A Taste of Eastern Sicily

Catania • Agrigento • Aragona • Cammarata • Caltagirone • Syracuse • River Ciane • Noto

This holiday includes 6 breakfasts, 1 Lunch and 2 evening meals

Sicily has so much to offer the visitor and we are pleased to introduce this new tour that takes you a little more off the beaten track and allows you to gain a greater appreciation of this wonderful island. You can enjoy a relaxed holiday staying in just two destinations but with so much more to discover from the reowned archaeological sites to local producers of sweets and cheese.DAY 1 LONDON • CATANIA • AGRIGENTO
We begin with the Titan HiTours VIP Home Departure Service™® to London Gatwick Airport for your direct, scheduled British Airways flight to Catania. On arrival we transfer south by coach to Agrigento and the well-appointed Hotel Dioscuri Bay Palace where we will stay for the next three nights. Tonight we will take a drive past the nearby Valley of the Temples site, which is lit up at night and also enjoy dinner at our hotel.

DAY 2 ARAGONA • CAMMARATA
After breakfast we travel north and find the Vulcani di Macalube, a series of tiny volcanoes only approximately one metre high and filled with bubbling, salty mud that now form part of a nature reserve. After a short visit here, we reach the small villages of Cammarata and Aragona, which are on the slopes of the Sicani mountains. In Cammarata we enjoy a cheese tasting and a light lunch with a selection of local products. Before we return to Agrigento, we stop at Pasticceria di Stefano, a local cake producer where you will see how almonds and pistachios are used for the famous Sicilian cassata, a traditional dessert from the area around Palermo, and of course there will be the opportunity to sample the produce!

DAY 3 AGRIGENTO
Today we travel again to the site of the Valley of the Temples for a guided tour, including entrance, of what was originally a series of ten temples in the 5th and 6th century and parts of nine are still visible. Your guide will bring this remarkable setting to life as we walk through this fascinating archaeological site. There will also be the opportunity to see the recently opened Gardens of Kolimbreta which are located close to the Valley of the Temples. We return to the hotel this afternoon and the rest of the day is at leisure for you to explore Agrigento.

DAY 4 AGRIGENTO • CALTAGIRONE • SYRACUSE
We depart Agrigento this morning and our first stop is Caltagirone, a town that has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its baroque architecture. In addition to this there are also a host of potteries and artisan workshops that we will have time to explore before we continue this afternoon to Syracuse and the newly opened Hotel Alfeo, which enjoys a central location and where we will stay for the next three nights. Dinner is inluded this evening.

DAY 5 SYRACUSE
Syracuse is the birthplace of the Greek mathematician Archimedes and home to a Greek amphitheatre that was carved out of one piece of stone and is still used twice a year for productions of Greek tragedies. In Paradise Quarry, an area filled with plants, is the Ear of Dionysius, so-called because of its shape, that was excavated in ancient times where slaves once mined and it has great acoustics too. We will first visit here on our full day guided tour, which will also include the beautiful island of Ortigia, which has been joined to Syracuse by a bridge since the 16th century and it is a pleasure to stroll by the marina.

DAY 6 RIVER CIANE • NOTO
After breakfast we take a boat trip along the River Ciane and along these banks is the only place that papyrus is cultivated in Europe. This afternoon we visit Noto, the baroque capital of Sicily. Here we see handsome palaces, churches and monuments in the local white limestone, which over time has mellowed to a yellow hue. Noto is the most uniform in period and style of all Sicily’s towns as all of its architecture belongs to the 18th century. Noto is well-known to have produced a high standard dessert wine called Moscato di Noto.

DAY 7 SYRACUSE • CATANIA • LONDON
Today we travel to Catania Airport for your direct, scheduled British Airways flight to London Gatwick Airport. Here our staff will greet you and transfer you to Titan HiTours transport for your journey home to your front door.Duration 7 days, 6 nights in hotels: 3 Agrigento, 3 Syracuse

Titan HiTours VIP Home Departure Service™

Check-in service by Titan staff.

Scheduled direct British Airways flights

First class, air-conditioned coaching with experienced drivers

Accommodation as specified in brochure or similar standard.

Meals as specified including breakfasts on days 2-7 Lunch on day 2 & and evening meals on days 1 and 4.

Excursions, tours and entrances as detailed in the itinerary.

Hotel porterage (1 bag per person).

All airport taxes, security charges and the UK Air Passenger Duty and applicable fuel surcharges.