General Description
DAY 1: START OF TRIP / PALERMO
Arrival in Palermo and private transfer to the hotel. Overnight stay.
DAY 2: PALERMO
Breakfast. Meet your guide at the foot of the Teatro Massimo steps to admire the imposing structure of Italy's largest opera house. A few steps away, you'll enter the heart of the historic U Capu market, where history, tradition, and street food mingle with the voices and faces of Palermo's people. Visit the recently restored Baroque gem, the Church of the Immaculate Conception. Passing through alleys and ancient buildings, you'll reach the Norman cathedral, home to the remains of Frederick II of Swabia and the silver "Rod" of Saint Rosalie. Continuing our journey, between the gardens of Villa Bonanno and the ancient Roman ruins of Paleopoli, we will reach the Royal Palace or "Palazzo dei Normanni," which houses 3,000 years of our history and the splendid mosaics of the Palatine Chapel where Arabs, Byzantines, and Normans shared knowledge, esoteric secrets, life, and customs. Enjoying great tolerance, we will skirt the ancient fortifications and photograph the Church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, a strikingly Arab-Norman architecture with its distinctive domes. Discovering medieval neighborhoods, Spanish facades, and courtyards of historic houses, you will walk through the "Cassaro" to end the tour at the Quattro Canti or the Teatro del Sole, an elegant Baroque structure. Accommodation.
DAY 3: PALERMO – AGRIGENTO – PIAZZA ARMERINA – PALERMO
Breakfast. Departure of the tour from one of the Meeting Points closest to your hotel. Departure for Piazza Armerina to visit the famous Villa Romana del Casale (entrance to the villa not included), dating back to the late 4th century AD. It belonged to an important Roman family. This splendid Roman imperial villa in the heart of Sicily, in the province of Enna, is a magnificent rural residence, whose charm is mainly due to its mosaics, considered the most beautiful and best preserved of their kind. The result of meticulous work with sharp and moving images, they significantly embellish the remains of the sumptuous residence included on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997. Then, departure for Agrigento to visit, with a local guide, the magnificent Valley of the Temples (entrance to the Valley of the Temples not included), erected by the Greeks during the 5th century BC. There is a place in Sicily where the opulence of Magna Graecia is revived in the whirlwind of emotions aroused by its beauty: the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, the emblem of ancient Sicily and one of the island's most visited tourist attractions. It is a place with a thousand-year-old charm that rivals the Acropolis of Athens for its fame and charm. Its monumental Doric temples, illuminated by the blinding Sicilian summer sun or by the night lights, are an iconic image of this island's beauty and its fascinating history. For more than two thousand years, they have stood on a hilltop, majestic and proud. Very little remains of some, but it is enough to guess their original size and be amazed. At the end of the visit to the Valley, return to Palermo. Overnight stay.
DAY 4: PALERMO – SEGESTA – ERICE – TRAPANI – PALERMO
Breakfast. The tour departs from one of the Meeting Points closest to your hotel. We will travel west of Sicily to reach Erice. The Elimi settled in the medieval town of Erice, which was an important religious site associated with the goddess Venus. Perched atop the mountain of the same name, the medieval village of Erice stands at 750 meters high, enjoying an exceptional panoramic view over the Gulf of Trapani and the Egadi Islands on one side and the Valderice Valley on the other, embracing the Sicilian countryside. Small and incredibly authentic, Erice is a maze of cobbled streets that flow between churches, squares, and ancient courtyards, tempting its visitors to discover. After the visit, take a scenic walk through the sea salt pans of Trapani, where the ancient tradition of salt extraction by evaporation of seawater is still practiced. It's impossible not to be seduced by the Trapani and Paceco Salt Pans Nature Reserve, a natural area managed by WWF Italy and established in 1995. Its 1,000-hectare area makes it one of the largest protected areas in Sicily, divided equally between the municipalities of Trapani and Paceco. The majority of the reserve is made up of privately owned salt pans that are still active, where salt is extracted using centuries-old techniques by renowned companies. This afternoon, we will continue to Segesta, one of the main cities of the ancient indigenous Elimian people, to visit the unfinished Doric temple (entrance to the temple not included). Built at the end of the 5th century BC, it stands on a hill just outside the ancient city and offers a commanding view of the surrounding nature. You don't need to be interested in Greek and Roman history to be impressed by Segesta: the ancient ruins of this important archaeological site have a powerful evocative force and a truly evocative charm. At the end of this wonderful day, return to Palermo. Overnight stay.
DAY 5: PALERMO/END OF TRIP
Breakfast. Free time until the shared transfer (without assistance) to the airport for your flight to your destination city
End of our services.
For organizational reasons, the itinerary may be modified or reversed without prior notice. In any case, the provider guarantees all visits and excursions mentioned in the itinerary
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