Taste of Sicily Tour - 7 nights / 8 days - Escorted Italy Tour
Escorted
Group Tour / Guaranteed departures
Accommodation in first class hotels
• Taormina (3) • Palermo (4)
Category:
Cultural group tour, Comprehensive, Scenic Land
Journey
Itinerary
Day 1 - Friday: Catania -
Taormina (D)
Arrive Catania airport and transfer to hotel on your own.
Meeting with the participants. Dinner and overnight at
your hotel. Overnight:Taormina.
Day 2-
Saturday: Taormina (optional tour to Mount Etna)
(B)
Buffet breakfast at hotel and
morning at leisure or explore the slopes of Mt Etna with
our optional tour (to be paid locally) where you'll be
climbing to 1800 meters to enjoy the best views, as you
drive through the fertile slopes and villages that sit
on ancient volcanic eruptions. We will also participate
to a honey tasting in a farmhouse while climbing on
Mount Etna. Back to Taormina and tour of Taormina’s
charming city center includes the Greek/Roman
amphitheatre, with its spectacular view of Giardini
Naxos and Mount Etna, the largest active volcano in
Europe.
Tonight you may experience dinner
on your own in one of the many colorful restaurants of
Taormina.
Overnight:Taormina.
Day
3 - Sunday: Taormina - Siracusa- Taormina (B,D)
Buffet breakfast at your hotel and
experience an included excursion to Syracuse. A guided
tour of this venerable city highlights the
Archaeological Park, Greek Theater, Latomia del Paradiso
and Cave of Dyonisius’ Ear. On the way back to Taormina,
we offer a once in a lifetime experience. You may take
an optional “Godfather” tour featuring the authentic
villages chosen by Francis Coppola for most of the
scenes in the Godfather movies. This is a good way to
explore the real untouched Sicilian countryside, local
lifestyle and culture.
This evening savor a special
Sicilian dinner with wine in a restaurant characteristic
of this region.Overnight:Taormina.
Day 4
-Monday: Taormina - Agrigento - Palermo (B,D)
Buffet breakfast at your hotel and
depart for Agrigento, a hillside town famous for its
magnificent Valley of the Temples, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site. Enjoy a guided tour of the valley, dating
back to the 5th century B.C. The poet Pindar described
the site “as the most beautiful city built by mortal
men”, The Doric style temples, all constructed within a
century, face east, a standard criteria for both Greek
and Roman temples so the statue of the god housed in
each temple faced the rising sun. The best temple is
that of Concordia (similar in design to the Partenon in
Athens) which is an almost perfectly preserved
condition. Your local guide will highlight the history
and architecture of Concordia and of the other temples
that are part of this archaeological treasure-trove.
After visiting the Valley of the Temples, resume travel
to Palermo, where you arrive in the evening in time for
an enjoyable and relaxing dinner at your hotel.
Overnight: Palermo.
Day
5 - Tuesday: Palermo - Segesta - Marsala - Trapani
- Palermo (B,L)
Buffet breakfast at your hotel and
journey to Segesta, a large archaeological zone, with a
magnificent Doric Temple, 420 B.C to 430 B.C., located
within a beautiful and natural setting that ranks as one
of the best-preserved Greek architectural sites.
Continue to the sea town of Marsala, re-discovered in
the 18th century by English merchant John Woodhouse and
known for its sweet wines.
Visit a wine cellar and sample some
Marsala during a special wine tasting session.
Drive along Trapani’s coastline and stop for a special
Sicilian lunch in a restaurant and return to Palermo.
Your tour director can suggest many interesting quality
restaurants that offer ambiance and traditional local
cuisine for dinner on your own. Overnight: Palermo.
Day
6 - Wednesday: Palermo - Monreale- Palermo (B, D)
Buffet breakfast and enjoy a
morning tour of Palermo, a city full of character,
features Quattro Canti – a splendid example of Spanish
Baroque architecture, the Palace of the Normans and its
superb Palatine Chapel, the Cathedral, and the famous
Benedictine Abbey of Monreale. Here you will admire a
12th century cathedral, housing very fine mosaics
representing a complete cycle of the Old and New
Testaments. Balance of the day is at leisure to relax or
take an optional tour with your tour director to the
picturesque fishing village of Cefalù.
In the
evening enjoy a special dinner at local restaurant.
Overnight:Palermo.
Day 7
- Thursday: Palermo - Corleone - Palermo (B, L, D)
Buffet breakfast at your hotel and enjoy this special
day dedicated to one of the most famous social phenomena
in Sicily. We will depart in the morning to the inland
of Sicily and specifically to the area of Corleone,
known for being the place where Mafia phenomena was born
but also know nowadays for being the place where Mafia
is firmly fought. We will firstly participate to an
interesting and accurate cooking lesson: we will be able
to prepare some of the most genuine and traditional
Sicilian dishes (only for who desires to participate to
the cooking lesson). After the cooking lesson, enjoy
this special lunch. After lunch, we
will experience an interesting LECTURE on Mafia. One of
the inhabitants of Corleone, born in the UK, will
present a fascinating discussion on the topic of the
Sicilian Mafia but also explaining the origins and the
way how Corleone inhabitants has taken to eliminate
organized crime. Back to Palermo. Enjoy an arrivederci
to your travel companions during a festive farewell
dinner at your hotel. Overnight: Palermo.
Day 8
- Friday: Palermo Departure (B)
Buffet breakfast at your hotel. Check-out at noon,
transfer on your own.
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