ITINERARY (9 nights/10 days): especially designed  for students

Palermo (2 nights) Agrigento (2 nights) Syracuse (2 nights) Taormina area (2 nights)
 

Day 1 (Sunday): Palermo

Welcome to the warm, beautiful and pleasant island of Sicily!

Upon arrival at Palermo airport please proceed through the Passport Control and collect your luggage inside the customs area. Outside of customs, you will find the driver waiting holding a sign with your full name. Transfer to the hotel. This afternoon enjoy a Lecture by a local expert. Later, Welcome Dinner at a local restaurant. (D)

Day 2 (Monday):  Monreale & Palermo 
After breakfast, our local guide will show us where the Arab-Norman art and architecture reached the pinnacle of its glory with the Monreale Duomo, launched in 1174 by William II.  Scenes from the Old and New Testaments are depicted in golden mosaics covering the interior.  Then to the Palatine Chapel in Palermo, which was the crowning architectural achievement of William II’s grandfather, Roger II.  We then continue by seeing: Piazza Pretoria and Via Maqueda with its “four corners” converging Palermo at a quartet of Baroque palaces left over from the heyday of Spanish rule dating back to 1560. Then we visit the Cathedral constructed in various architectural styles throughout the Roman, Norman, Arabic, and Islamic dominations. This afternoon dedicated to the visit to the Archaeological Museum. (BB)

Day 3 (Tuesday) Palermo/Segesta & Selinunte/Agrigento

This morning depart for Segesta -- it looks as if it were built yesterday. Segesta's ancient Greek temple makes a valid claim to being the best preserved in the world, and its amphitheatre boasts a hilltop position on Mount Barbaro second to none. The magnificent Doric temple--whose roof was never added and the pillars never fluted-- is impressive as one of the highlights of a large archaeological park. The archaeological site reflects the presence of several ancient civilizations, beginning with the elusive Elymians. Later transfer to Selinunte. On arrival enjoy a light-lunch at local trattoria. This afternoon we will admire what Guy de Maupassant called the splendid jumble of ruins at Selinunte "an immense heap of fallen columns, now aligned and placed side by side on the ground like dead soldiers, now having fallen in a chaotic manner." Than transfer to Agrigento whose history dates back to 580 BC.  Tonight we will enjoy a dinner at local trattoria. Before ending at hotel scenic drive by the Temples Valley by night (BB L D)

Day 4 (Wednesday) Agrigento

Following breakfast, a guided tour leads us through the Valley of the Temples, a magnificent cluster of Greek ruins overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.  This afternoon we will visit the Archaeological Museum. Tonight dinner at hotel (BB)

Day 5 (Thursday) Agrigento/Piazza Armerina/Caltagirone/Syracuse

Today’s drive across the vast countryside showcases Sicily’s great variety of sceneries. We soon arrive to Piazza Armerina to view the ruins of the Roman Villa of Casale. The mosaics discovered here are celebrated among scholars of antiquity. This afternoon we will continue to Caltagirone, a baroque town famous for local pottery. Time at leisure for shopping. Than continue to Syracuse, founded by colonists from Cornith in 735 B.C. and once the most important competitor to Athens.  (BB)

Day 6 (Friday) Syracuse

Today our guided visit through the Archaeological Park highlights the Greek Theatre, the Roman Amphitheatre and the Paradise Quarry.  Later stroll through the streets of Ortygia Island, the heart of the city center. This afternoon we will visit the Museum. (BB)

Day 7 (Saturday) Syracuse/Palazzolo Acreide & Akrai/Taormina

The area around Palazzolo Acreide was settled by humans since very ancient times. In the 11th-10th centuries BC the Siculi lived here in small villages. The town occupies the site of the ancient Akrai (Latin Acrae), founded by Syracuse about 664 BC. The city was important as it controlled the paths of communication with the towns on the southern coast of the island. According to Thucydides, the Syracusans defeated the Athenians here in 413 BC. In the treaty between the Romans and Hiero II of Syracuse in 263 BC it was assigned to the latter. After the Roman conquest, it became a civitas stipendiaria, and was still prospering in the course of the early Christian age. The old city was probably destroyed by the Arabs, in the first half of the ninth century. The new city was built around a Norman castle, no longer extant. In 1693, an earthquake destroyed almost all of the city, which was slowly rebuilt in the following centuries. Than transfer to Taormina bay. Dinner at hotel (BB D)

Day 8 (Sunday) Taormina/Messina o Reggio Calabria oMessina/Taormina

This morning departure to Messina where we will be on board on the ferry-boat to Reggio Calabria. On arrival we will visit the National Museum,  one of the most important archaeological museums in Italy. It offers the visitor a wonderful overview of the archaeological heritage of Calabria, with splendid findings from the Magna Grecia civilization and the exceptional Greek bronze statues found in the seas of Riace and Porticello. Lunch will be served at local trattoria. This afternoon back to Taormina bay. (BB L)

Day 9 (Monday) Taormina

All day long at leisure to visit Taormina on your own or OPTIONAL EXCURSION. Tonight we gather for a Farewell Dinner at local restaurant (BB D)

OPTIONAL EXCURSION: Mount Etna

A short drive takes us to the main visitor elevation on the slopes of Mt. Etna.  Those interested in experiencing the Etna craters will have the option to purchase cable car tickets on the spot (weather and volcanic conditions permitting) to experience the lava fields and incredible landscape view from Europe’s highest and most active volcano on their own. Then this afternoon, back to Taormina. (-)

Day 10 (Tuesday) Taormina/Catania  

Time to say goodbye to Sicily as we are transferred to Catania Airport (CTA) for our return flight. (BB)

MEAL LEGEND: BB Buffet Breakfast L Lunch D Dinner