Tour of Sicily starting and finishing in Palermo

On arrival day, you will arrange by your own the transfer to the hotel in the charming city of Palermo in Sicily (an optional private transfer can be arranged upon request).

In the evening, you will meet the tour leader and your travel companions for a short briefing.

Accommodation at the hotel in Palermo.

In the morning, you will travel to Marsala where you will discover the city centre and the aristocratic buildings, monuments and Baroque churches. It is a lovely Mediterranean city featuring beautiful colours: bright yellow, intense blue, dazzling white and natural green. You will also enjoy a guided tour at Florio Cellars where you will see three fascinating barrel rooms with around 1400 small barrels and 600 larger barrels where approx. 5,500,000 litres of Marsala wines age in silence and stillness. After a 30 min. tour you will enjoy a wine tasting and lunch at the wine cellar.

You will continue the tour along the charming and well-known Salt Road: the west coast of Sicily with many salt marshes, which have given rise to one of the oldest salt-extracting industries in the world. They are now protected between Trapani and Marsala, in part because of the interesting birdlife, and as important more sites of industrial archaeology.

Next, you will be transferred to Agrigento where you will visit the Valley of the Temples, one of the most outstanding examples of Greater Greece art and architecture, and one of the main attractions of Sicily, included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Agrigento presents a remarkable series of Doric Temples of the 5th century and here you will see the “Temple of Heracles” and the “Temple of Concordia”.

Accommodation at the hotel in Agrigento.

This day you will reach Piazza Armerina where you will admire the splendid polychrome mosaics of the famous Villa Romana del Casale. The complex includes some of the most extensive and most beautiful Roman mosaics known, for which it has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

After lunch in the afternoon, you will depart to Ragusa Ibla and visit its historical centre cradle of Sicilian Baroque, with its Cathedral. Ragusa, used as a location of the extremely popular Police Inspector Montalbano Tv series, is today stated among the 44 Italian UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This little precious ancient city hosts more than 50 churches and many Baroque architectural treasures. After tasting local cheese in Ragusa, you will proceed to Catania.

Accommodation at the hotel in Catania.

You will enjoy the morning on your own. You can visit the city centre and do some shopping. You will meet the tour leader in the afternoon.

Accommodation at the hotel in Catania.

The day will begin with the visit of Syracuse, the most beautiful and greatest Greek colony in Sicily listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site! The visit will start with the Archaeological Park of Neapolis, with its Greek Theatre, the Roman Amphitheatre, the Latomie of Paradise and the Ear of Dionysius. The city is also the birthplace of the preeminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. In ancient times, Syracuse was one of the major powers of the Mediterranean world. You will continue the excursion by visiting the splendid Ortigia, a small island that is the historical centre of Syracuse. In Ortigia, you will admire the beautiful Cathedral that dominates the square with its authoritative presence. Its facade is a powerful Sicilian-Baroque composition, but it gives no hint that this building was once a Doric temple!

In the afternoon, you will have some free time for lunch.

After more lunch, you will travel to Noto, the capital of Sicilian Baroque, famous for its fine buildings of the early eighteenth century and declared Unesco World Heritage Site. Inspired by Baroque ideals of “open city”, Noto is famous for its fine buildings of the early 18th century, considered to be among the finest examples of Sicilian baroque style. Noto’s Baroque is in fact a game of elegant curves, floral weaves, perspective views palaces and gardens, capitals and ornaments that adorn the facades of churches and monasteries. You will visit Nicolaci Villadorata Palace, beautiful noble residence in Baroque style and once the residence of Don Giacomo Nicolaci, a patron of the arts.

Dinner and accommodation at the hotel in Catania.

After breakfast, you will visit Etna, the highest volcano (c. 3350 m) in Europe and one of the largest and most active in the world, between the cities of Messina and Catania, nowadays Unesco World Heritage Site. You will reach the “Crateri Silvestri”, small volcanic cones now inactive, surrounded by ancient lava flows. Later this day you will visit a beekeeping company, where you will visit the honey extraction lab, taste homemade honey and typical products of the area.

Then, you will proceed to Taormina, charming town on the east coast of the island of Sicily, renowned for its magnificent position above the sea commanding a celebrated view of Etna.

You will enjoy lunch in a typical restaurant where you will also attend a cooking class on some typical Sicilian cuisine dishes.

In the afternoon, you will visit Taormina’s fascinating Greek theatre, and then you will have more free time for a nice walk among the picturesque Medieval typical narrow streets, go shopping and looking around the local handicrafts (coral jewels, precious laces, ceramics, sweets and much more). The day will end with an overview of the beautiful Riviera of the Cyclops (Riviera dei Ciclopi), a mythical and legendary stretch of coastline north of Catania leading from Aci Castello to Acireale. The bizarre Cyclops islands in front of Aci Trezza have one of the most well known mythical stories, that comes from Homer’s book ‘Odyssey’ and tells the story of Ulysses and the one eyed Cyclops, Polyphemus.

Dinner and accommodation at the hotel in Catania.

In the morning, you will visit Catania, the second largest city of Sicily after Palermo, the old town of which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its original Baroque style and its unique streets built with black lava stone. The walking tour will start from the “pescheria” (the ancient fish market) to reach the scenic Duomo square with its magnificent Cathedral and the famous “Liotru” statue, antique lava-stone elephant, symbol of the city. Not far from here, you will reach University Square and you will have a walk along the splendid baroque Via dei Crociferi, where you will admire the famous S. Benedict Monastery, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Before continuing along the precious city center, you will make a stop at a historic bar in the city in order to taste the typical “granita and brioche”.

In the afternoon, you will enjoy a delicious lunch.

After lunch, you will be more transferred to Cefalù, charming medieval town situated on the northern coast of Sicily. You will visit its stunning Norman Dome and you will have free time to stroll through the town or to visit the famous and well-known Mandralisca Museum. You will proceed to Palermo for dinner and overnight.

Accommodation at the hotel in Palermo.

On this day of the Tour of Sicily from Palermo you will have a free morning to enjoy Palermo city centre and its beauties. As a nice alternative you can book a private excursion to Erice, ancient town founded by the Elyms, which is castled on Mt S. Giuliano at 751 metres of altitude. This is a fascinating ancient village with tiny and narrow streets, Medieval arches and Spanish style courtyards which will seduce you! Thanks to its elevated position you can enjoy a wonderful view: from one side the bay of Trapani, the salt pans and the Aegadian Islands and from the other side the wide valley of Valderice, Custonaci and the hinterland countryside. You will visit Eryx city centre, its main cathedral and the Venere Castle.

In the afternoon, you will proceed towards Segesta, ancient Elymians colony dominated by a commanding and elegant solitary Doric temple. The wide hills dedicated to crop and more pasture, and the few trees which space out the landscape are probably the same as thousands of years ago. The few recent houses built, in fact, do not interfere with the natural beauty of these places. You will visit both the temple and the theatre which were built in the III century B.C. and are located 400 metres above sea level.

Accommodation at the hotel in Palermo.

On your departure day, you will arrange your own transfer from the hotel to the airport. If your flight is in the afternoon, you can enjoy the morning on your own.