Explore the best that Sicily has to offer in Taormina, Etna, Savoca, D’ Agro Valley, Ragusa, Modica, Noto, Ortigia (Syracuse),Piazza Armerina, Agrigento, Marsala, Erice, Palermo
April 16 – 26, 2023
Air departure tax, fuel & surcharges are subject to change until entire group is confirmed and ticketed.
Optional Travel Protection Insurance is available starting at $295 per person and is due at the time of booking.
HOTELS – 9 NIGHTS:
Depart on an overnight flight to Sicily. After your morning arrival into Catania Airport, you will be met and transferred to your hotel. Balance of the day is at leisure. Tonight, enjoy dinner at a local restaurant and overnight in Taormina.
Overnight: Hotel RG Naxos
Morning excursion to the slopes of Mt. Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe. This afternoon, enjoy a walking tour of Taormina’s charming city center including the Greek/Roman amphitheater with breathtaking views looking over the bay of Naxos.
Overnight: Hotel RG Naxos
Today, enjoy a once in a lifetime experience: the “Godfather” tour. See the real Sicily while exploring Savoca and D’Agro Valley, the towns and area that served as location when filming the “The Godfather” trilogy. Afternoon at leisure. In the evening, enjoy dinner with delectable cuisine and sparkling wine in a fashionable restaurant
Overnight: Hotel RG Naxos
This morning we will drive to Ragusa; On the way we will stop along the way in Acitrezza & Acireale; 2 beautiful villages located along the seaside. Free time for lunch where we will taste the delicious Arancini. We will arrive in Ragusa in the afternoon and we will enjoy a guided tour of the town. One of the most fascinating towns in Sicily, Ragusa has caused many a visitor’s jaw to drop as they first set eyes on the lower part of the town. Essentially Baroque, the Ragusa you will see today dates almost entirely from 1693. Indeed, it was in thisyear that Ragusa, along with its neighbors, Noto, Modica, Scicli and Catania, was razed to the ground by a terrible earthquake that hit most of the eastern side of Sicily. Public opinion on where to rebuild the town was divided, and so a compromise was made. The wealthier, more aristocratic citizens built a new town in a different site, now Ragusa “Superiore”, while the other half of the population decided to rebuild on the original site, on a ridge at the bottom of a gorge, now Ragusa Ibla. The two towns remained separated until 1926 when they were merged to become the chief town of the province, taking the place of Modica. Dinner at the hotel and overnight in Ragusa.
Overnight: Hotel Mediterraneo Palace
Today’s first stop will be in Modica, a quaint historic town and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Boasting some very fine Baroque architecture, picturesque views and historic sites, Modica is also known for its chocolate. Rich, dark and crumbly, it is produced in a traditional method imported from the New World by Sicily’s Spanish overlords. After a chocolate tasting session at one of the most prestigious chocolate makers, we resume our journey to Noto, part of the “Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto”, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Continue to the enchanting island of Ortigia, the old town center of Syracuse. Highlights of Ortigia are the cathedral square
Overnight: Hotel Mediterraneo Palace
Ragusa | Piazza Armerina |Agrigento
On the way to Agrigento we will stop in Piazza Armerina to visit the beautiful Mosaics at Villa del Casale. Free time for lunch then in the afternoon we continue to Agrigento. Arrive in Agrigento and accommodation at the selected Hotel
Overnight: Hotel Della Valle
Agrigento
This morning enjoy a guided tour of “The Valley of the Temples”, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the main archaeological treasures of the Mediterranean, this site is immersed in a rural landscape of rare beauty characterized by the presence of century-old olive and almond trees. Your guided walking tour will cover about one mile in a mostly downhill direction, with stops along the “Via Sacra” (holy pathway) to admire the Temple of Concordia, the Temple of Herakles and ruins of the Temple of Zeus. Afternoon enjoy a delicious Wine Tasting in a local Winery.
Overnight: Hotel Della Valle
Agrigento | Marsala | Erice | Palermo
This morning we will travel along a coastline mostly made up of salt pans built back in roman times and we’ll arrive in Marsala. After enjoying a cooking lesson followed by a lunch accompanied by Marsala wine at a local farmhouse, we take a breathtaking scenic drive up to the medieval town of Erice. After the Elymians settled here, it became an important religious site associated with the goddess Venus. Wander through its ancient streets, each cobbled with rectangular stones, and take some time to stop by one of the famous homemade pastry shops selling delicacies such as marzipan candies and pistachio pastries. Continue on to Palermo and check in the hotel. Free evening and overnight.
Overnight: Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa
Palermo
This morning enjoy a tour of Palermo featuring the Massimo Theater, Quattro Canti, a splendid example of Spanish Baroque architecture, the Palace of the Normans, and the Cathedral housing the shrine of Santa Rosalia. The last stop will be at the Abbey of Monreale, an Arab-Norman Cathedral built in the 12th century famous for its magnificent Byzantine mosaics and the adjacent Benedictine cloister. In the evening, bid arrivederci to your travel companions during a festive farewell dinner.
Overnight: Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa
