Sicilian Fantasy Tour - Summer

Itinerary 1st day SATURDAY PALERMO Independent arrival at Grande Albergo Sole in Palermo. Enjoy a welcome cocktail. Dinner and overnight at your hotel. (D) 2nd 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 Ionian 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. The possibility exists to visit the fascinating Roman - Greek theatre. Proceed to Catania. Accommodation, dinner and overnight at the Hotel Katane Palace. (B, L, D) 3rd 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 meters, where we will enjoy a fantastic panorama of the Ionian Sea. Lunch in a farmhouse on the slopes of Etna and wine tasting of the 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 Via Etnea, the Baroque street “Via Crociferi”, the 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 at your hotel. (B, L, D) 4th day TUESDAY CATANIA - SIRACUSA - NOTO - RAGUSA After a buffet breakfast, depart to Syracuse to visit the most beautiful Greek colony of Sicily. Visit the archaeological area including the famous Latomie of Paradise, the Greek Theatre, the Roman Amphitheatre and the Dionysius “Ear.” Visit the island of Ortigia, the small Baroque old city center 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 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 testimonies of Baroque architecture. Enjoy an aperitif in a nice bar in the main square by the Dome, “Basilica di San Giorgio.” Accommodation, dinner and overnight at Hotel Mediterraneo Palace. (B, L, D) 5th day WEDNESDAY RAGUSA - MODICA - PIAZZA ARMERINA - AGRIGENTO After a buffet breakfast, stop in Modica, one of the most picturesque cities in the province and of all of Sicily, mainly due to the appearance of late Baroque architecture, rich in important churches such as San Giorgio and San Pietro. Stop in a chocolate shop to have a taste of the famous Modica’s chocolate still made the same way the ancient Aztecs made chocolate in Mexico. Depart to Piazza Armerina and visit the world renown 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 to visit 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. After dinner enjoy an unforgettable panoramic tour of the Valley of the Temples illuminated. Overnight in Agrigento. (B, L, D) 6th day THURSDAY AGRIGENTO - 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 its 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 Grande Albergo Sole. (B, L, D) 7th 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 Benedictine Monastery with Moorish architecture. Lunch at 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 salt-woks of Trapani. Dinner and overnight in your hotel. (B, L, D) 8th day SATURDAY PALERMO After a buffet breakfast, end of the tour. (B) Rate Includes

• Welcome cocktail
• Full board basis (dinner on first day till breakfast on last day)
• Bus GT or minivan with driver/guide for groups with less than 15 people
• Tour escort
• Local guides where necessary
• Porterage at hotels
• Aperitif in Ragusa
• Wine tasting in Selinunte and on Mt Etna
• Chocolate tasting in Modica

Rate Does Not Include

• Transfers in/out
• Entrance fees at monuments (Price for entrance fees for all the tour is € 55,00 per person as of June 18, 2010)
• Beverages
• Everything which is not clearly specified under ”rate includes”

Spoken Languages English, Spanish, Italian Please Note For organizational reasons, the itinerary may be reversed or modified without notice. In any case the tour operator will ensure the visits and excursions mentioned on the journey

Departs

Every Saturday from April 7, 2012 through October 27, 2012.