 ITINERARY
Day 1 - Palermo
Arrive in hotel on your own. Dinner in the hotel and overnight.
Day 2 - Palermo/Monreale/Erice/Palermo
After breakfast depart for Monreale and visit the cathedral as well as the cloisters. Back in Palermo, tour the Palatine Chapel, the cathedral, and take in the sights during a panoramic tour. Lunch at your hotel. Afternoon in Palermo at leisure, or visit Erice, and the salt mills of the Trapani region (pay locally). Dinner, overnight.
Day 3 - Palermo/Segesta/Selinunte/Agrigento
Breakfast. Depart for Segesta, visit the Doric Temple. Continue to Selinunte to explore its archaeological sites and ruins on your own. After, visit a local farmhouse known for its olive oil production and partake in a special lunch, featuring local foods and wines. Next, travel south to Agrigento, visit the Valley of the Temples. Dinner, overnight.
Day 4 - Agrigento/Caltagirone/Catania
Breakfast at hotel and depart to Caltagirone. The city has been long famous for the production of pottery, particularly majolica and terracotta. The main landmark of the city is the 142-step monumental Staircase of Santa Maria del Monte. Lunch in a popular farmhouse nearby. After lunch go to Catania, sightseeing of the city, the capital of Baroque style. The city has been buried by lava a total of seven times in recorded history. Dinner and overnight.
Day 5 - Catania/Noto/Siracusa/Catania
Breakfast, spend the morning admiring the recently renovated Cathedral in the nearby Baroque town of Noto. Return to Siracusa for lunch at your hotel and then explore Siracusa all afternoon. See the Temple of Minerva, today a catholic church; the legendary Fountain of Arethusa; Apollo Temple; the Greek Theatre; the Roman Amphitheatre near the Latomie; and the Ear of Dionysus. Dinner at a local restaurant in the heart of Ortigia. Return to hotel, overnight.
Day 6 - Catania/Etna/Taormina Area
Breakfast. Weather conditions permitting, board a private bus to Mount Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe, disembark at Rifugio Sapienza (1800 mt. high), a small village on the southern slope of Etna, before visiting the Craters of Mount Silvestri, taking in the panoramic views. Next, visit a farmhouse for a lunch of Sicilian dishes before continuing on to Taormina. Spend free time visiting the famous Greek Theatre, with its splendid views of Mount Etna and the Ionian Sea, or along the picturesque, narrow paths of the city center. Dinner, overnight.
Day 7 - Taormina/Messina/Cefalù/Palermo
Breakfast. Sightseeing tour of Messina and its famous Cathedral. Lunch at a farmhouse or restaurant en route to Cefalù, foods and products typical of the island. Once in Cefalù, a splendid fishermen’s village and seaside resort, free time in the historic center, full of shops, restaurants. Don’t miss the Norman Cathedral. On to Palermo for dinner, overnight.
Day 8 - Palermo
Breakfast, end of tour.
Note: Due to technical reasons the itinerary of the tour may be changed without notice. |
