Sicily in Depth

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DETAILS

Crossroads of the Mediterranean … the “toe” in Italy’s boot … “God’s Kitchen” … Sicily is all this, and much more, as we see on our stellar small group journey around this Italian island. It’s lively cities and ancient ruins, temples of man – and of nature, hospitable people and delectable cuisine … a feast for all the senses.

 

Pricing from
$5,174

Call 888-370-6765 to reserve this tour today!

Trip Type
Group Travel Tour, International Land & Rail Voyages
Departure Dates
Sep 29, 2024 - Oct 10, 2024

HOTELS

Eurostars Centrale Palace, Palermo / Days 2-4 / Superior First Class

Located in the heart of Palermo, within walking distance of the Palermo cathedral and the famed Via Maqueda.  The Centrale Palace occupies the old Palazzo Tarallo building, retaining the original structure along with vintage frescoes and furniture. The hotel also forms part of the Arab-Norman route, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, where the Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, and Arabs raised their places of worship. Sample traditional Italian dishes at the panoramic restaurant, The hotel amenities include complimentary Wi-Fi access, fitness center facilities, room service, and laundry-dry cleaning services (for a fee). Air-conditioned guest rooms include private bath with hair dryer, satellite TV, an in-room safe, and a mini bar.

Baia di Ulisse, Agrigento / Days 5-6 / First Class

The only hotel in the area with direct access to a private beach, Baia di Ulisse stands along the southern coast of Sicily, just a short drive from Agrigento.  The hotel boasts classical Sicilian décor and offers amenities including a restaurant and bar, full spa with sauna and whirlpool (services available Fri-Sun), and complimentary Wi-Fi internet access in common areas.  From June to September, guests can enjoy an outdoor swimming pool with views of the Mediterranean. Each air-conditioned guest room has a balcony and features private bath with hair dryer, minibar, TV, and phone.

Hotel Borgo Pantano, Syracuse / Days 7-9 / First Class

The Hotel Borgo Pantano sits on the site of a restored 19th century manor in the rolling green countryside outside Syracuse.  This contemporary, family-run property was opened in 2010 and boasts four dining and drinking options (a restaurant, outdoor grill, thatch-roof poolside bar, and lobby bar), sweeping manicured grounds with an array of covered sitting areas, an expansive outdoor swimming pool and lounge area, laundry and dry cleaning service (for a fee), and complimentary Wi-Fi internet access.  Each air-conditioned guest room has a unique layout and furnishings, is decorated with art created by local artists, and includes private bath with hair dryer, minibar, tea- and coffee-making facilities, TV, and phone.

Hotel NH Collection Taormina, Taormina / Days 10-11 / Deluxe

The elegant Hotel NH Collection Taormina is nestled high on the rugged wooded hillside along which the city of Taormina is built.  The hotel offers a restaurant, café, rooftop swimming pool with poolside bar, fitness center (with spa, sauna, solarium, and steam bath), laundry and dry cleaning service (for a fee), and complimentary Wi-Fi internet service.  Air-conditioned guest rooms have private bath with hair dryer, minibar, in-room safe, tea- and coffee-making facilities, TV, and phone.

 

AIRFARE

Discounted airfare available!

READING LIST

Mary Taylor Simeti
On Persephone’s Island
Strong on the delights of rural life, Simeti’s portrait of Sicily takes the form of a year-long journal, capturing the spirit of the people, daily life, traditions and the land.

Peter Robb
Midnight in Sicily, On Art, Food, History, Travel and La Cosa Nostra
Combining interviews, research and essays on Sicilian history and culture, this vivid report by journalist Robb is a superb introduction to Italy’s glorious, corrupt and troubled south.

Giuseppe Di Lampedusa
The Leopard
Evoking a lost world of privilege and tradition, Di Lampedusa’s memorable tale, set on a rural Sicilian estate during the days of independence, follows the world-weary Don Fabrizio, Prince of Salina. A classic, now in a 50th-anniversary edition.

Eyewitness Guides
Eyewitness Guide Sicily
This superb guide to Sicily features color photography, dozens of excellent local maps and a synopsis of the island’s attractions. Handsome, convenient and up-to-date, this is the guide to carry.

Touring Club Italiano
Sicily Map
A detailed map of Sicily (1:200,000). The detail is great if you don’t mind folding it out to its full poster size.

Lawrence Durrell
Sicilian Carousel
Durrell writes with warmth and grace of his journey around the island in the 1950s.

Andrew Edwards
Sicily, A Literary Guide for Travellers
From local authors to classic writers like Cicero and Shakespeare and 20th-century greats Lawrence and Capote, this literary survey reveals Sicily’s multifaceted personality through literature.

Andrea Camilleri
The Shape of Water
Not to be confused with the Oscar-winning film of the same name, this is the first of Camilleri’s wildly popular Inspector Montalbano mysteries, nicely translated and shot through (pun intended) with not just memorable characters but also with Sicilian lore and politics. If you like the series, it continues in 19 more installments — and counting.

Leonardo Sciascia, Avril Bardoni (Translator), Alberto Mobilio (Introduction)
The Wine-Dark Sea
A collection of 13 stories, all set in the celebrated writers’ native Sicily, and featuring mafiosi, carabinieri and villagers.

Ellen Grady
Blue Guide Sicily
This in-depth guide to Sicily’s ancient history and archaeology features detailed maps and site plans.

Jeremy Dummett
Palermo, City of Kings, The Heart of Sicily
The first history of Palermo available, this short book is a standalone history of the city, but also surveys important monuments and sites.

John Keahey
Seeking Sicily, A Cultural Journey Through Myth and Reality in the Heart of the Mediterranean
Taken with Sicily, its culture and its literature, Keahey explores the food, history and pure pleasure of the place, using his heroes Giuseppe di Lampedusa, Leonardo Sciascia and other Sicilian literary greats as guides.

Francine Prose
Sicilian Odyssey
Novelist Francine Prose tries her hand at travel writing in this lyrical, vibrant and concise portrait of Sicily. Prose evokes Sicily’s history, art, landscape and cuisine through considerations of her own journey across the island.

Joseph Privitera
Sicily, An Illustrated History
Privitera covers the scope of Sicily and its diverse civilizations in lively prose and well-chosen illustrations in this succinct history.

John Julius Norwich
Sicily, An Island at the Crossroads of History
Norwich delivers a page-turning account of Sicily, from the Classical period through the Mafia, highlighting the crucial role the island has played in world politics.

Sandra Benjamin
Sicily, Three Thousand Years of Human History
With clarity and authority, Benjamin traces the rich legacy of the Greeks and Romans, Vandals and Goths, Arab traders, Normans, Bourbons and others who have contributed to the multi-faceted history of the kingdom of Sicily.

G. Messineo, E. Borgia
Ancient Sicily, Monuments Past & Present
In this illuminating overview, ingenious overlays depict 17 important sites as they appear today and how they may have appeared in the past.

Daphne Phelps
A House in Sicily
An old-fashioned memoir of life at Casa Cuseni, the pensione and garden in Taormina run by the indomitable Daphne Phelps, which has been a sanctuary for such guests as Tennessee Williams, Betrand Russell and others, famous and infamous, since 1947.

Roberto Alajmo
Palermo
In this charming little book, Alajmo offers a wry, lyrical portrait of his native city, its people, charms and “big problems.” What follows is a rollicking, odd journey through the peccadilloes of the Sicilian city.

TERMS & CONDITIONS

TOUR MAP

Sicily_1-29-2023

ITINERARY

  • day Day 1

    Depart U.S. for Palermo, Italy

  • day Day 2

    Arrive Palermo

    We arrive today in Palermo, capital of Italy’s autonomous region of Sicily. This evening we gather at our hotel for a briefing on the journey ahead, followed by a welcome dinner.

  • day Day 3

    Palermo

    On this morning’s walking tour, we discover 2,700-year-old Palermo’s twin claims to fame: impressive architecture and world-class street food. Highlights include Palermo Cathedral and Palatine Chapel, both part of Arab-Norman Palermo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site comprising nine civil and religious structures dating to Norman rule in Sicily (c. 12th century). We then discover the Baroque city center and pass by Massimo Vittorio Emanuele Theater, one of Europe’s largest opera houses. Along the way we pass through vibrant markets selling arancini, cannoli, and other Sicilian specialties – which, of course, we stop to sample. Following our tour, we enjoy lunch at a local restaurant then return to our hotel in the city center. This afternoon, take a walking tour of some of Palermo’s architectural highlights. With dinner on our own tonight, perhaps a culinary adventure is in order – and thanks to Sicily’s strategic Mediterranean location that lured many invaders, Sicilian food incorporates Italian, Arabic, and African influences into a singular, and delicious, cuisine.

  • day Day 4

    Palermo/Erice/Trapani

    A full day of touring takes us first to the medieval walled town of Erice. Perched atop a mountain nearly 2,500 feet above sea level, Erice offers panoramic views of the valley below, the port town of Trapani, and the Tyrrhenian Sea beyond. We continue to Trapani, where we visit the region’s famed salt pans. Though the area is a designated Nature Reserve, Sicilians still harvest salt here using centuries-old methods; indeed, the oldest of the area’s 60 working windmills dates to the island’s Arabic regime. We tour the museum here then enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before returning to Palermo.

  • day Day 5

    Palermo/Monreale/Agrigento

    En route to Agrigento today, we stop in nearby Monreale. Sitting on the slopes of Monte Caputo, Monreale looks over La Conca d’Oro, or “the Golden Shell,” a richly fertile valley studded with groves of orange, olive, and almond trees. Here we visit the city’s celebrated cathedral, another gem of Arab-Norman Palermo and one of the finest examples of Norman architecture still in existence. The imposing main façade and ornate outer cloister serve to prepare us for the cathedral’s breathtaking main sanctuary, where every inch of wall and ceiling space is covered with painstakingly detailed mosaics. Crafted by artisans from Constantinople (now Istanbul), the dazzling mosaics contain some 4,850 pounds of pure gold. Next we visit a nearby
    family-owned winery, where we enjoy a wine tasting and lunch. Our journey then continues; late this afternoon we reach Agrigento and our hotel, where we dine together tonight.

  • day Day 6

    Agrigento

    This morning we visit the Valley of the Temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and archaeological zone whose ruins of fallen Doric temples and sanctuaries date to Greek rule in the 5th-century bce. Known in its heyday as “the most beautiful city of mortals,” Agrigento was one of the leading cities during the Golden Age of ancient Greece. Our tour features both the eastern zone, where we see the beautifully preserved Temple of Concordia (c. 430 bce), and the western zone, with the massive temple of Olympian Zeus, believed to be the largest Doric temple ever built. From the outdoor sites, we then move on to Agrigento’s archaeological museum, with exhibits and artifacts that tell the story of this outpost of classical Greece. Then we return to our hotel for a cooking lesson and dinner.

  • day Day 7

    Agrigento/Piazza Armerina/Syracuse

    We travel across Sicily’s southern reaches today to Syracuse (Siracusa), stopping along the way in Piazza Armerina to visit Villa Romana del Casale, an elaborate 4th century ce villa and UNESCO World Heritage Site boasting one of the richest, and largest, collections of mosaics in the Roman world. Thanks to having been buried by landslides, the villa, its vivid frescoes, and the more than 3,200 square feet of mosaics survived the millennia in remarkably good shape. Following our tour here, we continue on to Syracuse, arriving late this afternoon. Once the largest city in the ancient world, Syracuse today is an alluring spot known for its superb archaeological sites and the relaxed seaside ambience of its Baroque old town.

  • day Day 8

    Syracuse

    Today we discover what this city is best known for: the Archaeological Park of Neapolis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that comprises a range of ancient monuments. We begin our explorations at the 5th-century bce Greek theatre, the 16,000-seat amphitheatre where the tragedies of Aeschylus were staged – in his presence – and still in use today. Next: Latomia del Paradiso (Paradise Quarry), the now overgrown shaft from which the white limestone used to build Syracuse was cut. Because it has excellent acoustics, the quarry also is known as the Ear of Dionysius. We continue on to the Roman amphitheatre, the 1st-century bce arena that once held gladiator spectacles; today it hosts musicals on its ancient stones. After lunch on our own, we take a walking tour of Ortigia, the “white pearl” of Sicily, the historical center of Syracuse, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This afternoon we will also visit Baron di Benevento del Bosco’s Palazzo to view his architectural drawing collection of Siracusa’s architecture.

  • day Day 9

    Syracuse

    This morning we embark on a cruise along Sicily’s Ionian coast dotted with tiny islands and caves. We see historic Ortigia Island, the Spanish Wall, and 13th-century Castello Maniace that served as a bulwark against invaders in the Middle Ages. We have some time to explore Ortigia before returning to our hotel, where we dine tonight.

  • day Day 10

    Syracuse/Mount Etna/Taormina

    We depart Syracuse this morning and make our way up the coast to Taormina. Along the way, we stop at a private farm set amidst acres of lemon and kiwi groves, where we enjoy a small group highlight: a homemade lunch prepared by the family who lives here. After lunch we visit Mt. Etna, one of Europe’s largest active volcanoes. After we descend from the volcano, we resume our journey to Taormina, arriving late this afternoon. This evening is at leisure, with dinner tonight on our own.

  • day Day 11

    Taormina

    This morning we embark on a walking tour of this delightful medieval town set on a rocky terrace overlooking the Ionian Sea. Highlights include the 3rd-century bce Greek theatre, where gladiators once battled; the 13th-century fortress-like Duomo; and grand Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, site of the ancient agora and today an inviting plaza. This afternoon is at leisure to enjoy Taormina as we wish; tonight we celebrate our Sicily adventure over a farewell dinner at a local restaurant.

  • day Day 12

    Depart for U.S.

    We transfer today to the Catania airport for our return flight to the U.S.

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