Make your way to your local airport, where you will board your overnight flight(s). Your meals will be served on board.

Upon arrival at Palermo airport, you will meet your tour escort who will accompany you throughout your tour. We’ll transfer to our hotel in Palermo for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast, we will visit the Santuario of Santa Rosalia where the relics of the saint are kept. Born into a wealthy family, Rosalia felt a strong calling to a life of solitude and prayer. She fled to the mountains near Palermo, where she lived as a hermit and performed miracles. Rosalia’s holiness spread throughout Sicily, and people from all walks of life sought her intercession. Afterwards we’ll tour through Palermo’s colorful and bustling Ballaro street market – all spiced with an evocative whiff of Africa. See the top attractions in the old town of the Sicilian capital of Palermo, including the Teatro Massimo (exterior), Cathedral, and Politeama Theater (exterior). Your visit will include the Palatine Chapel as well. Dinner and overnight in Palermo.

We’ll greet our driver and hop aboard our coach bound for the hill-topping town of Monreale, renowned for its Arab-flavored cathedral, blending Byzantine, Arab, Jewish, Gothic, and Norman traditions, heritage, and art. We’ll tour the cathedral’s interior of glittering, golden mosaics as well as the story-telling columns of the cloister. On to Cefalù to explore the beautiful seaside village with its stunning World Heritage Norman cathedral. Time permitting visit as well the sanctuary of Gibilmanna, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, is a famous place of worship in the province of Palermo, which is Gibilmanna, village of Cefalu and religious belonging to the same diocese in the province of Palermo. It is located about 800 m s.l.m. on the western slopes of St. Angelo Pizzo (top of the Madonie), on whose top there was a church dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel. Continue to Patti for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast depart for Tindari, delightful locality on the Gulf of Patti along the Tirrenian cost on the north of Sicily. Founded by Syracusan merchants during the war against Carthage in 396 B.C., the ancient town of Tindari owes its name to Tyndareus, King of Sparta. Its history is a succession of tales, myths and legends that left indelible marks in the popular imagination. Nowadays the town is famous for the old acropolis and the presence of a Black Madonna, still worshipped in a Sanctuary, from the terrace in front of the church enjoy magnificent views of the Aeolian Islands and the beautiful formations of sand and gravel produced by the shallows at the foot of the cliffs. Continue to Savoca, unchanged since the arrival of Paramount Pictures in the early 70’s and only a few kilometers away from eternally fashionable Taormina. The road leading to this lovely village passes through some beautiful seaside towns along the rugged coastline of Sicily overlooking the Italian peninsula. It’s a breathtaking scenic drive with some exciting twists and turns. Once we arrive in town, we’ll stop at the picturesque Bar Vitelli that looks exactly the way it did when Michael Corleone managed to inform Apollonia’s father that he was ‘an American in hiding’. Unfortunately Signora Maria, who owned the establishment during the shootings, is no longer around to entertain you with little anecdotes, but no worries: our expert driver will make sure you get to know all the tales about director F.F. Coppola and the film crew. After checking out some pictures and memorabilia, you can sit at a table and enjoy a cup of coffee or a refreshing lemon granita while recalling the most memorable dialogues from the movie scenes. Later, we will stroll around the town and reach the church of Santa Lucia, where the scene of the wedding was shot. After visiting this lovely little church, we will proceed to Catania for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast, enjoy a city walking tour including the gorgeous cathedral of St. Agata of Catania a young Christian virgin from Catania who was martyred around the year 251 for refusing to renounce her faith and marry the Roman proconsul Quintianus. She is remembered for her courage and devotion and her relics are kept in a silver sarcophagus within the Cathedral of Sant’Agata. Explore the via Etnea and the via Crociferi, the very heart of baroque Catania. Dinner and overnight.

After breakfast, we’ll spend a day in beautiful Taormina with its remarkably situated ancient Greek theater, still used today for open-air performances. Later you’ll be free to enjoy the sights, sounds, and aromas of this beautiful cliffside old-world town. Dinner and overnight.

We’ll depart this morning to Siracusa. We’ll visit this place which illustrates the ancient history of the Mediterranean and Europe. Syracuse’s real attraction is the archaeological park, home to the pearly greek theatre. Constructed in the 5th century BC and rebuilt in the 3rd century, the 16,000-capacity amphitheatre staged the last tragedies of Aeschylus (including The Persians), first performed here in his presence. It serves as a model for the theaters across the Classical world where early Christians preached to their communities. Visit the Cathedral, Basilica and catacombs dedicated to St. Lucy the patroness of this city. We’ll also visit the Ortigia, dotted with impressive church facades, outdoor restaurants, elegant piazzas and surrounded by a crystalline sea. Dinner and overnight.

In the morning, we leave Syracuse and head to the town of Noto, which has been part of a Unesco World Heritage site, Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto, since 2002. The striking architecture is a result of a major earthquake in 1693, in which the old town was almost destroyed. It was reconstructed with a design intended to be functional and harmonious. We explore the small town on foot, wandering around the narrow streets, admiring the golden stone buildings and the fantastical façades and balconies. After lunch, we drive to Agrigento for dinner and overnight.

This morning we’ll enjoy the ruins of Agrigento, one of the richest of the Greek colonies and a thriving democracy 2,500 years ago. We’ll focus on Agrigento’s ‘Valley of the Temples’ – the largest, best-preserved collection of ancient Greek buildings outside of Greece itself. We’ll depart Agrigento and travel to back to Palermo. Dinner and overnight.

*206 Tours Disclaimer:
Though every effort will be made to follow the itinerary, it should be considered as an indication, rather than a contract of places to be visited. Occasionally local religious holidays, national days, weather, traffic conditions and other events may necessitate changes in the sequence of visits or the missing of certain visits.