Printer-friendly version Guaranteed Departures Includes:
Guaranteed Departures with a minimum of 2 clients
Small size group: From 2-25 people.
Because we guarantee a departure of this tour, we handle it a bit differently when we have a very small group of 2-7 people, or a larger group of 8-25 people. This tour is operated with a Driver-Guide from 2-7 people. The Driver Guide is not a Licensed Tourist Guide so will be driving and pointing out sites along the way. A Licensed Tourist Guide: a professional with a Regional license, permitted to conduct visits and tours in all sites and museums within a city is provided when the group number meets 8 participants as followed:
WHAT'S INCLUDED:
WHAT IS NOT INCLUDED:
Call 1-800-ITALY-25 Ask for our Highlights of Sicily Tour from Catania today!
Dates & Prices 2012
Departures from Catania on Monday
Return From Palermo on Sunday
January: 16, 30
February: 13, 27
March: 12, 26
April: 2* (Easter), 9, 16, 23, 30
May: 7, 14, 21, 28
June: 4, 11, 18, 25
July: 2, 9, 16
August: 27
September: 3, 10, 17, 24
October: 1, 8, 15, 22, 29
November: 5, 12
December: 3, 10
LOW Season (Jan 16 - March 26; Nov 5 - Dec 10)
Double/Triple Room per person: from $1,449
Single Room per person: from $1,859
PEAK Season (April 2 - Oct 29)
Double/Triple Room per person: from $1,599
Single Room per person: from $1,999
*Easter Date $200 supplement
OPTIONAL: Round trip transfers are available from airport to the hotel for $100 per person
Optional Tours:
Available while in Palermo and Taormina.
Etna Jeep Ride from Taormina
Today at 8:30AM you will be picked up at your Hotel by an off-road’s driver and transferred to Etna Volcano. Enjoy a lovely Jeep experience through Etna area: Mount Fontana (view of Bove Valley), the Thieves Cave (grotta dei ladroni), extinct craters of Sartorius Mounts, lava flow from 2002 eruption. Light-lunch at Farmhouse to taste typical Sicilian dishes. During afternoon off-road drive along the Linguaglossa-Castiglione and Alcantara Gorges. Short visit to Canyon entrance. Later back to Taormina hotel by 4:30PM.
TOUR PRICE: $170 per person
Taormina Gourmet - Group Tour option. Available Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat
Today at h 9:00AM walk to reach a local Restaurant (centrally located) in Taormina to meet Chef Orlando. A brief walk takes us to an open air market where we'll purchase fresh fruit, vegetables and all the ingredients necessary for the cooking course. Then back to the restaurant to start cooking. At the end of the cooking course, we will enjoy our scrumptious creations with the perfect compliment—a beautifully paired Sicilian wine. Dessert follows accompanied by a typical local Dessert wine.
Tour Cost: $ 130 per person.
Day by Day Itinerary:
Tour departs Catania on Monday. If you need a flight from the USA, you will depart on Sunday.
Day 1: Monday - Catania/Taormina - Arrival
Welcome to the warm, beautiful and pleasant island of Sicily! Upon arrival at Catania airport please proceed through the Passport Control and collect your luggage inside the customs area. Then independent transfer to your hotel in Taormina. The rest of the day is at leisure to explore
this scenic town on your own.
Day 2: Tuesday - Taormina
Enjoy today at leisure to rest or shops or Optional Excursions. Tonight our staff will meet you at the hotel for a short briefing. Then together we will meet for a group dinner at a local restaurant.
Dinner
Day 3: Wednesday - Syracuse
Today we depart for Syracuse, founded by colonists from Cornith in 735 B.C. and once the most important competitor to Athens. On arrival stroll through the streets of Ortygia Island, the heart of the city center. Light lunch at local restaurant. This afternoon visit through the Archaeological Park (Admission Fee: not included) highlights the Greek Theater, the Roman Amphitheater and the Paradise Quarry. Later back to Taormina.
Breakfast, Lunch
Day 4: Thursday - Piazza Armerina & Agrigento
Following breakfast, we will drive through the interior of Sicily to reach Piazza Armerina where we will view the ruins of the Roman Villa of Casale (Admission Fee: not included). The mosaics discovered here are celebrated among scholars of antiquity. This afternoon continue to Agrigento. On arrival light-lunch at country restaurant. This afternoon we will visit the finest of all ancient Greek sites—the complete Doric Temples (Admission Fee: not included). Then we will continue to Palermo, the capital of Sicily.
Breakfast, Lunch
Day 5: Friday - Erice, Salt Flats, Olive Oil, Segesta & Winery
Early departure to tour western Sicily where we reach Erice uptown. The Elymians settled the medieval town of Erice, which was an important religious site associated with the goddess Venus. Wander through its ancient streets and visit some of the famous homemade pastry shops—world-famous for marzipan candies and other delicacies like almond and pistachio pastries. Later we travel to Trapani on the Salt Way Road. We tour the historic salt flats works, where the ancient tradition of harvesting salt from the sea is still practiced. Then, to an olive oil factory-farmhouse to enjoy a light lunch. This afternoon we continue onto Segesta, one of the major cities of the ancient indigenous Elymian people, to visit the unfinished Doric temple (Admission Fee: not included), late 5th century BC, built on a hilltop just outside of the ancient city and has a commanding view of the surrounding area. Then to a local winery to taste Sicilian wine. We then return to Palermo.
Breakfast, Lunch
Day 6: Saturday - Monreale, Palermo & Cefalù
Breakfast at hotel. Our first stop is Monreale to see where the Arab-Norman art and architecture reached the pinnacle of its glory with the Duomo, launched in 1174 by William II. It represents scenes from the Old and New Testaments all in golden mosaics. Then onto Palermo to explore the lively Capo Market, a large open air street market that captures the flavor of Palermo's Saracen Arab past. Capo is a blend of general confusion and a jumble of vendors' stalls, winding toward the old gate --Porta Carini-- of what used to be the city wall. This afternoon we continue by seeing Piazza Pretoria and Via Maqueda, whose “four corners” converge Palermo at a quartet of baroque palaces left over from the heyday of Spanish rule dating from 1560. This afternoon depart for Cefalù, a charming coastal town home to a massive Norman Cathedral with outstanding mosaics. Here we visit the city center and stroll down main street to reach the Cathedral. Later back to Palermo
Breakfast
Day 7: Sunday - Palermo
Time to say goodbye to Sicily. Independent transfer to Palermo airport.
Breakfast
Optional post stay in Palermo is available.
Hotels:
*hotel may be substituted with similar categories or superior
Palermo: Hotel Plaza Opera
4 star hotel in the heart of Palermo, steps from Piazza Politeama
Hotel Plaza Opera is in the heart of the shopping area also surrounded by art galleries and theaters. The standard rooms offer satellite and cable LCD TV, mini bar, marble bathrooms with top quality amenities, air conditioning, phone, wireless broadband Internet connectivity.
4 star luxury hotel walking distance to Taormina's historic center
Hotel Villa Diodoro, a historic building itself, not only enjoys a convenient location but also boasts magnificent views of Mount Etna and the bay of Naxos from its pool (open year round). The restaurant serves fresh, locally inspired Mediterranean dishes in a beautifully maintained garden with stunning views. There are also has two elegant bars where guests sample a great variety of Sicilian wines and cocktails. The Wellness Center is equipped with a Technogym area and two rooms for special aromatherapy treatments.
Highlights
Taormina: World-renowned Mediterranean resort town
Syracuse: Archaeological Park and Ortigia Island
Piazza Armerina: Ancient mosaics in the Roman Villa
Agrigento: Valley of the Temples
Segesta: Doric Temple, Winery visit and wine tasting
Trapani province: Saltpan works
Erice: Castle built on the remnants of Venus Temple
Palermo: The Sicilian capital and capo market
Monreale: Dome and the golden mosaics
Cefalù: Norman Cathedral
Always wanted to visit Sicily and don't have much time to do it all? We have a great trip for you. 7 nights will cover all the highlights and we have pre and post stays available in Palermo. (INCLUDED CITIES: Palermo, Syracuse, Taormina)
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