Food and Wine Grand Tour of

This tour of Sicily will lead you for 10 days to the discovery of the most striking spots of Sicily with a focus on the excellent Sicilian cuisine.

Sicily 10 ND Multi Days Private

This Food and Wine Grand Tour of Sicily will lead you for 10 days to the discovery of the most striking spots of Sicily with a focus on the excellent Sicilian cuisine.

Route: Land: Palermo airport (PMO – Falcone Borsellino International Airport), West Side Leave: Catania airport (CTA – Fontanarossa International Airport), East Side Days: 1st – LAND: Palermo airport (PMO: Falcone Borsellino International Airport)/Town 2nd – Palermo Walking and Street Food Tour and 3rd – Palermo/Erice/Lunch in a Olive Oil Farmhouse/Winery/Palermo 4th – Palermo/Countryside/Agrigento 5th – Agrigento/Temples Valley/Roman Villa/Syracuse 6th – Syracuse, Half Day Walking Tour 7th – Syracuse/”Truffle Hunting” and “Time Machine” Experience/Truffle Cooking Show in a Watermill 8th – Syracuse//Ragusa/Modica/Taormina 9th – Etna and lunch in a Winery by Jeep WD4X4 Land Rover (no ascent to the summit) 10th – Taormina/LEAVE: Catania airport (CTA: Fontanarossa International Airport)

10 days/9 nights: Palermo (3 nights) Agrigento (1 night) Syracuse (3 nights) Taormina (2 nights)

The routing of this Food and Wine Grand Tour of Sicily includes a good mix of Sicilian culinary experiences, landscapes, art and culture. You will get on a WD4x4 Land Rover and you will travel through off the beaten paths. You will hunt truffles with a trained dog and you will have meals with local people. Will be savored typical street food, pastries and a variety of Sicilian wines. You will visit most of the sites with a professional licensed guide.

Please enquire us to know all details and chat with our experts about routing, lodging, local guides and experiences to include in your tour!

Day 1 Palermo Airport/Town

Private Vehicle and Italian Speaking Driver Disposal: transfer-in only Meet & Greet with English Speaking Assistance at Palermo Airport.

Welcome to the warm, beautiful and pleasant island of Sicily! Upon arrival at Palermo Airport please proceed through Passport Control and collect your luggage inside the customs area. Then, you will meet your English-Speaking Assistant and transfer to your hotel.

Day 2 Palermo Walking and Street Food Tour and Monreale

Taxi Disposal: only for r/t transfers to Monreale English Speaking Local Guide Included for: Half day from h 09.00AM

Today walking tour of Palermo! We start admiring the Massimo Theatre (external view), then we explore a suggestive and lively open-air market, a place with strong Arab influences, resembling a souk, with picturesque stands of fresh fish, cheeses, fruits and vegetables. During the tour we will have the opportunity to observe local people in their daily activities and to savor foods that a real Sicilian people love to eat! Tasting of typical street food is included. The walking tour through the ancient center of Palermo is around 3-4 hours, and we will visit several monuments including Piazza Pretoria and the . At the end of the walking tour we will reach Monreale by taxi in order to visit the Dome, a wonderful example of the Arab-Norman art and architecture. Founded in 1174 by William II, the Dome represents scenes from the Old and New Testaments all in golden mosaics. Later, return to Palermo by taxi. In the evening welcome dinner at fine restaurant.

Day 3 Palermo/Erice/Lunch in an Olive Oil Farmhouse/Winery/Palermo

Private Vehicle and English-Speaking Driver Disposal: full day from h 9.00AM

Departure for Erice, a wonderfully preserved Mediaeval town offering the most breathtaking views and a palpable sense of history. 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. Then we drive to an Olive Oil Farmhouse for oil and wine tasting and lunch with local products. After lunch we travel to Marsala region along the Salt Way Road. While travelling we will be fascinated by this unusual landscape: panels of mirror-like water, held by thin strips of earth and white windmills. In Summer now as then in some areas between Trapani and Marsala it is possible to admire piles of salt just harvested. Stop in a Winery for visit and wine tasting. Then we drive back to Palermo.

Day 4 Palermo/Countryside/Agrigento

Private Vehicle and English-Speaking Driver Disposal: full day from h 9.00AM

Today departure for a small village off the beaten paths to have an amazing experience based on the interaction with local people and observation of artisans at work, a plunge in a rural and friendly atmosphere. Especially we will meet a dairy producer to learn how milk is processed, observe cheese production and savor different types of dairy products of the highest quality and zero-foot miles food. Later we visit a bakery where the owner will show us Pizza and Bread preparation. Then we will have a nice home-cooked lunch in picnic style to enjoy local life and real gastronomy for your unforgettable Sicilian local food experience. Later we drive to Agrigento. In the evening a short drive will take us in a small village to experience a family dinner among friends at home that will end with a nice “Cubaita Show Cooking” and a journey through time (Cubaita is a typical Almond torrone).

Day 5 Agrigento/Temples Valley/Roman Villa/Syracuse

Private Vehicle and English-Speaking Driver Disposal: full day from h 9.00AM English-Speaking Local Guide Included for: Temples Valley visit Only English-Speaking Local Guide Included for: Roman Villa visit Only

Today guided visit of the finest of all ancient Greek sites—the whole Doric Temples, one of Sicily’s most famous historical attractions. This is one of the most outstanding examples of Greater Greece art and architecture, and is one of the main attractions of Sicily as well as a national monument of Italy. The area was included in the UNESCO Heritage Site list in 1997. This splendid archaeological park consists of eight temples (and various other remains) built between about 510 BC and 430 BC: the Temple of Hera, the Temple of Concordia, the Temple of Heracles, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the Temple of Hephaestos, the Temple of Demeter, and the Temple of Asclepius (the God of Medicine). Then we drive to a Winery where we stop for a visit, wine tasting and light lunch. After lunch departure for Piazza Armerina to visit the famous Villa Romana del Casale with an English-speaking local guide. Built in the middle of the 4th Century AD as a hunting lodge by a Roman patrician the Villa is home to some of the best preserved and extensive examples of Roman mosaics spread over around 3500mt. Later drive to Siracusa.

Day 6 Syracuse, Half Day Walking Tour

Taxi Disposal: only for r/t transfers to Archaeological Park English Speaking Local Guide Included for: Half day from h 09.00AM

Today we start the visit of Syracuse with a transfer by Taxi to the Archaeological Park, whose main highlights of which are the Greek Theatre, the Roman Amphitheatre and the Paradise Quarry. The resulting park is one of the most extraordinary heritage left us by classical antiquity and, given its degree of interest and importance, it has few equals elsewhere in Italy. Then stroll through the streets of Ortygia Island, the heart of the city center, to visit the Dome. This delightful pedestrian square is home to the wonderful Cathedral built on the site of an ancient Temple of Athena, as can clearly be seen from the original Doric columns that were incorporated into the building’s main structure. Later to the colorful daily Street Market, which sells a fantastic array of fruit, vegetables, fish and meat. From here, this afternoon, wandering around the eastern limits of Syracuse you fill find a maze of streets that eventually open out at the southern extreme of the island, and the inaccessible Castello Maniace, a true bastion built by Frederick II in 1239. Later onto the Byzantine Miqwe, located at 18 meters of depth and considered the biggest and oldest Jewish ritual bath in Europe. Afternoon at leisure.

Day 7 Syracuse/ ”Truffle Hunting” and “Time Machine” Experience/Truffle Cooking Show in a Watermill

Private Vehicle and English-Speaking Driver at Disposal: full day from h 9.00AM

Today departure to enjoy the experience of walking in the forest with a local experienced truffle hunter and his trained dog. Follow the dog hurriedly through the forest as he sniffs about and experience the surge of excitement as he starts digging for these edible treasures. While hunting, you can enjoy the charming Sicilian countryside breathing pure air in a gorgeous wood. The walk is very easy and requires no particular effort. Later a sightseeing drive will lead us along the countryside, the hills and the vineyards, toward Buscemi, named the “museum town”, for a travel back in time to learn how people used to live in Sicily about a century ago. We will visit the ethno-anthropological itinerary “the farmer work places”, that includes a visit of the museum dedicated to the artisanal works, and a tour of the places of the past: the farmer home, the millstone, the blacksmith shop, the carpenter shop, the shoemaker shop and other typical works of the time. Then, we drive to a wonderful location, an ancient watermill, surrounded by streams, waterfalls and small lakes with breathtaking colors, where an experienced chef will welcome us in the kitchen and teach us how to clean and use the truffle: a natural wonder, perfect for enriching many dishes and transforming taste into an experience. Following, a truffle-based menu will be prepared for us, paired with local delicacies and excellent Sicilian wines. Later we drive back to Siracusa. Day 8 Syracuse/Noto/Ragusa/Modica/ Taormina

Private Vehicle and English-Speaking Driver Disposal: full day from h 9.00AM

Today departure for Noto, a masterpiece of ! Most of the buildings, including churches and noble palaces, follow one another along the main street and are characterized by the honey tone of tufa stone. Facades and balconies are all skillfully decorated by grinning masks, lion heads, putti and other embellishments. Noto Cathedral is unmissable: dedicated to Saint Nicholas, it is built in perfect Sicilian Baroque style. Then to Modica. Like the other towns in the Val di Noto, it was badly damaged by the 1693 earthquake and largely rebuilt in Sicilian Baroque style. Palazzi and houses rise from the bottom of the gorge seemingly stacked one on top of the other. Magnificent churches, with their inspiring domes, bell towers and intricate facades, punctuate the red-tiled roofs and one is struck by the uniform beauty of the whole. Modica is also famous because it is the custodian of a 400-year tradition of Sicilian chocolate-making. Today Modica is still specialized in making grainy chocolate, often flavored with chilli-pepper, cinnamon or vanilla, based on Aztec methods and recipes. Chocolate shops abound, and for the real chocoholic, it is sometimes possible to watch the “chocolatiers” at work. A tasting of Modica chocolate is a must. This afternoon onto Ragusa to visit one of the most fascinating towns in Sicily. Ragusa has caused many a visitor’s jaw to drop as they first set eyes on the lower part of the town. Essentially Baroque, the Ragusa you will see today dates almost entirely from 1693. Indeed, it was in this year that Ragusa was razed to the ground by a terrible earthquake that hit most of the eastern side of Sicily. Public opinion on where to rebuild the town was divided, and so a compromise was made. The wealthier, more aristocratic citizens built a new town in a different site, now Ragusa “Superiore”, while the other half of the population decided to rebuild on the original site, now Ragusa Ibla. While the upper part has its fair share of architectural delights, it is the smaller Ragusa Ibla down below that really draws visitors. Later onto Taormina.

Day 9 Etna and lunch in a Winery by Jeep WD4X4 Land Rover (no ascent to the summit)

Private Jeep WD4X4 Land Rover with English Speaking Driver Escort, full day from h 9.00AM

Today meet the off-road’s driver and transfer to Etna Volcano. During our first stop we will discover a unique canyon comprised of basaltic lava (the “Alcantara Gorges”) and shaped by the waters of the Alcantara river. The Alcantara's vertical cliffs reach 30 meters in height and its structures have been forged by high intensity geological and geothermal events. After this stop, we will visit the historic center of Castiglione di Sicilia, a medieval village perched on a hill overlooking the Alcantara valley. The tour includes a walk to the Belvedere of the Castello di Lauria (of Norman-Swabian origin dating back to the twelfth century and built on the highest cliff of the medieval village). We will make a brief stop at the 2002 lava flow reachable by jeep through a winding dirt road surrounded by chestnut and oak forests. Continuing our excursion, we will reach the Ragabo pine forest where hidden among pines and brooms, we will discover the cave of Corruccio (1350 meters above sea level) a cave formed by flowing lava. Later, driving up along the Mareneve road we will reach Piano Provenzana (1800 meters above sea level), a ski resort, theater of the great eruption of 2002. Before coming back to Taormina, traveling through one of the wine roads of Sicily and crossing large expanses of vineyards (Etna D.O.C.), we will stop at a local winery, to enjoy a relaxing moment surrounded by nature while sampling local cuisine and excellent wines. In fact, the wines are complemented by uniquely local delicacies. Later we return to Taormina Day 10 Taormina/Catania Airport

Private Vehicle and Italian Speaking Driver Disposal: transfer-out only

Today time to say goodbye to Sicily. Today private transfer with Italian speaking driver to Catania Airport.