EXCLUSIVE SICILY TOUR

Day 1_Palermo
Arrival at the Palermo airport. Transfer to Plaza Opera Hotel. Welcome Sicilian dinner at the hotel and overnight stay.

Day 2_Palermo and Monreale
Breakfast in hotel. You’ll be enchanted by Palermo’s wide boulevards, traditional Sicilian Old Quarter, and baroque palaces. You’ll see the city’s main sights, including Quattro Canti (the Four Corners), Palermo’s extravagant baroque square. The square is ringed by four buildings with baroque sculptures that depict the Four Seasons, Spanish kings, and the patron saints of Palermo’s four old quarters. See the twelfth-century Cathedral of Palermo, which houses a pantheon of royal tombs. After you will be taken to Palermo’s food market La Vucciria, typical “par excellence”, full of colour and folkloric. Here you will taste typical street food such as pani ca meusa, panelle, arancini.... Lunch at leisure.
After you’ll discover the Arab-Norman splendour of the Monreale Cathedral. This nearby treasure dates from the 12th century and shows the diverse architectural influences of both the Normans and the Arab population. Return in hotel and overnight stay.

Day 3_Corvo Winery
Breakfast in hotel. In the morning you’ll visit the Corvo Winery. Today Corvo is a historical brand not only for Sicilian wine making, but also one of Italy’s great classical wines, one of the leading and most popular wines in the world. You will visit the Museum of Agricoltura and the ancient “Bottaia”. Finally you will taste delicious Sicilian wine.
Transfer to Cefalù for lunch.
In the afternoon you’ll enjoy a walking tour. This enchanting fishing village and summertime resort sits on a rocky outcrop in the center of Sicily’s north coast. Cefalù lies in a scenic locale between the massive peak and a long sweeping beach. Against this backdrop rise the lofty twin towers of the cathedral built by Roger II in 1130. This splendid cathedral is one of the finest examples of Arab-Norman architecture, and contains luminous mosaics. Return in Palermo and overnight stay.

Day 4_Segesta and Erice
Breakfast and leaving for Segesta to visit the Greek Theatre and the Temple. As the major Greek city in western Sicily, ancient Segesta was besieged and conquered by Dionysius and Agathocles, and eventually fell to the Romans. Here you’ll see the haunting Doric temple, dating from the fifth century B.C. Although never completed, it is in an excellent state of preservation, and commands a majestic setting from its position on the hill.
Transfer to Erice, a wonderful and mysterious medieval town made famous in ancient times as the birthplace of Venus. Walking through the cobble – stoned streets of the town, smelling a variety of aromas emanating from the numerous pastry shop for which Erice is famous. We will visit the Norman Castle and the Duomo. Stopping at the world famous Pastry shop by Maria Grammatico, here we will taste almond sweets, genovesi and nougat to match with Marsala wine.
In the afternoon we will visit The Salt Road and its Salt Pans located on the coastline between the cities of Trapani and Marsala. Locals extract the salt from the seawater following the same procedure used by the ancient Greeks and Phoenicians who once colonized this part of the Sicily. Once extracted from the water and dried, the salt is heaped into mounds and covered in tiles—just like the ones used on house roofs—so the rain won’t melt the salt before it’s packed. Transfer to Agrigento, accommodation at Hotel Villa Athena. Overnight stay.

Day 5_Valley of the Temples
Breakfast at the hotel. Will visit the magnificent Valley of the Temples, containing some of the greatest Greek ruins in the world, the splendour of its temples rivals that of Athens. Here you’ll see the Temple of Juno, with its restored Doric columns and excellent views of the entire valley. This temple was erected sometime in the mid-fifth century B.C. at the height of construction honouring the gods. The Temple of Concord here ranks with the Temple of Theseus in the ancient Greek The Temple of Hercules is the most ancient temple in the valley. Finally you’ll visit Archaeological Museum.
Lunch at the restaurant Leon d’oro, where the owner Totò will show us the menu “At Table with Almonds”: an exciting trip through the tastes of the Sicilian cooking. In the afternoon we be free to visit the charming old town centre of Agrigento: Arabian quarter of Rabato as well as the Mediaeval and Baroque monuments. Return in hotel and overnight stay.

Day 6_Piazza Armerina
Breakfast and transfer to Piazza Armerina where you’ll view the extraordinary floor mosaics in the Roman Villa del Casale. The famed Roman mosaics housed in this third-century villa are among the best preserved in the world, depicting scenes from everyday life. Scenes include children at play, and big game hunts showing some of the exotic African animals brought to Rome for gladiator games. Transfer to Caltagirone for a typical Sicilian lunch in agriturismo. In the afternoon we will the city, whose ceramics are a symbol of Sicily. You will see the Regional Pottery Museum, some permanent manger scenes, and an evo¬cative city center full of artisan shops. Return to Agrigento. Dinner on your own and overnight stay.

Day 7_Noto and Siracusa
Breakfast and transfer to the eastern Sicily through the Baroque, whose heritage, both for importance and for beauty, has been declared World Heritage by the UNESCO.
We will admire the historical centre of Noto, the capital of Baroque in Sicily. A very beautiful town with amazing palaces in baroque style. In 1693 age earthquake totally destroyed the town. The current town was rebuilt by famous architect. They made the new Noto a masterpiece of Sicilian Baroque, It is currently listed among UNESCO's World Heritage Sites.
Transfer to Siracusa and lunch at leisure. On the elegant island of Ortigya, where we will admire the architectural splendour of ancient medieval streets, baroque structures, and classic churches as the Duomo, built upon the old temple of Athena..
Of all the Greek cities of antiquity that flourished on the coast of Sicily, Siracusa was the most important, a formidable seafaring power nearly equal to Athens. In the heyday of its power, it dared to take on both Carthage and Rome. At one time, its wealth and size were unmatched by any other city in the ancient world, and today it is one of the richest historical sites in Europe. Accommodation at Hotel Miramare in Taormina. Overnight stay.

Day 8_Taormina and Cyclops Coast
Breakfast and visit of the town. Taormina is Sicily’s most famous city. Dating from the fourth and third centuries B.C., Taormina is perched dramatically high on a rocky promontory overlooking the Ionian Sea. It’s a charming medieval town with typical cobblestoned streets leading into spacious squares graced by lovely 15th-century palazzi. Your tour includes a visit to the extraordinary classical Greco-Roman theatre and the historical centre.
Lunch on you own.
In the afternoon you will visit Catania, this city is dramatically situated between the Ionian Sea and the looming bulk of Mount Etna, which every so often rains ash upon the streets. The town was rebuilt in the Baroque style, and it was during this era that many of the town’s finest buildings were constructed. We will visit its impressive Duomo and experience the city’s strong personality during a visit to its ebullient Pescheria, the daily fish and vegetable market. After we will drive to the famous Cyclops Coast through Acireale, its most important town, and Acicastello, with its Medieval Norman Castle built in 1076 on a prehistoric basalt lava terrace. As you gaze out over the Ionian Sea, you’ll admire the Rocks of the Cyclops, imposing, spiky shards of black lava that rises up from the water. It is here, as told in Homer’s Odyssey, that the Cyclops Polyphemus threw these rocks at the fleeing Ulysses, who had blinded him. Acitrezza is also the setting of the celebrated novel I Malavoglia by Giovanni Verga, as well as the film version it inspired, directed by Visconti. Dinner on you own. Return at the hotel and overnight stay.

Day 9_Mount Etna and Sicilian Wine
Breakfast at the hotel. Today you will be free to explore the Volcano Etna, largest active volcano in Europe, and admire a unique combination of nature and the uncontrollable essence of fire. You will see the Crateri Silvestri at Rifugio Sapienza or enjoy an amazing excursion by cobble car and jeep. Lunch in a organic winery and tasting of their best wines and passito. Return in Taormina for our farewell dinner fish based!

Day 10
Breakfast and leaving to the Catania airport.