COUNTRY ROADS OF SOUTHERN ITALY AND SICILY (CLASSIC GROUP)
Description
Itinerary
Price
Hotel
Remarks
Description
Overview
Indulge in Italy’s finest food and views during this 15-day guided tour. When in Rome, you will toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain during a walking tour with a Local Expert. In Sorrento, settle into a luxurious resort and take in the views of Mount Vesuvius, which buried Pompeii in a sea of lava in 79 A.D. A restaurant’s founder will share why he uses only organic ingredients that he grows himself — and you will indulge in those freshly picked vegetables during a farm-to-table dinner featuring fresh orecchiette pasta. In Palermo, a historian will take you through the old city, showing you its cathedral and the Palatine Chapel in the Palace of the Normans, where glittering 12th-century mosaics will surely take your breath away.
Included/Excluded
Itinerary
Day 1: Welcome to the Eternal City of Rome (Dinner with Wine)
- Welcome to Rome, a glorious city filled with classic antiquities, medieval buildings, Renaissance palaces and baroque churches.
- Settle in before joining your Travel Director for a private visit for Insight Vacations guests to the Basilica of Saint Praxedes, welcomed by the Rector of the basilica.
- Gaze in awe at the world’s best-preserved Byzantine mosaics, illuminated for this evening’s experience, and see the first sculpture by Bernini.
- End the day getting to know your fellow travellers over Roman specialties during a Welcome Dinner with wine at a local restaurant.
Day 2: Rome with the Locals (Breakfast)
- Rome is about art, antiquity, piazzas and pizza, and our guided walk with a Local Expert has it in abundance.
- Sightsee the local way, with a leisurely passeggiata through the backstreets, where a friend in Rome will explain how modern life takes place.
- Toss a coin into the spectacular Trevi Fountain, see the Pantheon, the best-preserved monument from the Roman period, and enjoy free time to do as the Romans do.
- Perhaps join a tour to discover the incredibly characteristic Roman quarter of Trastevere.
- Get off the beaten track and explore Rome’s most untouched and unique districts and most consistently unchanged medieval neighbourhoods, Trastevere is dotted with ancient and dimly lit churches, crumbling buildings and streets barely wide enough for a Fiat.
- With your Local Expert, explore the medieval labyrinth of alleyways and pause from time to time to take in this very atmospheric area.
- A maze of food shops, art galleries, cafes, apartment buildings and pretty squares, this district was once rather run-down and working-class, but has now become one of the city’s liveliest and most popular neighbourhoods.
Day 3: Vatican and Alberobello (Breakfast/Dinner with Wine)
- With your Local Expert, visit the Vatican Museums.
- Inside the Sistine Chapel, admire Michelangelo’s famous ceiling before visiting St. Peter’s Basilica.
- Next, journey to Alberobello.
Day 4: The Trulli of Alberobello (Breakfast/Dinner with Wine)
- Admire another of Italy’s record number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites with a Local Expert.
- The Trulli of Alberobello are circular structures with conical roofs that are domed within.
- They are built from local limestone and stacked without using mortar.
- In the evening, join a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience using home-grown organic and locally sourced, seasonal produce, you sit down to a delicious four-course, Farm-to-Table Highlight Dinner.
Day 5: Free Time in Alberobello (Breakfast)
- The day is free for you to enjoy this extraordinary town as you wish.
- Why not join an Optional Experience to the stunning city of Ostuni? With its dazzling white houses and fascinating history, it is a true delight.
- Your Local Expert experience reveals this town reminiscent of a North African Arab Medina.
- Admire the stark white-washed buildings, narrow cobbled streets and arched stairways.
- Set against three hills and perched high above the beautiful sea; ‘The White Town’ is a photographer’s delight.
- Afterwards, visit a Mill to taste the renowned olive oil produced in this area that incorporates olives from the ancient groves of Puglia.
- Or, join an optional Masseria Dinner in Puglia, a food lovers’ paradise.
- You’re off to the countryside to a local ‘Masseria’, a typical ancient fortified ‘Farmhouse’.
- Enjoy an authentic dinner in a ‘country roads’ experience all served up with great wines form the region.
Day 6: Journey South to Matera (Breakfast/Lunch with Wine/Dinner)
- Visit Matera with a Local Expert for an in-depth exploration of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Sassi — a labyrinth of cave dwellings, churches, staircases and arches, hewn out of the solid rock.
- You may recognise Matera as the biblical backdrop for the film ‘The Passion of the Christ.’
- Continue to the small village of Grottole.
- Once a thriving community, it has lost most of its activity and population.
- Meet Andrea, a local striving to bring back the traditional way of living of the area.
- On this MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience explore the historic old town to learn about the fascinating history of the village.
- Later, enjoy a light lunch with wine, helping to preserve the local culture.
Day 7: Pompeii and Sorrento (Breakfast)
- Journey to the region of Campania to visit Pompeii, buried in A.D. 79 by the historic eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
- Walk with your Local Expert through the cobbled streets to see a city frozen in time.
- Venture on to the picturesque resort of Sorrento, perched upon the southern cliffs of the Bay of Naples and looking over to Mount Vesuvius.
Day 8: Capri, the Isle of Dreams (Breakfast)
- Cruise by jetfoil across the impossibly blue sea to the sun-drenched island of Capri.
- On arrival ascend to Capri Town and meet your Local Expert for an orientation walk through the narrow alleyways.
- Explore Capri with Insight Choice.
- Choose to visit the immaculate Gardens of Augustus with a Local Expert and admire the views over the Faraglioni Rocks.
- Alternatively, enjoy a tasting of limoncello, Capri’s famous lemon liqueur.
- Descend to the port by funicular before returning to Sorrento.
Day 9: To Sicily and the Taormina Riviera (Breakfast/Dinner with Wine)
- In the morning, travel along the Purple Coast to the very toe of Italy and board your ferry bound for Sicily, across the Strait of Messina.
- According to Grecian legend, this was home to the mythical sea monsters Scylla, a six-headed rock monster, and Charybdis, a whirlpool, based on either side of the strait.
- Together, they posed an inescapable threat to passing seafarers as avoiding one meant passing too close to the other.
- You will soon arrive at your hotel where you will spend three glorious nights on the Taormina Riviera.
Day 10: Taormina and the Dawn Coast of Europe (Breakfast)
- Your hotel faces east, so early risers may learn why D.H. Lawrence christened this ‘The Dawn Coast of Europe.”
- After breakfast, perhaps take an Optional Experience through the vineyards to Mount Etna, Europe’s largest active volcano.
- Travel to the old town of Taormina, which clings to the side of Mount Tauro, overlooking the Ionian Sea and Mount Etna.
- With your Local Expert, visit the Greek theatre set on a cliff and open to the sky.
- Take a moment to sit in this ancient theatre and admire the view through the crumbling arches to Mount Etna.
- Stroll through the old town and admire Taormina’s grandest building and along the elegant Corso Umberto.
Day 11: Cefalu and Palermo (Breakfast)
- Travel to the quaint fishing town of Cefalu.
- The town’s imposing cathedral was erected to fulfill a vow made by the Norman King Roger II.
- Stroll down to the medieval stone fountain and seek out the Gothic arch of the Porta Marina for a picture-perfect view of the little harbour.
- Later, travel onwards to Palermo.
Day 12: Palermo & the Golden Age of the Normans (Breakfast/Dinner with Wine)
- Explore Palermo with Insight Choice.
- Choose a walking tour with a visit to the spectacular 12th century Palatine Chapel with a Local Expert.
- Alternatively, join the Anti-Mafia tour of Palermo, part of a MAKE TRAVEL MATTER® Experience and find out how locals are working together in modern day Palermo.
- In your free time this afternoon, you could visit Palermo Cathedral which has been altered many times over the years and observe its unique blend of architectural styles.
- For your dining pleasure, you can experience the foods the locals like to eat and experience how they like to eat it on your Dine-Around Evening.
Day 13: Explore the Valley of the Temples and on to Ragusa (Breakfast)
- Journey to Agrigento.
- Explore the Valley of the Temples with a Local Expert and see the massive Temple of Concordia and the clifftop Temple of Juno overlooking the sea.
- Your travels continue to the hilltop town of Ragusa.
Day 14: Ancient Syracuse and Catania (Breakfast/Dinner with Wine)
- Sightseeing with your Local Expert takes you to Syracuse’s Paradise Quarry with its unusual Ear of Dionysius, an ear-shaped grotto with an unusual echo.
- See the superb Greek theatre, carved out of solid rock, one of the largest of the ancient world.
- There is time to explore the atmospheric Old City, a maze of narrow streets lined with palaces, sprawling over the island of Ortygia.
- It was here that the famous geometrician Archimedes ran naked through the streets, crying ‘Eureka!’
- Continue to Catania to celebrate your time in Sicily over Dinner with your fellow travellers.
Day 15: Depart Catania (Breakfast)
- Appreciate views of Mount Etna on your way.
- Departure transfers arrive at Catania Airport at 06:30 and 08:30.
Price
PRICE FROM RM20,088 SUBJECT TO DATE AND AVAILABILITY.
Hotel
- Day 1 – Day 2: Kolbe Hotel Rome
- Day 3 – Day 5: Grand Hotel La Chiusa di Chietri
- Day 6: MH Matera Hotel
- Day 8: Hotel Isabella
- Day 9 – Day 10: RG Naxos Hotel
- Day 11 – Day 12: NH Palermo
- Day 13: Mediterraneo Palace
- Day 14: NH Catania Centro
Remarks
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