Classical Sicily - Crossroads of the Mediterranean

Day 1 – Giardini Naxos

Scheduled flight from your preferred airport to Catania – transfer with our professional tour manager in our private executive coach to the 4* Hellenia Yachting Hotel on the seafront at in Giardini Naxos near Taormina.

Day 2 –Taormina & wine tasting at Cantina Gambino

Guided tour of Taormina taking in the Palazzo Corvaia, the Duomo and the wonderfully panoramic 4th century BC Greek amphitheatre – included wine tasting at Cantina Gambino.

Day 3 – Syracuse, island of Ortigia & included lunch

Guided tour of Syracuse, home to Sicily’s earliest Doric temple, the Temple of Apollo, and the Parco Archeologico featuring the Teatro Romano, the Altar of Hieron II and the spectacular Teatro Greco carved from the hillside – the island of Ortigia in the historical heart of Syracuse is full of close knit lanes, Baroque palaces and churches along with the Piazza Duomo, an open space lined with impressive buildings – included lunch at a working farmhouse in Syracuse before returning to the hotel.

Day 4 – Villa Romana del Casale

Travel inland to Piazza Armerina for a guided tour of some of the finest surviving mosaics from Roman antiquity at the Villa Romana del Casale – travel on to Agrigento and check in to the 4* Grand Hotel dei Templi.

Day 5 – Valley of Temples

Guided tour of the Doric temples dating from the 5th century BC at the Valley of Temples in Agrigento, with nine of the ten original temples still visible and some still beautifully preserved – travel on to Palermo and check into the 4* Hotel Garibaldi in the historic centre.

Day 6 – Monreale & Palermo

Guided tour of the magnificent cathedral at Monreale, one of the great sites of Norman Sicily adorned with glittering Sicilian and Byzantine mosaics – guided tour of Palermo including La Martorana, the Palazzo Abatellis, the awe inspiring Palatine Chapel in the Palazzo Reale and the Church of San Cataldo.

Day 7 – Guided tour of Segesta & Erice

Guided tour of Segesta, with a hilltop position on Mount Barbaro outside the ancient city, its Doric temple dating from 5th century BC is one of the best preserved in the world – a delightful medieval town poised on a crag overlooking the sea, at Erice we visit the 14th century Duomo, home to a ‘Madonna and Child’ attributed to either Francesco Laurana or Domenico Gagini.

Day 8 – Palermo

Morning at leisure in Palermo – transfer to Palermo Airport for our scheduled flight home.