Vacation Overview

Escape to Sicily for seven days of beauty, cuisine, and history—without the crowds you’d find in the high-season. Begin in Palermo and meet your Tour Director and traveling companions for a welcome dinner at your hotel. Spend the following day on a guided sightseeing tour of Palermo’s ornate Piazza Bellini and Capo Market. See the stunning baroque features of the Church of the Immacolata, and visit the historic Palermo Cathedral. Enjoy the panoramic view of the Conca d’Oro in Monreale, and visit the 12th-century Norman Cathedral with its treasured byzantine mosaics.

Walk through the 24-centuries-old Valley of the Temples with your Local Guide in Agrigento, visit Piazza Armerina’s Villa Romana del Casale to admire the world’s largest collection of Roman mosaics. In Syracuse, the birthplace of mathematician Archimedes, you’ll take a guided visit to the archaeological site of the 5th-century-BC Greek Theater, Garden of Paradise, Ear of Dionysus, Altar of Hieron II, Roman Amphitheater, and the Cordmaker’s Cave. Travel to Catania, where you’ll sample Sicily’s famous Arancino, and spend two nights on the spectacular Taormina Riviera, your base for a fascinating excursion to Mount Etna—the largest active volcano in Europe. Explore Taormina, and complete your Sicilian Escape with a fabulous farewell dinner at a local restaurant. You’ll treasure the time spent exploring Sicily’s famous sights and stunning scenery—without the crowds of the busy travel season on this spectacular guided tour of Sicily!

Itinerary

Day 1 ARRIVE IN PALERMO, ITALY Welcome to Palermo! At 6 pm, meet your Tour Director and traveling companions for a welcome dinner at your hotel.  Dinner
Day 2 PALERMO Guided sightseeing features the ornate Piazza Bellini, Capo Market, the baroque Church of the Immacolata, and a visit to the CATHEDRAL. In Monreale, enjoy a panoramic view of the Conca d’Oro and a visit to the 12th-century NORMAN CATHEDRAL, famous for its 50,000 square feet of precious byzantine mosaics.   Breakfast
Day 3 PALERMO–AGRIGENTO Arrive in Agrigento, where your Local Guide will take you for a spectacular walk through the magnificent VALLEY OF TEMPLES. Even travelers who have visited Athens and Delphi are awed by the gigantic yet graceful Greek structures that miraculously survived 24 centuries of tormented history.   Breakfast Dinner
Day 4 AGRIGENTO–PIAZZA ARMERINA–SYRACUSE Drive to Piazza Armerina and visit the impressive VILLA ROMANA DEL CASALE, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Admire the largest and most complex collection of Roman mosaics in the world, including the famous “bikini girls.” Stay overnight in Syracuse, birthplace of the mathematician Archimedes.   Breakfast
Day 5 SYRACUSE–CATANIA–TAORMINA RIVIERA Enter the ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE for a guided visit of the 5th-century-BC Greek Theater, the Garden of Paradise, the Ear of Dionysus, the Altar of Hieron II, the Roman Amphitheater, and the Cordmaker’s Cave. Continue to Catania and enjoy some free time in its historic center. You will be treated to  an ARANCINO TASTING. An arancino is a fried stuffed rice ball, one of Sicily’s most famous street foods. Spend the next two nights on the Taormina Riviera.   Breakfast
Day 6 TAORMINA RIVIERA In the morning enjoy an included excursion to MOUNT ETNA, the largest active volcano in Europe, followed by an orientation of hill-top Taormina. In the evening, a farewell dinner awaits at a local restaurant, the proper way to say, “Arrivederci, Sicilia!”   Breakfast Dinner
Day 7 TAORMINA RIVIERA Your vacation ends with breakfast this morning. (The nearest airport is Catania.)   Breakfast