1° day SATURDAY PALERMO
Independent arrival at Hotel Principe di Villafranca in
Palermo. Enjoy a welcome cocktail. Dinner and overnight
in your hotel.
2° day SUNDAY PALERMO -
CEFALÙ - CAPO D’ORLANDO - TAORMINA - CATANIA
After a buffet breakfast, depart to Cefalù, a charming
coastal town, a former fishing village, which is also
home to a breathtaking Norman Cathedral with dazzling
mosaics. Take a stroll to the city center and down main
street to reach the Cathedral and the medieval
wash-house built in the rock. Proceed to Capo d’Orlando
along the Tyrrhenian coast and stop for lunch. Continue
to Taormina called “the pearl of the Ionic Sea”, founded
in 400 BC and beautifully located overlooking the sea
and the peak of Mount Etna. Enjoy time at leisure to
shop for handmade lace, coral jewels, ceramics,
home-made sweets and preserves down “Corso Umberto” or
simply walk through the tiny streets. Possibility to
visit the fascinating Roman - Greek theatre. Proceed to
Catania. Accommodation, dinner and overnight at the
Excelsior Grand Hotel Catania.
3° day MONDAY CATANIA -
MONTE ETNA with lunch in a farmhouse - CATANIA
After a buffet breakfast, weather conditions permitting,
excursion to Mount Etna, the highest active volcano in
Europe. Across fascinating landscape, we will reach a
height of 2000 metres, where we will enjoy a fantastic
panorama of the Ionic Sea. Lunch in a farmhouse on the
slopes of Etna and wine tasting of local production.
Back to Catania, the town known for its original baroque
style and for its streets built with black lava stone
from mount Etna. Walking tour through ViaEVERY SATURDAY
FROM MARCH 31st TILL OCTOBER 27th 2012 (LAST DEPARTURE
Etnea, the Baroque street “Via Crociferi”, Piazza Duomo
with the Cathedral and the “Liotru” statue, symbol of
the city, the roman Amphitheatre, the Opera House (external
visit), the University, and the noble Palace of Biscari
(external visit). Dinner and overnight in your Hotel.
4° day TUESDAY CATANIA
- SIRACUSA - NOTO - MODICA - RAGUSA with Sicilian
typical products tasting
After a buffet breakfast, depart to Syracuse to visit
the most beautiful Greek colony of Sicily. Visit of the
archaeological area including the famous Latomie of the
Paradise, the Greek Theatre, the Roman Amphitheatre and
the Dyonisios “Ear”. Visit the island of Ortigia, the
small baroque old city centre of Siracusa, built by the
Aragonians: here you can admire the Cathedral and the
“Fontana Aretusa”. Lunch in a local restaurant. In the
afternoon, depart to Noto, one of the most beautiful
cities in Sicily renowned for the harmony and unity of
its Baroque style and today declared a World Heritage
Site by UNESCO. Proceed to Modica, one of the most
picturesque cities of all Sicily, rich of important
churches such as San Giorgio and San Pietro and
panoramic tour. Continue to Ragusa, a city that is
divided into two parts: the upper part built after the
earthquake in 1693 and the lower part that is called
Ragusa Ibla, one of the most important testimony of the
Baroque architecture. Enjoy a tasting of Sicilian
typical products in a nice bar in the main square by the
Dome, “Basilica di San Giorgio”. Accommodation, dinner
and overnight at Hotel Mediterraneo Palace.
5° day WEDNESDAY RAGUSA
- PIAZZA ARMERINA - AGRIGENTO
After a buffet breakfast, depart to Caltagirone famous
for the production of ceramics and pottery: visit of a
ceramics laboratory and opportunity of shopping.
Continue to Piazza Armerina and visit the worldwide
known Villa Romana del Casale: it is the richest,
largest and most complex collection of late Roman
mosaics in the world Lunch in a local restaurant.
Continue to Agrigento: visit of the Valley of the
Temples including the Temple of Juno, Concord, Heracles,
Zeus, Castor & Pollux that represent the most beautiful
example of the Greek Civilization in Sicily. Dinner at
Hotel Della Valle. Overnight in Agrigento.
6° day THURSDAY
AAGRIGENTO - SELINUNTE with lunch in a farmhouse-
SEGESTA - PALERMO
After a buffet breakfast, depart to the Archaeological
park of Selinunte, the largest in the Mediterranean area
with the impressive Temples and Acropolis. After the
visit stop in a local farmhouse (famous for olive oil
production) where before lunch it will be possible to
have a wine and oil tasting of local production. Proceed
to Segesta to visit the Doric Temple which keeps in its
stones the weight of a long history, surrounded by a
unique landscape. Proceed to Palermo. Accommodation,
dinner and overnight at Hotel Principe di Villafranca.
7° day FRIDAY PALERMO -
MONREALE - (ERICE OPTIONAL) - PALERMO
After a buffet breakfast. morning visit of the Capital
of Sicily, one of the richest towns in the island for
history and art: the Cathedral, the “Palatina” Chapel,
and panoramic tour of the town (the “Quattro Canti”, the
Opera House, the Pretoria Square). We will continue to
Monreale to admire the Cathedral with its splendid 12th
century mosaics and the cloister of the Benedictines
monastery with Moorish architecture. Lunch in your
Hotel. Afternoon at leisure or optional excursion to
Erice, a medieval town full of myth, history and art
which sits on top of Mt. Erice, overlooking the city of
Trapani and the Egadi Islands. Panoramic tour of the
saltwoks of Trapani. Dinner and overnight in your Hotel.
8° day SATURDAY PALERMO
After a buffet breakfast, end of the Tour.
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