The Sicilian territory is ready to welcome and host visitors who have the sensitivity to respect the environment. Thanks to the electric charging stations present in several villages of the Alcantara Valley, the Nebrodi and Peloritani mountains, it will be possible to pick up the car already at Catania airport and start the journey in a gentle and sustainable way. You can travel up to 300 km of road with and re-enter it during the stops in the villages. During your stay you will have the opportunity to carry out various activities such as walks in the vineyard, visits and tastings in the cellars and at the Enoteca Regionale in the Lauria Castle of Castiglione di Sicilia. Know and taste the typical dishes of the tradition at the houses of “Le mamme di Motta Camastra”, the chocolate desserts with hazelnuts in different pastry shops in Francavilla di Sicilia, the dried almond and pistachio pastes in Bronte. In Randazzo you can visit “the house of music” of the master luthier Giuseppe Severini. From Linguaglossa a carriage ride, from the Ragalbo refuge a horseback ride on Etna, or decide to try your hand at a game of golf at the Etna Golf in Castiglione.
- Rental Car
- Resort and SPA
- Villages
- Etna Volcano
- Alcantara Valley
- Etna cableway
- off-road excursion
- Tarantella dance course
- Sicilian ceramic decoration course
Code.18010
Included
Rental car
Accommodation
Meals as descripted
Mentioned visits
Medical insurance
Not included
City Tax
Tip
Bring along
- Credit Card
- Driving license
- Identity card or passport
- Requirements required by the Italian State for anti covid prevention 19
Participants
Languages
Requirements
Have no walking problems
Important information
Mountain clothing is recommended
- Comfortable non-slip shoes
- headgear
- windproof jacket
Day 1 – Catania / Southern Etna / Alcantara Valley
We’ll arrive at Catania Fontanarossa airport, where we’ll pick up our electric hire car and set off for Nicolosi, Southern Etna, from where we’ll venture up the volcano from an altitude of 1900 to 2500 metres, first with the Etna cable car and then with an off-road minibus up to 2790 metres, or the maximum altitude permitted by the authorities. Here we’ll be accompanied by a volcanological guide of Europe’s highest, most active volcano. Everyone will be free to choose their own restaurant or fast food lunch at the Sapienza Mountain Lodge, at the foot of the cableway. In the evening, we’ll arrive at our hotel in the Alcantara Valley, where we’ll have time to settle into our rooms before dinner and our overnight stay.
Day 2 – Alcantara Valley / Northern Etna / Alcantara Valley
After enjoying a lovely breakfast with the hotel’s own local specialities, we’ll all drive off independently to Piano Provenzana for a trekking trip and a visit to the Sartorius Mountains, which you’ll be able to locate easily on the GPS map. We’ll have lunch in a winery or agritourism establishment, with the chance to taste some Etna wines. In the afternoon, during our visit to Castiglione di Sicilia, we’ll have the chance to visit the mediaeval Lauria Castle, and to enjoy a granita with brioche or other typical pastries in one of the bars of the village, while our car batteries are charging up at the electric columns. In the evening, we’ll head back to the hotel, where we’ll have dinner and stay overnight.
Day 3 – Alcantara Valley / Giardini Naxos / Taormina / Alcantara Valley
After breakfast, we’ll drive off towards Giardini Naxos, on the Ionian coast. Waiting for us here will be a tarantella instructor, ready to teach us the steps of this popular Sicilian dance, a feature of the traditional festivals in the little villages on the island. We’ll let ourselves get carried away by the lively rhythm of the tambourines and whistles, a cheerful invitation to have fun. Our instructor is so inspiring that in just a few moves, we’ll be ready to dance like a true Sicilian. This fun experience will take us on a trip back in time, into a carefree, merry atmosphere. Once our dancing lesson is over, we’ll take part in an artistic pottery workshop, where in just a short time, we’ll learn the art of shaping clay and decorating little everyday objects with the vibrant colours of the island. Everyone will be free to have lunch where they choose, while our cars are charging back up to take us on to the Pearl of the Mediterranean: Taormina. Seaside lovers might enjoy this opportunity to take a dip, reserving a place at one of the numerous beach concessions. Once we head up to the town, perched on Monte Tauro, and leave our car in the Porta Catania paid carpark, we can either reach the Old Town on foot or take the shuttle laid on for tourists. Once there, everyone will have the chance to explore this splendid neighbourhood, with its mediaeval layout and little alleyways and steps adorned with colourful flowers and characteristic locally crafted pottery vases. A must-have in Taormina is a visit to the splendid Greek and Roman Theatre, which in summer hosts magnificent music and theatre performances. This temple to art is particularly enchanting for its breath-taking views of the coastline and Mount Etna. In the evening, we’ll head back to the hotel in the Alcantara Valley, where we’ll have dinner and stay overnight.
Day 4 – Alcantara Valley / Randazzo / Argimusco / Montalbano Elicona
After breakfast, we’ll vacate our rooms and head for Randazzo, the little mediaeval town of a hundred churches, renowned for its bell towers. We’ll enjoy a wander through the narrow little streets of the Old Town, admiring the Latin, Greek and Lombard architecture of the buildings, before meeting up again. Particularly deserving of a visit are the three main churches: San Nicolò, San Martino and Santa Maria Assunta. Another must-have is a stop at the Musumeci bar and confectioner’s, in the main square, to enjoy the truly delicious Oro dell’Etna ice cream, in pistachio, mandarin and brittle or almond flavours. We’ll have lunch in a restaurant, with skilfully prepared traditional dishes. In the afternoon, we’ll head off to the mediaeval village of Montalbano Elicona, voted Italy’s most beautiful village in 2015, perched on the Nebrodi mountains. A must-have en route is a stop at the Argimusco Plateau, at an altitude of 1250 metres, where, on request, excursions can be enjoyed with a nature guide who will accompany us across this extraordinary plateau, featuring a number of rocks in outlandish human and animal shapes. We’ll have the chance to admire the Eagle, looking south towards Etna, the Snake, the Swan, the Soldier and the amazing Praying Goddess, looking northwards in the direction of Tindari. We’ll then head down to the village, where we can charge our car batteries at the electric columns in Via Giardino. In the meantime, we’ll have the opportunity to explore the mediaeval village and to visit the castle of Frederick III of Sicily, inside which is a weapons museum, reproductions of royal attire and the tombstone of the alchemist Arnaldo De Villanova, physician and friend of the king, a character shrouded in an air of particular mystery. When we reach our Aragon residence, next to the castle, we’ll have dinner in a little restaurant in the village serving typical local specialities, before our overnight stay.
Day 5 – Montalbano Elicona / Tindari / Novara di Sicilia
After breakfast, we’ll vacate our rooms and set off for a visit to the Tindari Archaeological Park, with the Sanctuary of the Black Madonna, overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea. Everyone can have lunch in a little local restaurant of their choice, before heading to Novara di Sicilia, known as the village of stone due to the numerous craftsmen who sculpted the sandstone to embellish the doorways of the houses. We’ll be meeting up here with a local guide who will accompany us on our visit to the village, famous for its maiorchino, a typical sheep’s milk cheese with a pleasantly piquant flavour. In the months of February and August, a tournament is hosted here, in which the teams roll a wheel of the cheese along the streets of the village; the winning team is the one whose cheese crosses the finishing line first. Novara is the village of traditions, where we’ll have the chance to visit a seventeenth-century water mill with a horizontal millstone, which to this day produces flour by cold milling ancient local wheat varieties such as Maiorca or Russello. We’ll enjoy some typical local produce for lunch in the restaurant at the Castle. During our visit to the village, we’ll have the chance to sample a dessert known as “U ditu d’Aposturu” (The Apostle’s Finger): a type of cannolo made by the long-established San Nicola confectioner’s, with a cream filling made from ricotta and sugar and with a mouth-watering vanilla and chocolate glaze. Everyone will be able to dine in a restaurant or pub of their choice, before our overnight stay in a B&B. During the afternoon, we can leave our cars to charge their batteries at the electric columns in Piazza San Giovanni.
Day 6 – Novara di Sicilia / Catania Airport
After breakfast, we’ll vacate our rooms and set off for Catania airport, where we’ll return our hire car.
End of tour.