth, marriage and death certificates at the local municipality office.
• pickup from Messina cruise terminal.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery day48 departure times: the first at 00:00, the last at 23:30

Book up to4h before

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish, Spanish and Italian

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.You can choose from 10 pickup points.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 5 days ago

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyPublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Sicily Best Tour

Is this one for you?The three- to eight-hour window means you can fit this into a cruise port day, but only if you're comfortable with most of your time on shore going to one town. If you want to see multiple Sicilian destinations or have limited hours before the ship departs, a shorter general tour of the region would work better.

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Top questions

What languages is the guide in?

Live guide in English, Spanish and Italian.

How do I know which town to choose if I'm not sure where my ancestors came from?

Bring whatever family information you have (old documents, family stories, names), and share it with the operator at booking. The guide can help you narrow it down using the municipality records once you arrive, or you can research beforehand and tell them the town you want to visit.

Will I actually be able to see my family's old house?

If it still exists, yes. The guide takes you to the address on record. Whether you can go inside depends on who lives there now, but the operator can sometimes arrange a visit or a meeting with current residents, especially if they're relatives.

What if I want to meet relatives who still live in the town?

Tell the operator at booking and they'll work on arranging introductions before you arrive. Meetings aren't guaranteed, but the guide has local connections and can help make contact with people who share your family name.

How long does the tour take?

Three to eight hours, depending on how much research you want to do at the municipality office and how many places you want to visit in the town. You set the pace and the operator adjusts the day to fit.

What's included in the price?

Private transportation from the cruise terminal, a driver and guide in English, Spanish or Italian, bottled water, and assistance with the genealogy research at the municipality office. Lunch and gratuities are not included, but you can add food stops along the way.