Classic Sicily, Etna & Taormina

Fly to Catania on Sicily’s east coast, meet your tour manager and transfer to your first hotel in the resort of Mazzaforno or Santa Flavia.

Rest and relax after the journey and have dinner in the hotel.

Embark on this morning’s included tour, first calling at the Benedictine monastery at Monreale. Acknowledged as one of Sicily’s greatest architectural glories, this abbey cathedral is a mix of Romanesque, Byzantine and Arab design. Set off a guided walking tour of Palermo, the island capital that has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Founded by the Phoenicians, and later home to Carthaginian, Greek and Norman conquerors, Palermo, once Europe’s richest city, offers a glimpse of the entire history of Southern Italy in one place. Wander the streets of its four quarters, the Quattro Canti, watching the world go by from a seat in one of the city’s countless bars and cafés.

Return to the hotel later this afternoon, where you can spend some time before dinner by the pool or on the hotel’s private beach.

The morning sees you in the nearby coastal city of Cefalù. Dominated by a mighty cathedral, which we visit, and the craggy outcrop of ‘La Rocca’, Cefalù is part fishing port, part holiday resort. The 12^th-century cathedral is home to one of the world’s finest Byzantine mosaics, and the surrounding maze of medieval cobbled streets is a delight to wander through. The more energetic might even consider a climb to the Temple of Diana, on the slopes of La Rocca.

The town boasts a superb beach of fine sand, and there’s a good selection of shops, restaurants, and pavement cafés for you to explore and soak up the local atmosphere before you return to the hotel this afternoon.

Bidding farewell to Mazzaforno, travel deep into the Sicilian interior, to the medieval town of Piazza Armerina, set high in wooded hills, and close to the Roman villa at Casale, with its well-preserved mosaics, giving an insight into Imperial life. Continue to your second hotel, positioned in the resort of Giardini-Naxos or Letojanni.

Rest and relax and enjoy dinner in the hotel.  

Today’s included tour first heads to the southern slopes of towering Mount Etna. Ascend by cable car to a height of 2,300 metres, to take in impressive views on clear days, and perhaps walk to the base of the volcano’s crater. Taormina is no less stunning, with its marbled squares and flower-decked streets lined with restaurants – perfect spots for lunch. The famous Greco-Roman theatre is cut into the mountainside. Once used for gladiatorial contests, it is now a setting for modern performances that compete for audiences’ attention with the vistas of Etna and the sea.

After a special day, return to the hotel for dinner.

On yet another memorable day, go to the north coast port of Milazzo, where you’ll step aboard a ferry for the one-hour crossing to the glorious, volcanic Aeolian Isles, which rise out of the blue waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Arrive on the largest island Lípari, passing Vulcano with its brooding crater, and after docking in Marina Lunga, it is a short transfer to Lípari Town to spend a couple of hours, before returning to the mainland and back to the hotel for dinner.

Unearth the treasures of one of Sicily’s most important cities today, as you make the short journey to discover Syracuse. The former centre of the Greek empire, the ancient heart of the city is on Ortigia island, upon which great temples of Apollo and Athena were built.

It’s “Arrivederci, Sicilia”, as you leave the hotel and transfer back to the airport for your return flight to the UK, at the end of an incredible exploration of a truly intriguing island.