Sicily (2012)

You'll fly from New York or Newark to Palermo. 

Arrival times vary throughout the day, depending on your city of departure. You'll be met at the airport and assisted to your hotel. This evening, join your fellow travelers and Program Director for a Welcome Drink. Dinner tonight is on your own.

After breakfast, enjoy a walking tour of Palermo. Stretched along a beautiful bay on the Tyrrhenian Sea, Palermo was founded by the Phoenicians in the seventh and eighth centuries BC, and after it was conquered by the Arabs in AD 831, a period of immense prosperity commenced. You'll be enchanted by Palermo's wide boulevards, traditional Sicilian Old Quarter, and Baroque palaces. You'll visit Palermo's traditional Sicilian Old Quarter and the Oratorio del Rosario di Santa Cita.

This afternoon, enjoy lunch on your own and free time to explore. Later, you'll enjoy the first of several exclusive Discovery Series Italian lessons offered on your tour. In the evening, you’ll gather with your fellow travelers and Program Director for a Welcome Dinner at a local restaurant.

Explore the vibrant city of Palermo on your own today. You might visit the Orto Botanic, historic botanical gardens that are some of the largest in Europe. Or visit the Vucciria market, where residents shop for fresh, local produce and seafood.

Or, join our optional full-day excursion to discover the city of Erice, standing atop Mount Erice, about 2,500 feet above sea level. It overlooks nearby Trapani and the beaches of San Vito Lo Capo, and is surrounded by a lush park and hilltop castles, which offer charming old stone streets to stroll and several medieval churches to investigate. Discoveries abound in this delightful town, which is the epitome of the Middle Ages, even though the town is much older than the castles, walls and streets suggest. The mythical heroes Hercules and Aeneas are associated with ancient Erice. Hercules won a notable wrestling match here, and Aeneas, the founder of Rome, built a Temple to Venus.

Tonight, enjoy dinner on your own.

After breakfast, enjoy an included tour of Monreale and Palermo. First you'll discover the Arab-Norman splendor of the Monreale Cathedral. This nearby treasure dates from the twelfth century and shows the diverse architectural influences of both the Normans and the Arab population. Next we'll visit the Teatro Massimo, Palermo’s extraordinary Neoclassical opera house, the largest in Italy and cherished worldwide for its remarkable acoustics. In the afternoon after an included lunch at a local restaurant, you'll have time for more discoveries on your own.

Tonight, sample more Sicilian cuisine during dinner at a local restaurant.

You have a full day to relax or explore at your own pace. You could visit the Archaeological Museum, featuring a noteworthy Etruscan collection and artifacts from the Hellenic temples at Selinunte. Tour the Abatellis Palace, admiring its gallery of Renaissance paintings. Visit the Mercato delle Pulci, a flea market well known for its antiques. Or take a stroll through the shopping area.

Or, set off for an optional excursion to Cefalu, where you'll enjoy a walking tour. This enchanting fishing village and summertime resort sits on a rocky outcrop in the center of Sicily's north coast. A perfect town for strolling, Cefalu is close to beaches and the blue waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The Greeks thought the rocky outcrop, the Rocca, resembled a head—kephalos in Greek—thus, the name of the town. Cefalu lies in a scenic locale between the massive peak and a long, sweeping beach. Against this backdrop rise the lofty twin towers of the cathedral built by Roger II in 1130. This splendid cathedral is one of the finest examples of Arab-Norman architecture and contains luminous mosaics. After the tour, enjoy a special lunch at a traditional restaurant.

This morning, set out through the Sicilian countryside on your way to the historic hilltop town of Corleone, inspiration for The Godfather book and films. Enjoy a tour of the town, featuring the cathedral. Then learn about Corleone’s Past & Present during an informative discussion headed by some of the region’s younger residents. You’ll also meet students at the C.F. Aprile Elementary School (when in session), which receives contributions from Grand Circle Foundation—part of the World Classroom initiative. Then savor a true Sicilian lunch in the surroundings of Corleone at an authentic countryside restaurant. Grand Circle is the only American tour operator to travel to this destination.

After lunch, you’ll transfer to Agrigento, check into your hotel, and have some time on your own. Dinner is at your hotel.

After breakfast at your hotel this morning, you’ll visit the extraordinary Valley of the Temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, on an included tour. These are among the very greatest Greek ruins in the world, and the splendor of the temples—seven in the Doric style, built during the fifth and sixth centuries BC—rivals those in Athens. Here you’ll see the Temple of Juno, with its excellent views of the entire valley, and the Temple of Concordia, beautifully preserved. The oldest ruin is traditionally named the Temple of Hercules, which includes the remnant of a large altar. En route, you’ll enjoy an agriturismo farmhouse lunch in the countryside nearby the town of Caltanissetta before continuing on to Taormina. You’re sure to savor this special agriturismo lunch served at the Messana family farm.

Arrive at your hotel in Giardini Naxos, located about four miles from Taormina, in the late afternoon. You’ll have time to relax and reflect on your day’s discoveries before dinner at a local restaurant.

This morning, you'll embark upon a walking tour of Taormina, Sicily's most famous resort. Dating from the third and fourth centuries BC, Taormina is perched dramatically high on a rocky promontory overlooking the Ionian Sea. It's a charming medieval town with typical cobblestone streets leading into spacious squares graced by lovely 15th-century palazzi.

Your tour includes a visit to the extraordinary classical Greco-Roman theater. This is Taormina's most-visited site, offering a view of rare beauty: Mount Etna and the seacoast. In the third century BC, the Greeks carved this theater on the slopes of Mount Tauro out of rock, and even today, the superb acoustics of the theater allow listeners in the last rows to hear a whisper on stage.

Enjoy an afternoon to explore on your own, perhaps taking the local funivia (cable car) to the waterfront.

Tonight, dinner will be at a local restaurant.

Spend today as you please. Stroll the streets that retain much of their medieval flavor, and admire the Baroque architecture—perhaps visiting Taormina's most important stately home, the Palazzo Corvaja. Do some shopping along the pedestrian-only Corso Umberto I, or order a cappuccino at an outdoor cafe and do some leisurely people-watching.

Or, join a full-day optional tour of Messina, Sicily’s third-largest city. Throughout a fascinating history filled with conquest, earthquake, fire, and rebirth, Messina’s natural beauty remains. Like much of Sicily, Messina has had a succession of conquerors. But the most lasting marks were left by earthquakes in 1783, 1894, and 1908. The latter almost destroyed the city entirely. Messina was largely rebuilt, but suffered again during Allied air bombardments in World War II.

You’ll begin with a panoramic tour of the city, located on the Strait of Messina, then stop in Piazza Duomo, the historic center. Here you’ll see the Fountain of Orion, which was created by Giovanni Montorsoli, a student of Michelangelo. You’ll also see the Duomo, or cathedral, which was originally built by the Normans in the twelfth century. The structure was badly damaged in the 1908 earthquake and was largely rebuilt, but some of the Norman features can still be seen. The church’s adjacent bell tower holds one of the world’s largest astronomical clocks. You'll then pause for lunch at a local restaurant, before returning to Taormina.

Early this evening, enjoy a fascinating discussion about Italian Volcanoes, including stories about famed Mount Etna.

Tonight, dinner is on your own.

After breakfast, visit magnificent Mount Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano. The peak has changed in size over the years, but is presently listed around 10,000 feet. Etna has been active in modern times, destroying the village of Mascali in 1928, and erupting again in 1971, 1992, 2001, and 2002. It was beneath this mountain that Zeus crushed the multi-headed, hundred-handed, snake-infested dragon Typhoeus, thus attaining dominion over Olympus. Zeus forever banned the dragon to the infernal regions of Tartarus under Mount Etna. The Greeks warned that whenever Typhoeus tried to break out of his confinement, lava would spill forth and earthquakes would crack open the land. Your included tour goes up to the 6,000-foot mark to view evidence of the volcano’s activity at Silvestri Crater.

Tonight, choose the venue of your included dinner from one of our Dine-Around restaurants.

You have a day to relax, do some shopping, and explore on your own.

Or, set off on a full-day optional excursion to Siracusa. Of all the Greek cities of antiquity that flourished outside of Greece, Siracusa was the most important in all of the Mediterranean, and a formidable seafaring power nearly equal to Athens. In the heyday of its power, it dared to take on both Carthage and Rome. At one time, its wealth and size were unmatched by any other city in the ancient world, and today it is one of the richest historical sites in Europe.

It is said that Siracusa is the birthplace of comedy in Greek theater, and was the only school of classical drama outside of Athens. You'll see remarkable Greek and Roman ruins, including the cave called "the Ear of Dionysius," because of its unusual shape, resembling a human ear. The cave is more than 200 feet long, and has such good acoustics that the ripping of paper can sound like a gunshot. It is said that the tyrant Dionysius forced his prisoners into the cave at night and was able to hear every word they said.

From its rich archaeological park, we move to the elegant island of Ortigya, where we will admire the architectural splendor of ancient medieval streets, Baroque structures, and the cathedral—which was fashioned out of an ancient Greek temple. You'll have free time to make your own discoveries in this picturesque district, and to enjoy lunch on your own.

Join us this evening for an exclusive World War II Sicily Landing discussion, and learn more about the history and sites of the Allied landings in Sicily—the first step toward the liberation of Italy from the German Nazis and Italian Fascists. We will also discuss the controversial connections between Allied Intelligence and the Mafia.

Later, gather for a Farewell Dinner at your hotel.

After breakfast, you’ll travel to the village of Savoca. The sleepy village of 1,700 hugs lush hillsides. Here, many of the scenes of the movie The Godfather were shot, including the marriage of Michael Corleone and Appolonia Vitelli.

This afternoon, in Mitogio, a Sicilian family will welcome you for a traditional Home-Hosted Lunch, a delightful way to experience everyday life.

Later, gather with your fellow travelers for a Farewell Drink.

Wake before dawn this morning for your transfer from Taormina to the airport in Catania. You will be given a box breakfast to take with you. Then take your morning flight home.