Suggested Itinerary
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 – Mount Etna & Taormina
Morning visit to Mount Etna, the highest volcano in Europe with beautiful views of the Ionic Sea – guided tour of Taormina taking in the Palazzo Corvaia, the Duomo and the wonderfully panoramic 4th century BC Greek amphitheatre.
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 – Cefalù
Morning at leisure at the medieval seaside town of Cefalù with its splendid 12th century cathedral, mountain top archaeological site and narrow streets full of pleasant shops – transfer to Palermo airport for our scheduled flight home.
Tour Features
4* hotels throughout
Four dinners & one lunch included
All excursions & guided tours included
Professional tour manager
Scheduled flights to Sicily
Executive coach in Sicily
One free place per 10 paying passengers
Mount Etna
Guided tour of Taormina
Syracuse & the Temple of Apollo & the Parco Archeologico - guided tour
Island of Ortigia
Mosaics at Piazza Armerina & Villa Romana del Casale
Doric temples at the Valley of the Temples
Guided tour of Palermo
Monreale Abbey - guided tour
Cefalù
Hotel
Three nights on half board basis at the 4* Hellenia Yachting Hotel on the seafront at Giardini Naxos near Taormina on Sicily’s east coast, one night on half board basis at the 4* Grand Hotel dei Templi in Agrigento and the final two nights on bed and breakfast basis at the 4* Hotel Garibaldi in the historic centre of Palermo. All rooms are en suite.
Tailor-make this tour
Your tailor made tour
Here are some more suggested places of interest you might like to include:
- Segesta - with a hilltop position on Mount Barbaro outside the ancient city, it’s Doric temple dating from 5th century BC is one of the best preserved in the world
- Erice - a delightful medieval town poised on a crag to the west of the island with stunning views out to sea
- Castelbuono - mountain town home to a magnificent feudal castle once owned by the Ventimiglia family
- Lunch at a working farm winery near Siracusa featuring local wines and traditional locally grown food
- Noto - a beautiful town south of Syracuse famous for its early 18th century buildings, considered among the best examples of the Sicilian Baroque style
Tour Reviews
Reviews for Classical Sicily
The Arts Society trip to Sicily was a huge success, we all enjoyed it tremendously. Not least due to our excellent guide who - apart from being the most lovely person - was a mine of information, and couldn't have done more for us on any level to make our week more interesting or enjoyable. The coach driver was also brilliant - always in the right place at the right time. Our two agriturismo lunches out were excellent.
RH, Petersfield June 2024
Tailored Travel strikes again, what a fantastic trip we had to Sicily! All your attention to detail paid off, NOT ONE COMPLAINT and all 33 of us thought our Sicilian tour was excellent. I wanted you to know how grateful we are to you for all your hard work and attention to detail. Undoubtedly, our tour manager was the star of the show, he is very efficient, his English is near perfect and he is constantly working in the background to ensure that everything runs smoothly. I really do feel that Tailored Travel have excelled themselves with this particular tour, and we would like to thank you in particular for all your patience and determination to arrange the tour which most suited our particular requirements.
MR, Stourbridge May 2019
This is to let you know that we had a lovely time in Sicily, but I particularly wanted to thank you for Ludo. He was an excellent tour manager. He was always polite, funny, erudite and a thoroughly nice person. I do hope he will get lots more jobs with you as he is a great credit. Many thanks for a brilliant holiday.
JG, Woking November 2017
We had a lovely holiday in Sicily. Such a variety of things to see and experience, from Mount Etna, the seaside, a boat trip, Greek temples, Roman mosaics, Norman churches and gourmet food. Our tour manager was wonderful. He couldn’t be faulted and had usually done things before I asked him. The first and third hotels were luxurious, but the one night in Paradise was a misnomer! Thank you again for all your help in making this a wonderful holiday.
JT, Eynsford May 2016
Just a note to thank you so much for all your hard work on this trip, especially at the last minute. The weather was mixed and we had a few issues, but everyone enjoyed the trip enormously. Overall we are very impressed by Tailored Travel's organisation and attention to detail. All the local guides were excellent, and Rosa (in Syracusa) was outstanding. Topped only by Rosario, the best tour manager that any of us have ever met - not only was he very good at his job, he was the most caring and considerate host, always thinking ahead about people's needs and putting things in place before people needed to ask. Hope to work with you again on our 2016 tour, possibly to Barcelona in September - we'll be discussing at our committee meeting in May this year. With thanks again.
PH, Ilkley March 2015
I was on the U3A trip to Sicily that got back last night. I would like to say what a wonderful tour manager we had in Rosario. He was so pleasant, considerate to those of us who needed assistance at times and was always looking out for our welfare. He made our holiday memorable. Thank you.
MG, Otley March 2015
Many thanks again for all your help with our visit to Sicily. The group are still raving about it and it will be a hard trip to follow.
SB, Haslemere October 2014
Just to confirm all went swimmingly, hotels, guides, transfers etc. The weather was superb. A highlight for those of us who went was the trip to Etna. All the visits were very well received.
MJ, Marshfield October 2014
Call us on
020 7064 4970
to tailor this tour
for your group
Tailor make your group tour
Remember this itinerary is just our suggestion. Tailor make this tour exclusively for your group to suit your members’ budget or preferences. You could:
- stay at 3* hotels throughout
- with more (or less) dinners included
- for more (or fewer) days
- include different excursions – see ‘Tailor-make this tour’ tab for suggestions
- include UK airport coach transfers
- bring a specialist lecturer
- include all entrance fees & gratuities
Call us on
020 7064 4970
to tailor make the perfect tour
for your group
