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DAY 1/SATURDAY PALERMO
Independent arrival at the Hotel in Palermo. Enjoy a welcome cocktail. Dinner and overnight will be in your hotel. Transfers from airport to your hotel are available upon request, see prices below. .Also, pre-night stays are available upon request.
DAY 2/SUNDAY PALERMO – CEFALU’ – CAPO D’ORLANDO – TAORMINA – CATANIA
After a buffet breakfast, depart to Cefalů, a charming coastal town, a former fishing village, home to the breathtaking Norman Cathedral with its dazzling mosaics. Take a stroll to the city center and down the main street arriving at the Cathedral and the medieval wash-house built into the rock. You will proceed to Capo d’Orlando, along the Tyrrhenian coast, stopping for lunch. You will continue to Taormina called "the pearl of the Ionic Sea", founded in 400 BC and beautifully located overlooking the sea and the peak of Mount Etna. Enjoy time at leisure to shop for handmade lace, coral jewellery, ceramics, home-made sweets and pastries along the “Corso Umberto” or simply walk through the maze of tiny streets. You will have the possibility to visit the fascinating Roman-Greek theatre. Proceed to Catania. Accommodations, dinner and overnight will be at the Hotel Katane Palace.
DAY 3/MONDAY CATANIA – MONTE ETNA with lunch in a farmhouse - CATANIA
Today, after a buffet breakfast and weather conditions permitting there will be an excursion to Mount Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe. Across fascinating landscape, we will arrive to a height of 2000 metres, where we will enjoy a fantastic panorama of the Ionic Sea. Lunch will be in a farmhouse on the slopes of Etna and a wine tasting of the local production. Back to Catania, the city known for its original Baroque style and streets built from the black lava stone from Mt. Etna. We will have a walking tour through Via Etnea, the Baroque street "Via Crociferi", the Piazza Duomo with the Cathedral and the "Liotru" statue, symbol of the city. Also, we will see the Roman Amphitheatre, the Opera House (external visit), the University, and the noble Palace of Biscari (external visit). Dinner and overnight will be in your Hotel.
DAY 4/TUESDAY CATANIA – SIRACUSA – NOTO - RAGUSA
Upon completion of your buffet breakfast, depart to Syracuse to visit the most beautiful Greek colony of Sicily. Visit of the archaeological area including the famous Latomie of the Paradise, the Greek Theatre, the Roman Amphitheatre and the “Ear” of Dionysius. Visit the island of Ortigia, the small Baroque old city centre of Siracusa, built by the Aragonians: here you can admire the Cathedral and the “Fontana Aretusa”. Lunch will be in a local restaurant. In the afternoon, depart to Noto, one of the most beautiful cities in Sicily renowned for the harmony and unity of its Baroque style, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Proceed to Ragusa, a city that is divided into two parts: the upper part built after the earthquake in 1693 and the lower part that is called Ragusa Ibla, one of the most important testimonies of Baroque architecture. Enjoy an aperitif in a nice bar/café` in the main square by the Dome, “Basilica di San Giorgio”. Accommodations, dinner and overnight will beat Hotel Mediterraneo Palace.
DAY 5/WEDNESDAY RAGUSA – MODICA - PIAZZA ARMERINA – AGRIGENTO
After a buffet breakfast today, depart for Modica, one of the most picturesque cities in the province and of all Sicily, mainly to the appearance late Baroque, rich of important churches such as San Giorgio and San Pietro. You’ll stop in a chocolate shop to have a taste of the famous Modica chocolate still made the same way the ancient Aztecs made chocolate in Mexico. Depart to Piazza Armerina to visit the world reknowned Villa Romana del Casale. It is the richest, largest and most complex collection of late Roman mosaics in the world. Lunch in a local restaurant. You continue to Agrigento: visit the Valley of the Temples including the Temple of Juno, Concord, Heracles, Zeus, Castor & Pollux, they represent the most beautiful example of the Greek Civilization in Sicily. Dinner tonight is at Hotel Della Valle. After dinner, this evening, enjoy an unforgettable panoramic tour of the Valley of the Temples illuminated by night. Overnight will be in Agrigento.
DAY 6/THURSDAY AGRIGENTO – SELINUNTE with lunch in a farmhouse – SEGESTA - PALERMO
After your buffet breakfast, depart to the Archaeological park of Selinunte, the largest in the Mediterranean with the impressive Temples and Acropolis. Proceed to Castelvetrano to a local farmhouse, famous for its olive oil production. Prior to lunch it will be possible to have a wine and oil tasting of the local production. Proceed to Segesta to visit the Doric Temple which keeps in its stones the weight of a long history, surrounded by a unique landscape. Proceed to Palermo. Accommodation, dinner and overnight will be at Grande AlbergoSole.
DAY 7/FRIDAY PALERMO – MONREALE – (ERICE OPTIONAL) - PALERMO
After a buffet breakfast this morning you will visit of the Capital of Sicily, one of the richest towns of the island for its history and art: the Cathedral, the "Palatina" Chapel, and panoramic tour of the town (the "Quattro Canti", the Opera House, and the Pretoria Square). We will continue to Monreale to admire the Cathedral with its splendid 12th century mosaics and the cloister of the Benedictine Monastery with its Moorish architecture. Lunch will be at your Hotel. Afternoon will be at leisure or an optional excursion to Erice will be offered, Erice is a medieval town full of myth, history and art, it sits atop of Mt. Erice, overlooking the city of Trapani and the Egadi Islands, including a panoramic tour of the salt-woks of Trapani. Dinner and overnight will be in your Hotel.
DAY 8/SATURDAY PALERMO
Your Jolly Sicily Tour ends today after your buffet breakfast. Transfers from airport to your hotel are available upon request, see prices below. Also, post night stays are available upon request.
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