Agrigento, Palermo, Monreale and Syracuse, then a crossing to the Aeolian Islands. Norman cathedrals with Arab craftsmen’s work in them, Greek temples in the light they were built for, and a boat to the coves the roads never reached.
Arrival at Punta Raisi and transfer to the hotel in the centre. The afternoon is free. Welcome dinner with Sicilian wines and a first walk through streets that sound and smell closer to North Africa than to Rome.
Morning at the Cappella Palatina and the Norman Palace, where Norman architects, Byzantine mosaicists and Arab carpenters worked on the same room. Street food lunch through the Ballaro or Capo market. Afternoon at the cathedral and the Quattro Canti.
Morning at Monreale, whose mosaic cycle covers six thousand square metres and takes an hour to read properly. Lunch in the town. In the afternoon, the Doric temple at Segesta, standing alone on its hill and never finished.
Departure through the interior, the wheat country that fed the ancient Mediterranean, with a stop at a working estate for lunch. Arrival at Agrigento in the late afternoon, with the temples seen first from a distance at sunset.
Early morning across the valley with an archaeologist, before the heat, from the Temple of Concordia to the fallen giant of the Olympieion. Independent lunch. Afternoon at the regional archaeological museum, then east towards the Val di Noto.
Morning at Ragusa Ibla, walking down from the upper town into the older one, with the reconstruction after 1693 explained street by street. Lunch in a courtyard. Afternoon at Modica, with chocolate made the way the Spanish brought it.
Morning at Noto, a town designed as a single Baroque project, with the cathedral and the palace balconies. Independent lunch. Afternoon free or, by choice, the Vendicari nature reserve on the coast.
Full day at Syracuse: the Greek theatre and the quarries in the morning with a guide, then Ortigia, where a Doric temple was absorbed whole into the cathedral. Lunch at the market. Farewell dinner by the sea.
Transfer up the coast past Etna to Milazzo and the crossing to the Aeolian Islands, arriving in the afternoon. Settling in for two nights. Evening free, with Stromboli visible on the horizon in clear weather.
A full day by boat around the archipelago, to coves and landings the roads never reached, with swimming stops, a harbour lunch on Salina and its Malvasia and capers, and Stromboli at dusk for those who want the late return.
Morning crossing back to Milazzo and transfer to Catania airport for onward flights, with the coastal road taken early.
Splendido private tours
