Sicily Lovers Tour 2019
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Sicily Lovers Tour 2019 Highlights (14 nights - 15 days schedule): High quality accommodation in superior rooms in perfectly located 4-star hotels: 6 nights in the old city center of Palermo, 1 night near the Valley of the Temples, 2 nights in Ragusa, 2 nights in Ortigia (Syracuse), 3 nights in Taormina. Guided Visits and Excursions: Palermo, Salt Road and Stagnone Nature Reserve (Marsala), Erice, Castelbuono, Cefalù, Monreale, Caccamo, Mt. Pellegrino, Mondello, Scala dei Turchi, Valley of the Temples, Piazza Armerina, Villa Romana del Casale (Roman mosaics), Caltagirone, Ragusa, Modica, Marzamemi, Noto, Syracuse (Archaeological park and Ortigia), Catania, Taormina (city center and coastline by boat) Mt. Etna, Savoca (the Godfather's location), Castelmola. Meals: 14 continental breakfasts, 12 complete lunches and 4 dinners (aperitif and welcome dinner in Palermo; dinner with locals in Agrigento; dinner with wine tasting at the winery in the Valley of Acate; last night dinner in Taormina). Regarding to the other dinners, we will provide you with a list of the best restaurants walking distance to your hotels. Other included services: English speaking tour-guides for the whole tour; private transfers and excursions by middle sized Mercedes vans. Wine Tastings, Cookery Lessons and Food Experiences: “Cooking class with the Duchess” in Palermo; 3 wine tastings (at the oldest Sicilian winery in Marsala; at a winery in the Acate Valley; at a winery on the slopes of Mt. Etna); Show cooking with an authentic Sicilian housewife in Caccamo; Visit of a centenary olive grove to enjoy a great olive oil; Show cooking and chocolate tasting in Modica; Visit to a shepherd to enjoy his cheese. Other traditional Sicilian food tastings: street food in Palermo and Catania, Barbecue Experience, prickly pears, honey, fruit jams, panettone, cannolo, granita and ice creams, limoncello and other typical Sicilian liquors. Sicily Lovers Tour 2019 PHILOSOPHY OF THE TOUR We help you enjoy unforgettable experiences in Sicily... our beautiful island! This is a comfortable and high quality tour with terrific food and wine, unique locations, authentic experiences with locals and great leisure time! This is a 14 nights-15 days guided tour, oriented to a small group (from 14 to 20 persons). 15 days is the perfect time-frame to explore Sicily and experience the best of the island in the most relaxing way! A perfect mix of funny and authentic experiences to live a dream vacation! THIS SICILY TOUR IS FOR YOU IF YOU WANT TO ENJOY: Sicilian food and wine You will be seduced by the amazing flavors and essences of the Sicilian cuisine. You will be welcomed in the most charming restaurants and most beautiful wineries, to experience every day great meals with excellent wines. Each day you will experience a different tasting of the most authentic Sicilian food. High quality accommodation and great locations to visit You will discover the most important tourist attractions in Sicily, but also we will show you the undiscovered gems of the island. You will stay at high-quality hotels located in the old city centers of the most beautiful Sicilian towns. Staying in these strategic base points means being able to discover with us, in the easiest way possible, the most important tourist sites during the day. We have chosen for you the most comfortable grand tourism Mercedes vans, reliable English speaking drivers and nice tour-guides, with a great knowledge of Sicily! When you return to your hotel in the afternoon, you can easy enjoy your leisure time: the best restaurants, shops and clubs are walking distance from your accommodation! Few base points is the key to optimize your time in Sicily! It means No need to change your hotel everyday, no need to pack and unpack your luggage every time. Funny experiences with locals you will have many opportunities to breathe the true Sicilian atmosphere... living, eating, and doing the things Sicilian people do! The best of Sicily in the most relaxing way You will enjoy enough leisure time shopping or relaxing. Furthermore, we have decided to leave 3 half free days during the tour to let you enjoy your privacy: you are free to decide how to spend these days! If you have a Sicilian descent you could spend these days to meet your relatives: we can help you discover your ancestry while visiting beautiful Sicily! Sicily Lovers Tour 2019 SCHEDULE: Day 1: Arrival – Palermo Day 2: Day Cooking with the Duchess – Old city center of Palermo Day 3: Castelbuono – Cefalù Day 4: Erice – Salt Road – Marsala Day 5: Monreale – San Martino Day 6: Caccamo – Show Cooking with an authentic housewife Day 7: Mt. Pellegrino – Mondello – Scala dei Turchi – Valley of the Temples Day 8: Piazza Armerina – Caltagirone Day 9: Ragusa – Modica Day 10: Marzamemi – Noto – Syracuse Day 11: Ortigia (old city center of Syracuse) Day 12: Catania – Taormina Day 13: Mt. Etna (4x4 tour) – Savoca Day 14: Taormina (boat tour) – Castelmola Day 15: Departure Sicily Lovers Tour 2019 Detailed 14 nights - 15 days itinerary Day 1: Arrival - Palermo Upon arrival in Sicily our friendly representatives will greet you at the Falcone e Borsellino Airport (Palermo, PMO). Have a direct transfer to your hotel in the old city- center of Palermo, in the Northern coast of Sicily. Check-in at the hotel. 7.00 pm: meet your tour leader at the hotel lobby and enjoy a pleasant walk to a great location in front of the church of San Domenico where you will enjoy a welcome aperitif. During the aperitif your tour leader will explain you in more details your 14 nights/15 days itinerary. Move to a restaurant in the old town for the welcome dinner and spend your night at leisure. Overnight: 4-star hotel in the old city center of Palermo. On request and according to the arrival time, it is possible to experience more activities in Palermo such as an extra guided tour (to visit more locations not included during the visit of the day after), a performance in the Massimo Theater (the wonderful opera house of Palermo built in late 19th century and featured in the last scenes of The Godfather part 3) or a puppet show in the heart of the town. Sicily Lovers Tour 2019 Day 2: Day Cooking with the Duchess – Palermo Guided Visit 8.15 am: meet your tour leader at your hotel lobby and depart to the palace Tomasi di Lampedusa for a “Day Cooking with the Duchess”, a fascinating journey into Sicily’s rich cuisine, history and culture. Immerse yourself in a cookery lesson with the Duchess of Palma, in the extraordinary location of her 18th century historic palace overlooking Palermo’s seaside. The day starts with a journey deep into the colorful local Capo market to purchase ingredients for your class. Back at the Palace, you pick flowers, lemons and herbs from the terrace garden, once the original 16th century city walls. In the palace’s warm and welcoming kitchen, you engage in a hands-on cooking class. The Duchess instructs you in the preparation of traditional recipes including family cooking secrets and you learn more about the history of Sicilian cuisine. You then gather in the elegant formal dining room where you enjoy the four-course Sicilian menu that you have prepared together. To conclude the day, the Duke and Duchess treat you to a tour of the private wing of their beautifully restored palace, the last residence of Prince Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, author of The Leopard, a masterpiece of the Italian literature. After lunch meet a licensed English speaking tourist guide and experience the Arab-Norman circuit (included in the Unesco World Heritage list in 2015). Enjoy a guided visit of the most important tourist attractions of the capital of Sicily such as the Cathedral, Piazza Pretoria, “Quattro Canti”, Casa Professa and the other highly recommended stopovers of the old city- center of Palermo. Spend the late afternoon and night at leisure. Overnight: 4-star hotel in the old city center of Palermo. Sicily Lovers Tour 2019 Day 3: Castelbuono – Cefalù 9.00 am: meet your tour leader at the hotel lobby and move to the area of the Madonie Natural Park in the North of Sicily. Reach Castelbuono, a small medieval town full of life. Enjoy a food tasting with some traditional Sicilian delicacies and then visit the village rich in picturesque corners and history, such as the Ventimiglia castle built in 1316. Enjoy a typical lunch at a nice farmhouse into the natural park and then move to Cefalù, a picturesque fishing village and also a medieval town located on the north coastline of Sicily. After a quick guided visit you will spend some time relaxing on its beautiful beach, walking and shopping through the narrow streets of the medieval center and enjoying a “granita” (a typical Sicilian ice cream) in front of the Norman Cathedral, built in 1131. Return to your hotel in Palermo in the afternoon. Spend the late afternoon and night at leisure. Overnight: 4-star hotel in the old city center of Palermo. Sicily Lovers Tour 2019 Day 4: Guided visit of Erice – Salt Road (Stagnone Nature Reserve) – Marsala 9.00 am: meet your tour leader at the hotel lobby and move to Erice, a beautiful medieval town "suspended in time" at 750 meters above the sea level in the Westernmost point of Sicily. With a licensed English speaking tourist guide walk through the narrow streets that lead to the Norman castle and enjoy a splendid view of the Aegadian Islands. Enjoy a complete traditional Sicilian lunch at one of the best restaurants in Erice and then follow the Salt Road to the Stagnone Nature Reserve Lagoon near Marsala.