Eastern Sicily - The 5 Senses 2026-27

Day-by-day itinerary

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1. 1Day 1Rome > Catania – the Aeolian Islands, 145 km

   Departure for Catania on ITA Airways scheduled flights – on arrival, transfer to Milazzo – board the hydrofoil and set out for Lipari – check-in at the hotel – dinner at the hotel – evening at leisure – the tour leader is at guests’ disposal – overnight stay.

2. 2Day 2Lipari and Salina tour, “myth and passion”

   Breakfast at the hotel – full-day motorboat excursion – leaving behind Lipari Castle, Monte Rosa and Canneto, our first stop is at the pumice quarries, with the chance of a swim – we then sail along Acquacalda towards Salina, a UNESCO World Heritage Site – a stop at Marina di Salina and a visit of the village – we continue along the eastern side of the island to a second stop in the wonderful Bay of Pollara, made famous by Troisi’s film Il Postino – afterwards, a light lunch with a wine tasting at Cantine Fenech, where Malvasia delle Lipari DOC is made, accompanied by tastings of local specialities – a stop at Lingua, where you can see the salt lake – on the way back, a visit to the caves of Lipari and a final stop at Vinci, facing the faraglioni sea stacks – return to Lipari in the evening – dinner at the hotel – evening at leisure – the tour leader is at guests’ disposal – overnight stay.

3. 3Day 3The Aeolian Islands – Vulcano, “black beaches and mud baths”

   Breakfast at the hotel – full-day motorboat excursion – the tour of this UNESCO World Heritage Site begins along Vulcanello, where the lava has sculpted extraordinary shapes – the Valley of the Monsters, the faraglioni sea stacks, the Grotta degli Angeli and the Black Sands bay, famous for its long beach of volcanic sand – we continue to the Grotta del Cavallo and the Pool of Venus – the tour ends at Porto di Levante, where we stroll through the little village with the chance to bathe in the warm mud pool – traditional lunch in a restaurant – free time for independent activities – the tour leader is at guests’ disposal – return to the hotel in the evening – dinner at the hotel – evening at leisure – the tour leader is at guests’ disposal – overnight stay.

4. 4Day 4Lipari – Milazzo – Etna, “the volcano”, and Viagrande, “cookery class and…

   wine tasting” – Catania, 230 km. Breakfast at the hotel – transfer by hydrofoil to Milazzo – transfer to the area of Viagrande, a traditional village on the slopes of Mount Etna, for an absorbing experience of land, food and wine at its very best at the renowned Benanti winery – guided tour of the Monte Serra estate: the ancient pre-phylloxera vineyard of Nerello Mascalese, a native grape variety, the old palmento and the picture gallery – tasting of the estate’s wines – in the afternoon, a guided excursion on Mount Etna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site – we climb to 1,900 metres to discover the wonders and lunar landscapes of Europe’s highest volcano, walking among the Silvestri Craters, now small and inactive – please note: guests who would rather not go up Mount Etna for health reasons may wait in Viagrande – in the evening, accommodation at the hotel in Acireale or Catania – dinner at the hotel – evening at leisure – the tour leader is at guests’ disposal – overnight stay.

5. 5Day 5Taormina, “a town like no other”, and the Alcantara River Park, “hidden trails”, 120 km

   Breakfast at the hotel – departure for Motta Camastra, a small village set into the rock within the Alcantara River Park – weather permitting, there is the chance of a walk in the open air (about 1 hour, 2 km) to see the gurne, the small round pools formed in the bed of the River Alcantara – you may also visit the gorges, up to 25 metres high and between 2 and 5 metres wide – in the historic centre, far from the usual tourist routes and in close contact with the local community, we are welcomed by the Mamme del Borgo, the mothers of the village, who reveal the secrets of an ancient place where life, still deeply bound to tradition and in harmony with the land, moves at a slow pace that lends fullness and authenticity to every day – traditional lunch with the Mamme del Borgo, who prepare any number of local dishes served informally in their own homes, where good company brings out timeless aromas and flavours – in the afternoon, a guided visit of Taormina (the Greek Theatre, the old cathedral, the public gardens, the historic centre, Palazzo Corvaja, Corso Umberto with its craft shops and characterful cafés displaying baskets of marzipan fruit, and Piazza IX Aprile with its breathtaking view) – free time for shopping – return to the hotel in the evening – dinner at the hotel – evening at leisure – the tour leader is at guests’ disposal – overnight stay.

6. 6Day 6Syracuse, “the Greek city”, and Noto, “where the Baroque takes the lead”…

   180 km. Breakfast at the hotel – departure for Syracuse – guided visit of this UNESCO World Heritage Site (the archaeological area with the Greek Theatre, the Roman Amphitheatre and the Ear of Dionysius; the island of Ortigia with the cathedral and the Fountain of Arethusa) – in the afternoon, a guided visit of the splendid Baroque town of Noto (the capital of European Baroque and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its magnificent cathedral, churches, monasteries and aristocratic palaces, the Porta Nazionale and the Town Hall) – lunch in a traditional restaurant – in the evening, arrival in Ragusa or Modica – dinner at the hotel – evening at leisure – the tour leader is at guests’ disposal – overnight stay.

7. 7Day 7Ragusa Ibla – Ragusa Alta – Modica, 30 km

   Breakfast at the hotel – in the morning, a guided visit of Ragusa Ibla and Ragusa Alta, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which together form one of the most singular art cities in eastern Sicily – Ragusa Ibla is the ancient heart of Ragusa, a late-Baroque jewel of evocative views and enchanting lanes; rebuilt on the plan of the original medieval village, Ibla is the setting for the imaginary Vigata created by the writer Camilleri and for the television series Inspector Montalbano – exterior visits of the Church of St George, Santa Maria dell’Itria, the Church of the Immaculate Conception, the Church of Purgatory, San Giacomo and San Giuseppe – Ragusa Alta is the modern town, built from scratch on the nearby Patro plain, where eighteenth-century architecture found more generous space within a grid of broad, symmetrical streets, and where we visit the Cathedral of San Giovanni and, from the outside, the Church of the Collegio and the Bishop’s Palace – onward to Modica – in the afternoon, a guided visit of Modica, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and another marvellous treasure house of Sicilian Baroque, rebuilt on a hexagonal plan to thoroughly Baroque principles – exterior visits of Palazzo San Domenico, Santa Maria and the house of Salvatore Quasimodo – interior visit of the Cathedral of San Pietro, the cave district of Sbalzo and the corpo di terra quarter – finally, a visit of San Giorgio and a stop at a celebrated pasticceria to taste the famous Modica chocolate – traditional lunch in a classic osteria – dinner at the hotel – after dinner, Modica by night: an excursion by private coach with the tour leader – overnight stay.

8. 8Day 8Donnafugata – Punta Secca – Scicli and the Montalbano locations, 90 km

   Breakfast at the hotel – full-day guided excursion – in the morning, a visit of Donnafugata Castle, a sumptuous late nineteenth-century patrician residence which, with more than 100 rooms, a maze and a number of artificial grottoes within its park, is one of the most evocative places in the whole province – walking through rooms that still hold their original period furnishings, you feel you have stepped back into the age of the last Gattopardi (the castle appeared in the television series as the home of the elderly mafia boss Balduccio Sinagra) – onward to Punta Secca, where the famous terrace of Inspector Montalbano’s house looks out over the beach a few steps from the lighthouse – then a visit to the Gli Aromi farm for an absorbing multisensory itinerary through an estate that has become, over the years, a point of reference for chefs and food lovers across Italy thanks to the 200 species of aromatic and medicinal plants grown there – the route winds through dozens of scents, ornamental plants and medicinal herbs chosen for their rarity: pineapple sage, stevia, lemon thyme, orange geranium and bergamot mint are just some of the varieties to be discovered, smelled, touched and in some cases tasted, revealing flavours that are surprisingly new and unexpected – sensory lunch with tastings of local specialities – in the afternoon, onward to Scicli, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, ringed by hills that seem to stand guard over it. It has kept its Baroque layout almost intact, with any number of palaces boasting splendid richly carved balconies and finely worked doorways, and several churches and oratories with beautiful façades crowded with statues and sculpture – the heart of the town is the broad, theatrical Piazza Italia, framed by handsome eighteenth-century palaces, the mother church and the towering limestone cliff on which the ancient Church of St Matthew stands (Scicli is also home to Palazzo Iacono, alias the “Mon

9. 9Day 9Buccheri – Palazzolo Acreide, “a UNESCO jewel”, 90 km

   Breakfast at the hotel – departure for Buccheri and arrival at the Oro Rosso degli Iblei farm, which specialises in growing saffron and where, in warm and convivial company, we learn how to make cavatelli – lunch of local specialities brought harmoniously to life by saffron – afterwards, a guided visit of Palazzolo Acreide, set in the splendid scenery of the Iblei Mountains, in the hinterland of Syracuse; this picturesque town opens to the traveller like a treasure chest waiting to be discovered, a crossroads of civilisations distinguished by the singularity of its urban plan and rich in traces of many different eras – listed among the Most Beautiful Villages in Italy and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this extraordinary place steeped in history carries all the appeal of an ancient site gracefully at ease with later architecture (a visit of the historic centre with the Baroque churches of San Sebastiano and San Paolo, Piazza del Popolo, the Clock Tower district and the sumptuous façade of the Church of the Santissima Annunziata) – return to the hotel – dinner at the hotel – evening at leisure – the tour leader is at guests’ disposal – overnight stay.

10. 10Day 10Modica – Capo Passero – Marzamemi, “the tonnara” – Catania > Rome…

    180 km. Breakfast at the hotel – in the morning, a guided visit of Capo Passero, where the Mediterranean and the Ionian meet in an enchanting corner, one of the most evocative in Sicily – onward to Marzamemi for a visit of this characterful fishing village, a charming hamlet of Arab origin – visit of the Marzamemi tonnara, historically the most important tuna fishery in eastern Sicily (its core is Piazza Regina Margherita and the owner’s palace; on the square too are the old church, built in sandstone, the Arab courtyard and the fishermen’s cottages) – then a visit to an artisan workshop where bottarga, tuna in olive oil and salted anchovies are still made today by traditional methods – fish lunch at a traditional tavern restaurant – onward to Catania airport – departure on ITA Airways scheduled flights for the return journey. Please note: the scheduled visits may be rearranged between days according to museum opening times or operational requirements, but the programme remains unchanged.