Savor Sicily through its history, culture, food, wine, music, and interaction with locals!
Enchanting Sicily
Saturday, September 23, 2017 – Saturday, September 30, 2017
(8 days/7 nights)
Palermo > Catania
Limited to 12 Guests | Private Transportation | Fully Escorted | All but 1 Meal
Price: $4,100 per person, double occupancy *, **
Stay for the extension (see below for details), and leave on October 2 from Palermo! Add $575/person.
This September, be bewitched by Sicily! During Enchanting Sicily, we’ll discover the region’s hidden corners, interact with locals, immerse ourselves in Sicilian culture and history, and explore UNESCO World Heritage sites such as Valley of the Temples, the Roman Villa of Casale, Mount Etna, and the Arab-Norman gems of Palermo. We’ll wander through charming historic centers such as Erice and Taormina, and we’ll relish long meals in traditional trattorias and savor the bouquets of local vintages. Our accommodations are family-run inns and elegant hotels. Our companions are local, licensed guides, expert drivers, and Experience Sicily’s chief curator, Allison Scola and her Sicilian cousins. This experiential, multi-sensory tour is designed for the traveler who wants to delight in every minute with a hands-on cooking class, live music performances, intellectual discussions about Sicily’s past, present, and future, and so much more!
* Single Occupancy Supplement is an additional $1000.
** Save $125 if you pay by personal check.
– Price includes all transportation by private, air-conditioned coach and all but 1 meal as indicated in itinerary.
– Price does not include airfare or travel insurance.
– Please note different arrival and departure cities.
* Single Occupancy Supplement is an additional $1000
** Save $125 if you pay by personal check.
Download and print the itinerary as a .pdf document here:
Experience Sicily-Enchanting-Sicily–September-2017
Secure your place today by calling 646-281-4324 or emailing AllisonScola@ExperienceSicily.com.
Day by Day Descriptions
This itinerary is subject to change.
Departure Day| Friday, September 22
- Transportation to U.S. airport is on your own.
- Departure from U.S. to Italy
Meal Included for Today: N/A
Accommodations: Overnight Flight from U.S. to Palermo, Italy
Day 1 | Saturday, September 23
- Private transfer from Palermo airport to our family-run inn/agriturismo in Scopello
- Settle in, rest, and enjoy the beautiful scenery
- Explore Scopello village on your own
- Early evening welcome meeting, meet-and-greet, and review of our tour together
- Wine tasting at our agritursimo
- Dinner as group featuring traditional Sicilian cuisine
Meals Included for Today: Dinner
Accommodations: Scopello, family-run inn
Day 2 | Sunday, September 24
- Visit Monreale Cathedral and its cloisters with expert guide
- Lunch featuring Palermo’s renowned street food
- Tour Palermo’s Arab-Norman heritage sites with expert guide
- Dinner as a group featuring typical cuisine
Meals Included for Today: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodations: Scopello, family-run inn
Day 3 | Monday, September 25
- Today, we’ll commune with the turquoise sea aboard a leisure boat from where we’ll explore Sicily’s Lo Zingaro nature preserve from the sea. Bring your suntan lotion and swim suit—there will be opportunities to swim in hard-to-reach coves, and if we are lucky, we may see dolphins!
- Light lunch aboard the boat.
- Return to inn for freshening up.
- Early evening visit to the town of Erice, where we’ll have time for shopping and wandering.
- Dinner as a group
Meals Included for Today: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodations: Scopello, family-run inn
Day 4 | Tuesday, September 26
- After we check-out of our seaside inn, we’ll make our way through the Sicilian countryside.
- With a local, expert guide, we’ll tour the UNESCO site Valley of the Temples in Agrigento
- After lunch as a group in Agrigento’s historic center, we’ll check-in to our inn to freshen-up.
- Then, a local mamma will host us for a hands-on cooking class—You’ll love bringing
typical Sicilian recipes home to share them with your friends and family for years to come. - For dinner, we’ll eat the fruits of our labor!
Meals Included for Today: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodations: Agrigento, family-run inn
Day 5 | Wednesday, September 27
- We’ll spend the day communing with the locals—and I’m not only talking about shop keepers in a small mountain village!
We’ll also meet some other “friends” along the way! Bring comfortable shoes and long pants because we’ll be in the mountains. More details closer to departure. - Relaxed dinner as a group at our inn.
Meals Included for Today: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodations: Agrigento, Family-run inn
Day 6 | Thursday, September 28
- Check out of our inn
- Drive to Piazza Armerina
- Be fascinated by the intriguing UNESCO World Heritage Site, Villa Romana del Casale, a treasure of Roman mosaic scenes including the renowned “Bikini Girls”
- Lunch as a group at a local Slow Food designated trattoria
- Check in to our cliff-side hotel
- Enjoy time and dinner on your own to explore shops and restaurants in the bewitching town of Taormina
Meals Included for Today: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodations: Taormina, 4-star hotel
Day 7 | Friday, September 29
- Today we’ll explore another UNESCO World Heritage Site: Mount Etna. This environmentally charged visit to Europe’s largest, most active volcano will be led by expert, local guides.
- We’ll learn about the volcano while visiting different craters, eruption points, and lava caves.
- For lunch, we’ll picnic on local specialties and wine supplied by our hosts.
- Upon return to Taormina, you’ll have the late afternoon to shop, relax on your terrace, and prepare for departure.
- Dinner as a group at an elegant trattoria.
Meals Included for Today: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodations: Taormina, 4-star hotel
Day 8 | Saturday, September 30
- Early morning private transfer to Catania, Fontanrossa airport
- Arrivederci Sicily!
- OR… come with us to Palermo.
Meals Included for Today: Breakfast
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Palermo Extension
For an additional $575/person join us for 2 more days before departure!
Day 8 | Saturday, September 30 
- Relaxed morning in Taormina
- Noon departure for Messina center
- Light lunch in Messina
- Drive along Sicily’s north coast
- Stop in the ceramics center of Santo Stefano di Camastra for shopping and time on your own
- Check-in to our family-run inn in Santa Flavia
- Dinner as a group at our inn
Meals Included for Today: Breakfast, Light Lunch, Dinner
Day 9 | Sunday, October 1
- Relaxed day at inn to enjoy pool, the property, and prepare for departure
- Early evening activity to be announced
- Pizza party with Allison’s cousins
Meals Included for Today: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 10 | Monday, October 2
- Group, private transfer to Palermo airport
- Early morning departure from Palermo airport (suggested flight is Alitalia departing at 7:55 a.m.)
Meals Included for Today: “To Go” Breakfast
Download the Itinerary as a .pdf document here:
Experience Sicily-Enchanting-Sicily-September-2017
Secure your place today by calling 646-281-4324 or emailing AllisonScola@ExperienceSicily.com.
Important Notes to Consider
- The tour officially begins with your airport transfer from PALERMO PUNTA RAISI AIRPORT to our inn on Saturday, September 23, 2017 and officially ends with your airport transfer from our hotel in Taormina to CATANIA FONTANAROSSA AIRPORT on Saturday, September 30, 2017 or if you participate in the Palermo extension, then tour officially ends on Monday, October 2 with your transfer to Palermo Punta Raisi Airport.
- At the start of the tour, you will fly into Palermo airport. Flights from the U.S. will depart the night before (on September 22) and arrive the morning or afternoon of September 23. Our first group event will be in the evening of September 23 for our orientation, followed by dinner. Please plan accordingly. The official conclusion of our tour on September 30, 2017 is with check-out of our hotel in Taormina and a private transfer to Catania Fontanarossa Airport. If you are participating in the Palermo extension, you will return from Palermo Punta Raisa Falcone-Borsellino Airport the morning of Monday, October 2. Suggested departure is 7:55 a.m. on Alitalia and its partners.
- The boutique nature of this itinerary means that it is subject to change as we get closer to departure. Our objective is to include activities and events that are tailored to our guests’ interests. Therefore, in most cases, changes will enhance your experience, as it is our mission to provide you with the most memorable experience in Sicily.
- The trip price is for double occupancy and does not include airfare. There is a single supplement of $1000.
- Details about our accommodations will be released once you have paid in full. All information will be emailed to you approximately 30 days before departure.
- Tour price includes costs for all excursions, planned entertainment and ticket prices, tour transportation, and all but 1 meal (consult day to day description for details).
- Tour price does not include airfare, travel insurance, or personal purchases and gifts.
- The meals included in the tour price include 2 glasses of wine and/or soft drinks per meal. If you wish to enjoy additional wine or other alcoholic beverages beyond this allotment, you are welcome to purchase them separately from the group’s bill.
- The cost of this tour does not include travel insurance; however, it is highly recommended that you purchase a comprehensive plan to cover the costs of your airfare, tour, loss of luggage, and medical expenses. Please ask us for a list of providers.
- Gratuities are included. Any additional recognition of our drivers, hosts, and guides is at your discretion.
- Sicily is a large region that requires a lot of driving. It is also very mountainous and, as a result, has many winding roads. We have designed the itinerary to break up the driving as much as possible, but on some days, long drives will be necessary. If you suffer from motion sickness, please bring motion-sickness medication with you. Please alert Allison what will make you more comfortable.
- You must be in good physical health to enjoy this tour. Although we will not be engaging in physically rigorous excursions, there is a significant amount of walking on various surfaces and types of terrain as well as standing for extended periods of time, especially at archeological sites.
- Please inform us in advance regarding any dietary restrictions, food allergies, and other personal concerns.
- Experience Sicily appreciates constructive criticism and feedback. If you have any suggestions or issues while on the tour, please approach Allison privately to discuss thoughts and solutions.
Secure your place today by calling 646-281-4324 or emailing AllisonScola@ExperienceSicily.com.
