Grand Tour of Sicily - The 5 Senses 2026-27

Day-by-day itinerary

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1. 1Day 1Rome > Catania – The Cyclops Riviera – Acireale, 30 km

   Departure for Catania on ITA Airways scheduled flights – lunch on your own – in the afternoon, guided visit of the Cyclops Riviera, steeped in myth and literary landmarks such as the House of the Malavoglia, the family at the heart of Verga’s famous novel, with the picture-perfect village of Aci Castello – transfer by coach to Catania – dinner at the hotel – free evening, tour leader at your disposal – overnight stay.

2. 2Day 2Etna “the Volcano” & Viagrande “Cooking Class & Wine Tasting”, 70 km

   Breakfast at the hotel – transfer to the area of Viagrande, a traditional village on the slopes of Mount Etna, for an immersive experience of land, food and wine at the highest level 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 press house and the painting collection – traditional cooking class: preparing a complete menu of appetizer, first course, main course and side dish, inspired by the products and traditions of Catania and the Etna area and guided by what is in season – lunch at the winery, opening with an antipasto of cured meats, cheeses and local specialties, followed by the dishes prepared during the class and traditional desserts – wine tasting featuring a selection of the estate’s wines – in the afternoon, guided excursion on Mount Etna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site – we climb to 1,900 meters to discover the wonders and lunar landscapes of Europe’s highest volcano, walking around the Silvestri Craters, small and long dormant – free time – please note: guests who prefer not to make the ascent for health reasons may wait in Viagrande – return to the hotel in the evening – dinner at the hotel – free evening, tour leader at your disposal – overnight stay.

3. 3Day 3Taormina “a town like no other” & Savoca “hidden paths”, 120 km

   Breakfast at the hotel – in the morning, guided visit of Savoca, a captivating village that, beyond its beautiful panoramic setting and its many churches, old houses and noble palaces, became famous for the wedding of Don Corleone’s son, filmed in the Church of Santa Lucia, and for Bar Vitelli, opened in the 1960s and renowned both for its excellent lemon granita with passito wine and for the scenes of The Godfather shot here in 1971 by director Francis Ford Coppola – continuing to Taormina and a guided tour of the pearl of Sicily (the Greek Theater, the ancient cathedral, the public gardens, the historic center, Palazzo Corvaja, Corso Umberto with its craft shops and old-world cafés displaying baskets of frutta martorana, the marzipan sweets, and Piazza IX Aprile with its breathtaking view) – free time for shopping – lunch at a traditional restaurant – more free time for shopping – return to the hotel in the evening – dinner at the hotel – free evening, tour leader at your disposal – overnight stay.

4. 4Day 4Catania – Caltanissetta “the Castle of the Ladies” – Cefalù “a UNESCO…

   Heritage Site” – Palermo, 300 km. Breakfast at the hotel – departure for Caltanissetta – guided visit of this very old town at the center of Sicily (a walk through part of the old quarters of the historic center to admire its principal monuments, set in an urban fabric that grew out of the ancient Arab quarter; through the sumptuous noble palaces that grace the town center we uncover the stories and legends of its people, first among them the Moncada di Paternò family, and speak of important figures of recent history, including the celebrated sculptor Michele Tripisciano, Leonardo Sciascia, who lived and taught in Caltanissetta, and the aristocratic writer Pier Maria Rosso di San Secondo – the town’s past is also bound up with the sulfur mines that made it prosper as Sicily’s mining capital until the early decades of the last century, before a decline that became unstoppable after the war and led to the final closure of the mines in the 1970s – visit to the Mineralogical Museum and the sulfur mines) – lunch at a traditional restaurant – in the afternoon, guided visit of Cefalù (a picturesque town on the Tyrrhenian coast, set amid lush greenery and watched over by a great rock, above which rises the beautiful 12th-century Norman cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site – interior visit included – a splendid example of a distinctive architecture, with its towers, windows, arches and precious portal; and a historic center that still holds the remains of the 13th-century Osterio Magno and the medieval washhouse) – transfer to the hotel in or near Palermo – dinner at the hotel – free evening, tour leader at your disposal – overnight stay.

5. 5Day 5Palermo & Monreale, 20 km

   Breakfast at the hotel – full day devoted to a guided visit of the city – visit of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Norman Palace with the Palatine Chapel – interior included – San Giovanni degli Eremiti – interior included – and the cathedral – interior included – followed by a panoramic tour with exterior visits of the Teatro Massimo, Piazza Pretoria and the Church of Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, known as La Martorana – the cathedral and cloister of Monreale – interior included – a UNESCO World Heritage Site – lunch at a trattoria with a traditional Sicilian menu – dinner at the hotel – after dinner, Palermo by night: panoramic tour by private coach and walking tour with your tour leader – overnight stay.

6. 6Day 6Palermo – Nubia “the salt pans” – Wine Tasting – Marsala – Mazara…

   Del Vallo, 150 km. Breakfast at the hotel – departure for Nubia, where salt pans and windmills compose a striking landscape in which the light plays across reflections and colors that shift with the intensity of the sun and the stage of evaporation in each basin. Inside the distinctive Dutch-style windmill, home to the Salt Museum, the ancient tools of salt production are still preserved – visit to the prestigious Florio cellars and a tasting of the famous wine that takes its name from the town – short visit of Marsala with a walk through the historic center – tasting lunch accompanied by excellent local wine, built around raw seafood, including the celebrated Mazara red prawn, and the traditional Trapani-style fish couscous, at CTA Pesca Marea Viva, one of the 50 best places in the world to taste fresh shellfish and crustaceans – in the afternoon, guided visit of Mazara del Vallo, a lovely and ancient town in western Sicily (the distinctive canal harbor that shelters Italy’s largest fishing fleet; the historic center, with its intriguing Arab-Norman buildings and many Renaissance and Baroque churches; the original layout of the old town, the Kasbah, with narrow winding lanes opening onto picturesque courtyards; and, in the Church of Sant’Egidio, the Museum of the Satyr, home to the bronze Dancing Satyr, now famous the world over) – check-in at the hotel – free time – dinner at the hotel – free evening, tour leader at your disposal – overnight stay.

7. 7Day 7Mazara Del Vallo – Selinunte – Santa Margherita Belice – Scala Dei…

   Turchi – Agrigento, 150 km. Breakfast at the hotel – in the morning, guided visit of Selinunte (the archaeological park) – traditional lunch at a farmhouse – transfer to Santa Margherita di Belìce to visit Palazzo Filangeri di Cutò, the residence where Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa spent the happy summers of his youth and which later inspired several scenes in Il Gattopardo – departure for Agrigento – stop along the way to photograph the Scala dei Turchi – in Agrigento, guided visit of the Valley of the Temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the largest archaeological park in Italy (Temple of Concordia, Temple of Juno, Temple of Jupiter, Temple of Castor and Pollux, Temple of Hercules) – dinner at the hotel – free evening, tour leader at your disposal – overnight stay.

8. 8Day 8Agrigento – Piazza Armerina – Caltagirone – Modica, 200 km

   Breakfast at the hotel – departure for Piazza Armerina – guided visit of the splendid Villa Romana del Casale, a UNESCO World Heritage Site – traditional lunch at a farmhouse – in the afternoon, guided visit of Caltagirone, a town famous the world over for its ceramics – free time for shopping – arrival in Modica or Ragusa in the evening – dinner at the hotel – free evening, tour leader at your disposal – overnight stay.

9. 9Day 9Ragusa Ibla “the other Sicily” – Modica “an incomparable land”…

   Scicli, 50 km. Breakfast at the hotel – in the morning, guided visit of Ragusa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (an ancient historic center that preserves its late-19th-century urban layout, the Basilica of San Giorgio, Piazza Pola, the public gardens, the Cathedral of San Giovanni, Palazzo Cosentini, Palazzo Bertini, the Ponte Vecchio) – traditional lunch at a restaurant – in the afternoon, guided visit of Modica, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, birthplace of the poet Salvatore Quasimodo and famous for its chocolate (refined Baroque buildings and the Church of San Giorgio with its soaring tower façade) – return to the hotel in the evening – dinner at the iconic restaurant I Banchi di Ciccio Sultano – after dinner, Scicli by night: walking tour with your tour leader through this Baroque town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with the splendid Via Mormino Penna and the visionary Palazzo Beneventano – overnight stay.

10. 10Day 10Noto “where Baroque takes center stage” – Marzamemi – Capo Passero, 150 km

    Breakfast at the hotel – full-day guided excursion – in the morning, visit of the splendid Baroque town of Noto, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and capital of European Baroque, with its magnificent cathedral, churches, monasteries and noble palaces, Porta Nazionale, the Town Hall and Palazzo Villadorata – traditional lunch at a restaurant – in the afternoon, visit of the distinctive seaside village of Marzamemi, an enchanting fishing hamlet of Arab origin – visit of the tonnara, historically the most important tuna fishery in eastern Sicily (its core is Piazza Regina Margherita and the manor house; on the same square stands the old tonnara church, built in sandstone, while the Arab courtyard and the fishermen’s cottages are still there to be seen) – visit to an artisan workshop where tuna bottarga, tuna in olive oil and salted anchovies are still made by traditional methods – departure for Capo Passero, where the Mediterranean and the Ionian Sea meet in a delightful and deeply evocative corner of Sicily – return to the hotel in the evening – dinner at the hotel – free evening, tour leader at your disposal – overnight stay.

11. 11Day 11Modica – Syracuse “the Greek city” – Catania, 140 km

    Breakfast at the hotel – departure for Syracuse – in the morning, guided visit of Syracuse, a UNESCO World Heritage Site (the archaeological park: Greek Theater, Roman Amphitheater, the Ear of Dionysius, and the cathedral) – traditional lunch at a restaurant – in the afternoon, motorboat excursion around the island of Ortigia – tasting of a traditional dessert – arrival in Catania in the evening – dinner at the hotel – free evening, tour leader at your disposal – overnight stay.

12. 12Day 12Catania “the learned city” > Rome, 30 km

    Breakfast at the hotel – in the morning, guided visit of Catania (a splendid city of black-and-white Baroque architecture, with the cathedral, Piazza Duomo and its Elephant Fountain, Via dei Crociferi and Via Etnea, the long avenue that cuts through the city and, on a clear day, seems to run straight from Piazza Duomo to Mount Etna) – street-food lunch on your own – free time for shopping – transfer to the airport – departure on ITA Airways scheduled flights to Rome. Please note: the scheduled visits may be rearranged among the various days depending on museum opening hours or for operational reasons, but the itinerary itself remains unchanged.