5 days, 4 nights · Best for Ancient Greek temples, Roman mosaics and baroque Sicily in five days
Sicily Deluxe Group Tour
Journey from Catania to Palermo, exploring Siracusa, Ragusa with Sicilian product tastings, Caltagirone, Piazza Armerina, Agrigento, Monreale, and vibrant Palermo.
Your Adventure Starts Here
This is a starting point. Change the nights, choose the style of hotel, add the experiences you want. Your planner takes it from there.
Stop 1Catania, Sicily
Catania
Gateway to Sicily and your welcome evening
You arrive in Catania, the baroque city rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake at the foot of Mount Etna. We transfer you to your hotel for the afternoon. In the evening your tour escort gathers the group for a welcome cocktail and dinner, introducing the week ahead and the travelers you will share it with.
Arranged for you: We arrange your arrival transfer, welcome cocktail and group dinner with your escort.
Your hotel
Styles, not names. We name the property once we know your dates and your party.
Interests in Catania
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Mount Etna crater hike with a volcanologist Day Trips · Full day
Reach the active craters at 3,000 meters with a guide who studies the mountain's seismic activity.
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Catania street food tour Day Trips · Half day
Sample arancini, horsemeat rolls and raw sea urchin at the stalls around Pescheria market.
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Taormina and Isola Bella Day Trips · Half day
Visit the Greek theater overlooking the sea and the nature reserve island connected by a sand bar.
Day by day in Catania
Arrival in Catania and transfer to you hotel at your leisure. In the afternoon, meet and greet with your tour escort and travel group. Enjoy a welcome cocktail and dinner with your group before retiring for the night.
Stop 2Ragusa, Sicily
Ragusa
Baroque valleys and ancient Greek Siracusa
We begin in Siracusa, where the Greeks built a theater, amphitheater and quarries still visible in the archaeological park. You walk among the stone seats of the fifth-century BC theater and see the Ear of Dionysius, a cave with remarkable acoustics carved from limestone. On Ortigia island the Aragonese built the baroque center, its cathedral rising where a Greek temple to Athena once stood. You have time to explore the narrow streets and the Fountain of Arethusa before lunch on your own.
That afternoon we continue inland to Ragusa, a city split between the modern upper town and Ragusa Ibla below, rebuilt in Sicilian baroque after the earthquake and now a UNESCO site.
Arranged for you: We arrange group transport, entry to the Siracusa archaeological park and Ortigia, and hotel accommodation with breakfast.
Your hotel
Styles, not names. We name the property once we know your dates and your party.
Interests in Ragusa
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Modica chocolate tasting Day Trips · Half day
Visit the workshops where chocolatiers still grind cacao with sugar in the Aztec cold method.
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Cooking class in a Ragusa farmhouse Day Trips · Half day
Learn to roll cavatelli and make ricotta with a family on a working farm in the Iblei hills.
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Noto baroque walking tour Day Trips · Half day
Explore the golden limestone palaces and churches of the baroque city rebuilt on a grid after 1693.
Day by day in Ragusa
Breakfast at the hotel before departing for Siracusa, an ancient Greek city on the coast with a past rich in history and culture. You will visit its archeological site where you will see the Greek Amphitheater, Dionysus Ear, Minerva's Temple and the Roman Theater. The tour will continue to the Island of Ortigia, the old baroque city center of Siracusa built by the Aragonians. You will admire the Cathedral and the Fountain of Aretusa. At the end of the tour free time for lunch on your own in Ortigia Island. Transfer to Ragusa, a beautiful town built in two sections, the “new” one built after the 1693 earthquake and the old one called Ragusa Ibla, a wonderful and well known example of Baroque architecture and art. Before reaching your hotel for dinner, you will enjoy a typical aperitif and a tasting of typical products overlooking the main square and the majestic Cathedral of Ragusa Ibla. Dinner and overnight at your Hotel in Ragusa.
Stop 3Agrigento, Sicily
Agrigento
Roman mosaics and Greek temples on the coast
We travel west through Caltagirone, where ceramic workshops line the streets and a 142-step staircase displays hand-painted majolica risers. You visit a manufacturer to see the wheel work and glazing that made this town Sicily's pottery capital. In Piazza Armerina the Villa Romana del Casale holds the finest Roman floor mosaics outside North Africa, fourth-century hunting scenes and mythological panels covering 3,500 square meters. A group lunch in a local restaurant follows.
By late afternoon you reach Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples, where Doric columns stand along a ridge overlooking the sea. The Temple of Concordia, built around 440 BC, survives almost intact, its honey-colored stone catching the afternoon light as it has for twenty-five centuries.
Arranged for you: We arrange group transport, entry to Villa Romana del Casale and the Valley of the Temples, a ceramics workshop visit, lunch with local specialties and hotel accommodation with breakfast.
Your hotel
Styles, not names. We name the property once we know your dates and your party.
Interests in Agrigento
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Scala dei Turchi sunset visit Day Trips · Half day
Walk the white marl cliff formations carved by wind and sea into terraced steps above the water.
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Kolymbethra Garden private tour Day Trips · Half day
Explore the citrus valley between the temples with a botanist who manages this restored ancient garden.
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Cooking class with a Sicilian family Day Trips · Half day
Prepare pasta con le sarde and caponata in a home kitchen using recipes passed down three generations.
Day by day in Agrigento
After breakfast at the hotel, transfer to Caltagirone, home of the ceramic industry in Sicily where you will visit a ceramics manufacturer and showroom before continuing to Piazza Armerina. Once in Piazza Armerina you will visit the famous Villa Romana del Casale, housing the world's largest collection of late period Roman Mosaics. Typical lunch in a local restaurant to taste the local specialities. The tour continues to Agrigento, where you will visit the Valley of the Temples. This collection of temples represents some of the most beautiful Classical architecture, with the temples of Juno, Hercules, Zeus, Concord and Castor and Pollux. Dinner and overnight at your Agrigento Hotel.
Palermo, Sicily
Palermo
Byzantine mosaics and the baroque Sicilian capital
We drive north to Palermo, arriving with time to settle into your hotel and find lunch in the streets around the markets. In the afternoon we visit Monreale, where the Norman cathedral holds 6,400 square meters of Byzantine mosaics in gold leaf, Christ Pantocrator gazing from the central apse. The Benedictine cloister beside it shows Romanesque carving on 228 paired columns, each capital different.
Back in Palermo we tour the capital's layers: the Palatine Chapel with its Arab-Norman ceiling and mosaics, the Cathedral holding royal Norman tombs, Teatro Massimo's neoclassical bulk, and Piazza Pretoria's Renaissance fountain surrounded by baroque palaces. A farewell dinner with the group closes the tour.
Arranged for you: We arrange group transport, entry to Monreale Cathedral and Palermo's monuments, farewell dinner and hotel accommodation with breakfast.
Your hotel
Styles, not names. We name the property once we know your dates and your party.
Interests in Palermo
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Palermo street market and cooking demonstration Day Trips · Half day
Shop for swordfish and wild fennel at Vucciria market, then watch a chef prepare panelle and pasta con le sarde.
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Cappella Palatina extended visit with art historian Day Trips · Half day
Study the Norman chapel's Islamic muqarnas ceiling and Byzantine icon program with a scholar of medieval Sicily.
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Cefalù and the Norman coast Day Trips · Full day
Visit the cathedral and fishing harbor in this coastal town one hour east, with time for a seaside lunch.
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City Tours with Coffee and Tasting Shore Excursions · Tour in a DayExperience Palermo with all your senses; taste, sip, and stroll through the city’s vibrant streets and flavors.
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Puppet Theatre Shore Excursions · Tour in a DaySee Palermo’s most scenic landmarks, then step into Sicily’s storytelling tradition with a spellbinding Puppet Theatre performance.
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Walking Tour of Palermo Shore Excursions · Tour in a DayMeet Palermo at street level, 3 hours of bold architecture, layered history, and lively Sicilian energy.
Day by day in Palermo
After breakfast, you will depart to Palermo, where you will have time at leisure for lunch after checking in at the hotel. In the afternoon, the tour will proceed to Monreale, where you will tour the Cathedral and its beautiful 12th century mosaics and the Benedictine monastery. You will return to Palermo for a sightseeing tour of the Capital of Sicily and its many architectural and artistic treasures, such as the Palatine Chapel, the Cathedral, the Opera house and the Praetorian Square. The night will end with dinner in a local restaurant and a good night's sleep at your Hotel in Palermo.
Day 5
Palermo
Breakfast at the hotel and end of our services.
Why plan with Trips 2 Italy?
Designed around you by Italian-born planners
Guides, drivers and boats for your party alone
Hand-selected hotels in every destination
Local English-speaking guides who know their city
Met at the airport, private transfers throughout
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Questions travelers ask
How do we get between the destinations?
Transportation is arranged as part of the itinerary, with vehicle and train transfers as the itinerary requires. Every connection is planned for you, so you can focus on the scenery instead of the logistics.
Is this package a good fit for our group?
It suits travelers who want Italy arranged by experts, with guided experiences balanced by free time to explore on your own.
Is this package customizable?
It is. This itinerary is a sample built to spark ideas, and every element can be customized to your wishes and needs by your travel consultant. A minimum of 2 travelers applies.
When should we travel on this package?
The package is available all year around on request. Spring and fall offer mild walking weather and lighter crowds at the major sights, summer brings long lively evenings, and winter rewards travelers with quieter museums and festive streets.