Sicilian Carousel & Aeolian Islands 2025

Independent arrival at the hotel in Palermo. Overnight in Palermo.

After a buffet breakfast, enjoy free time at your leisure for visiting Palermo and for lunch. In the afternoon, head off on your guided tour of the city. You will visit the Cathedral, one of the most important architectural monuments. Continue your visit by walking along Corso Vittorio Emanuele to reach ‘I Quattro Canti di Città’ Piazza Pretoria, Piazza Bellini, and you will visit the Church of Santa Caterina. Free time for shopping and dinner. Overnight in Palermo. (B)

After a buffet breakfast depart to visit the town of Monreale, situated on a hill a few kilometres from Palermo in a panoramic position. Visit of the Cathedral, one of the most beautiful monuments in the world, with its Moorish architecture, housing very fine mosaics representing a complete cycle of the Old and New Testaments in Arab-Norman style. Continue to Cefalù, a former fishing village, now a charming coastal town. Enjoy a walk to the city centre and down main street to reach the Arab-Norman Cathedral and the medieval washhouse built in the rock. Free time to explore the town, shop, and have lunch on your own. Proceed to Taormina through the coastal road passing through Messina, from where we will have the chance to admire the beautiful scenery of the Strait of Messina. Get settled at your hotel and free time for dinner. Overnight in Taormina. (B)

After a buffet breakfast, excursion to Mount Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe. Weather conditions permitting, cross fascinating landscape with different types of vegetation, a mixture of citrus groves, vineyards, and fruit trees. You will reach a height of 1800 metres to visit the Sylvester Craters, where you will enjoy a spectacular panorama over the Ionian Sea. Stop at a local winery on the eastern slopes of Etna and visit a prestigious cellar. You will have the opportunity to taste different local wines, accompanied by local cheese and cold cuts. In the afternoon back to Taormina, a charming city called the ‘Pearl of the Ionian Sea’. Enjoy time at leisure for shopping or walking through its tiny streets. Possibility to visit the Greek-Roman Theatre on your own, with its spectacular view of Giardini Naxos and Mount Etna. Free time for dinner and overnight in Taormina. (B, T)

After a buffet breakfast, depart to Milazzo. Boarding is the port of Milazzo for Lipari by hydrofoil. Arrival on the Island of Lipari, the largest of the Aeolian Archipelago. Transfer to the hotel and free time to visit the delightful village of Lipari. Lunch on your own. In the afternoon, taxi tour of the Island of Lipari. Free time for dinner and overnight in Lipari. (B)

After a buffet breakfast, morning at leisure and lunch on your own. In the late morning depart by boat to Panarea and Stromboli. First stop in Panarea where it will be possible to visit the small village with a pleasant walk along the streets among the white Aeolian-style houses. Then continue with the boat to Stromboli, defined as the wildest island because it seems to preserve its bond with nature and in particular with the volcano, called ‘Iddu’ by the locals. Free time to visit. Once you get back on the boat, you will continue until you reach the ‘Sciara del fuoco’, a ridge of the crater from where the lava descends. From the boat it will also be possible to witness the evocative eruptions of the volcano that follow one another with intervals of about fifteen minutes. Return to Lipari in the evening. Free time for dinner and overnight in Lipari. (B)

After a buffet breakfast in hotel, depart by boat to Salina. After a stop in the centre of Santa Marina, continue by boat to circumnavigate the island; swim in Pollara, the beach of the famous film ‘Il Postino’. Free time for lunch. Continue to Lingua where there is a salt-lake from where salt was extracted in ancient times (hence the name of the island). Return to Lipari in the afternoon. Free time for shopping and dinner. Overnight in Lipari. (B)

After breakfast in the hotel, transfer to the port of Lipari, and board the hydrofoil for Milazzo. Following a transfer to Catania, arrive at the hotel. Lunch on your own. Afternoon at leisure for a free visit of the historic centre of Catania and its main attractions; Piazza Duomo; Pescheria; Castello Ursino; Piazza San Francesco; via Teatro Greco; Piazza Dante; via Gesuiti; Alessi staircase; Piazza Università; Piazza Vincenzo Bellini; and Piazza San Placido. Overnight in Catania. (B)

After buffet breakfast, end of the tour. (B)