Sicily is a crossroads of Mediterranean civilisations, and our expert guides bring its layered past vividly to life. From Greek temples and Roman villas to Norman cathedrals and Arab‑influenced towns, each site is explored in depth, with context and narrative that reveal the island’s extraordinary cultural tapestry.
‘One of the 50 Best Escorted Tours’ – The Telegraph
Lying at the heart of the Mediterranean and commanding the narrow sea-lanes that connect east to west and north to south, Sicily attracted merchants, seafarers and settlers from every point of the compass.
The passage of time and a host of invaders have bequeathed a wealth of archaeological sites and monuments to the island. Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Byzantines and Aragonese have all left their enduring legacy on Sicily in the form of rich and diverse cultural and culinary traditions.
This archaeological tour of Sicily provides an unforgettable encounter with the island’s long history and culture. Not only does it take in the wonderfully preserved remains of the Greek, Roman and Phoenician cities that stud its coasts, where honey-coloured ancient temples lie amid orange groves and almond trees, it also explores the baroque towns that hug its steep hills and the great modern metropolis, Palermo.
The temple-crowned cities of Selinunte and Agrigento, and the ancient island-city of Motya, now rest in a serene splendour belying their dramatic and turbulent histories. From the heights of Erice, home to Venus, goddess of love, you will see the majestic sweep of the coast, before travelling east to the vine-clad slopes of Mount Etna. As well as its historical riches, the island is a place of immense natural beauty and diversity. We traverse its many varied landscapes filled with springtime flowers and enjoy a number of pleasant walks to savour the romantic vistas.
Sicily’s picturesque and historic towns are a feast for the senses, and there will be plenty of time to explore their piazzas and meandering streets, or sample their increasingly renowned and varied wines before ending your day in atmospheric hotels or grand rural estates set in the heart of the Sicilian countryside. Our tour is complemented by excellent meals in specially chosen restaurants, wineries and local trattoria, highlighting some of Sicily’s richest gastronomic traditions.
The expert guides who will accompany you on the tour both know Sicily intimately. Their in-depth knowledge and love of the island will be your shortcut to a superb experience of one of Europe’s most celebrated destinations.
Looking for a shorter trip in Sicily, then take a look at our Gastronomic Tour of Sicily
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Day 1: There will be a slight re-ordering of the visits on days 10 and 11 between Spring depature dates. Please contact us closer to departure time for further details.
Transfer from Catania airport approx. 45 minutes away to Siracusa, ancient Syracuse, one of the most important of all ancient Greek cities. Our hotel is on the historic island of Ortigia, its most ancient core.
Transfer from Catania airport approx. 45 minutes away to Siracusa, ancient Syracuse, one of the most important of all ancient Greek cities. Our hotel is on the historic island of Ortigia, its most ancient core.
Day 2: We explore our new home, beginning with a walking tour of Ortigia (ancient Ortygia) itself, discovering remains over two and a half millennia old a short walk from our hotel. We find one of the oldest and best preserved Greek temples in Sicily, to the god Apollo, and discover a grand baroque cathedral with a secret, interweaving this with ancient Syracuse’s dramatic history of sieges by Athenians, Carthaginians and Romans, and of domination by brutal, but sometimes cultured, tyrants and Syracusan resistance to them. After lunch we take a short drive – ancient Syracuse was a large city, to the later monumental centre, set next to its ancient quarries, famed for the fate of those imprisoned there beneath the so-called ‘Ear of Dionysus’, but also for their transformation by gloriously scented lemon groves into a wild garden-like space that entranced early tourists. Here we visit the great theatre complex of King Hiero, still used today, his vast altar and the grand amphitheatre which came with the beginning of the Roman Empire; taken together they make for a hugely dramatic visual retelling of the power and importance of this celebrated and mighty ancient city.
Day 3: Siracusa has not given up all its riches yet. We begin with one of the Mediterranean’s great museums, the Paolo Orsi, where we’ll encounter a wealth of objects telling the island’s human story from Neolithic herders and farmers, through Bronze and Iron ages which leave us enormous feasting wares, rugged stone tombs and vast hoards of bronze through to the age of Greek colonisation with sublime statuary and beautifully preserved painted terracotta elements from the oldest temples. After some similarly awe-inspiring Roman material, it’s time for lunch.
We then find our way to a hypogean treasure, making our way beneath the attractively ruined church of St John the Baptist to find atmospheric medieval remains and, deeper still, startling broad subterranean highways flanked by hundreds of niches and tombs where the city’s earliest Christians found rest together in the Roman period. We return to Ortigia where the rest of the time is free time to find more marvels, ancient or modern and to dine at leisure.
We then find our way to a hypogean treasure, making our way beneath the attractively ruined church of St John the Baptist to find atmospheric medieval remains and, deeper still, startling broad subterranean highways flanked by hundreds of niches and tombs where the city’s earliest Christians found rest together in the Roman period. We return to Ortigia where the rest of the time is free time to find more marvels, ancient or modern and to dine at leisure.
Day 4: We take our leave of Siracusa, and while there’ll be some sadness at that, we’ll soon be buoyed by sites to rival it for memorability. Our journey to the south of the islands takes us through some beautifully expansive country, rich agricultural fields and pitching and rolling hills and outcrops. Our stop for the day is at a real highlight of the tour and a justly famous site which picks up on a period we’ve been finding out much about: the colossal late Roman villa of Piazza Armerina. Town-sized in scale, in opulence it’s hard to match, leading to earlier beliefs that it must surely be imperial in ownership. While that’s no longer thought to be the case, you can easily see why as you pass through scores of rooms and grand halls, all decorated with rich and evocative mosaics, famously showing young women in ‘bikinis’ playing ball, a grand animal hunt to collect specimens for the arena, chariot racing and a host of mythological scenes, all signs of enormous wealth and grandly shown-off. With plenty to talk about, after lunch we continue south-west and finish the day in Palma di Montechiaro at our next hotel, set in a scenic olive farm.
Day 5: After breakfast we head a little way west to the medieval and modern centre of Agrigento, ancient Akragas to the Greeks or Agrigentum to the Romans. There’s a sprawling city here now, but in this upper part, around the ancient agora and acropolis, there are winding streets, gardens and another superb museum with one particularly astonishing sight, but we’ll leave that till you get here. Heading up we make another surprise discovery in a mediaeval church before visiting the mediaeval cathedral on the heights, with superb views of the hills and rolling fields of southern Sicily.
Day 6: It’s time to leave our lovely agriturismo and head further west, but we’re not done with Agrigento just yet. Once again we’re faced with an ancient Greek city that was just huge. When we began our acquaintance yesterday we saw the lower part of the city - and what we saw means this is a day we’ve been headily anticipating, because we’re about to visit the Valley of the Temples. Akragas was the nearest rival to Syracuse on the island and famed for its wealth and extravagant spending. Nowhere is that better seen than in this immaculate stretch of archaeology and history, justifiably regarded as one of the greatest spaces surviving from the ancient world. On this red sandstone ridge you’ll stand at one end and see temple after perfectly-preserved temple marching away into the distance. The collection of Classical temples here is one of the finest to be seen anywhere in the Mediterranean, extending to the greatest in size, the huge temple of Olympian Zeus. We have lunch on the heights above, with staggering views to take away with us as we travel to the island’s west. Even the drive has its marvels as the character of the country changes again to undulating rich and photogenic fields populated by picture-perfect farmhouses, every view drawn from a coffee table book or a frame on a wall. Our next base is at a grander version of what we’ve been admiring, the hotel and winery of Baglio Soria.
Day 7: Our first foray from our new base takes us south to the breath-taking ancient site of Selinus (now Selinunte) and its famous temples, similar in scale and majesty to those of Agrigento – Sicily is truly blessed to have such a bountiful inheritance of them. We explore the breadth of the city and hear of its tragic destruction by the Carthaginians in 409 BC. After lunch, in the afternoon we take a leisurely walk through the ancient quarry of the Cave di Cusa, where column drums intended for Selinus’ temples still lie unfinished as they were when the city was brought to an end, forlorn reminders of lost splendour in an attractive landscape of olive groves and vineyards.
Day 8: We continue to Sicily’s western coast and take a short boat trip to the island site of Motya, a major Phoenician city destroyed by Dionysius of Syracuse in 398 BC. The extensive remains of the city include the Tophet (a … well, we’ll talk about what it might be on the day), a grand shrine to Melqart, the Phoenician Hercules and an amazing collection of temples around an artificial pool, subject of some stunning recent excavation work and exciting discoveries. In the on-site museum, the Motya Charioteer, one of the most celebrated Classical Greek sculptures. After Motya, we travel to Marsala to enjoy a sumptuous lunch, and then to ancient Lilybaeum – the ancient city underneath the modern one - and its Baglio Anselmi Archaeological Museum. Here we view the well-preserved remains of a Carthaginian ship and the beautiful finds from this ancient multi-cultural city of Carthaginians, Greeks and Romans, many of which retain their original painted decoration.
Day 9: Leaving the Baglio Soria for the north of the island, our first stop is not far away at all: the mediaeval town of Erice on its enormous craggy plateau under whose impressive shadow we’ve spent the last couple of days. After a tour of its mediaeval streets and churches, we tell the tale of its grand ancient temple of Venus and its part in the Punic Wars before leaving you to enjoy some time there for lunch where you fancy.
We continue on to the ancient city of Segesta, which has a fine and famous Doric temple in a tranquil and beautiful setting, and stunning views from its beautiful little theatre high up on the adjacent hillside. Another day filled with remarkable sights! And now it is time to head east and finish the day in Palermo at a hotel with superb views of the city and its nearby opera house.
We continue on to the ancient city of Segesta, which has a fine and famous Doric temple in a tranquil and beautiful setting, and stunning views from its beautiful little theatre high up on the adjacent hillside. Another day filled with remarkable sights! And now it is time to head east and finish the day in Palermo at a hotel with superb views of the city and its nearby opera house.
Day 10: We begin the day with a short walk to the Salinas Archaeological museum, to discover finds from some of the sites we’ve been visiting in the last few days, discoveries which have found their way into every book on Greek art. Then we have a short walking tour of central Palermo designed to orientate you in the bustling and lively capital city of the island – quite a change of pace from the quiet tranquillity of the last few days! The rest of the day and evening is entirely given over to free time in which you can explore the markets and shops, enjoy some street food for lunch, find a restaurant for dinner, see a puppet show, admire the visual fantasia of the mediaeval cathedral or visit some of the city’s mediaeval churches – or perhaps experience the stellar opulence of the Norman Capella Palatina.
Day 11: It’s time to move on, back to the east of the island, but once again there is much to see en route. In the morning we take a short drive up to Monreale high above Palermo, where we visit the 12th Century Cathedral, one of the finest Norman churches on the island, blessed with a beautiful golden cycle of Byzantine-style mosaics. After absorbing the splendid view of Palermo below, we head on to the Greek city of Himera (site of two enormous battles that changed the history of the entire island) and view our last great Greek temple. In the afternoon, we make our way to Catania through magnificent and varied countryside. We finish at our final hotel in the heart of this bustling city.
Day 12: We journey back into the interior to visit a remarkable ancient city, Morgantina. Non-Greek in origin, it took on some Greek ways, and a Greek element in the population and ended up crowded with shrines to Demeter around the hill on which it stood, rich private houses and a monumental centre which is hard to beat for grandeur on Sicily, which by this point you’ll know is saying something. After lunch, we visit nearby Aidone, whose museum has an unexpectedly high hit-rate of first-rank finds drawn from Morgantina, some of them returned after theft and shipment overseas.
Day 13: Our final day is spent beneath the gaze of Etna, which we’ve caught on the horizon many times. Today it’s ever present as we head to two ancient cities which mark beginnings: the first Greek colony at Naxos and Taormina, the city which arguably began the cultural appreciation of Sicily by foreign pilgrims. They’re close to each other, and we take the earliest first, exploring the streets and city walls of Naxos, which like its successors experienced more than its share of the ups and downs of classical Sicily. Then it is on to Taormina, ancient Tauromenium, spectacularly wrapped round a steeply-rising mount, awe-inspiring whether you’re viewing it or taking in the view from it. After making our way through the mediaeval streets, we finish our tour in the most ethereal setting possible: the Greek and Roman theatre placed by an architect touched by genius, where we finish our story perched high over the blue waters of the Mediterranean and with Etna frowning, grumbling – and entrancing. And by now you’ll be applying that last word to the whole island, and our tour, as well. A drive south takes us back to Catania for our final meal, where you’ll no doubt try and decide which day was the best. But this is the kind of tour where you’ll all win that argument, whichever you pick.
Day 14: Transfer to Catania airport, just over 20 minutes drive away.
I would like to book, what else do I need to know?
For information not covered below please refer to our FAQ’s or contact us directly on [email protected]
Arrival and Departure Information
Arrival Airport – Catania (Fontanarossa)
Departure Airport – Catania (Fontanarossa)
Check in time at your hotel in Syracuse is after 14:00 so we recommend choosing a flight that arrives mid to late afternoon. Check out time from your hotel Catania is 10:00 am. We will arrange local transfers from Catania Airport and to Catania Airport on the first and last day of the tour.
Booking Flights
The cheapest way to book flights to join this tour in Sicily is directly with the airline online.
If you prefer to book with a travel agent, we are happy to recommend specialists in a number of countries around the world, please contact our office for more details.
Travel Insurance
We consider adequate travel insurance to be essential. You should ensure that you take out a suitable policy, to make sure that your trip is properly covered. Please be advised some insurers may require you to take out a policy within 15-20 days of booking your holiday to receive all of their insurance benefits.
The European Union’s Entry/Exit System (EES) and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS).
The Entry/Exit System (EES) is a new digital border management system for registering non-EU nationals travelling for a short stay, each time they cross the external borders of 29 European countries using the system. The EES will modernise border management of the Schengen countries, gradually simplify border controls and prevent identity fraud. ETIAS travel authorisation is an entry requirement for non-EU visa-free nationals.
You find out more about EES & ETIAS using the link below
https://travel-europe.europa.eu/pb
Visas
For UK Nationals, You can travel without a visa to the Schengen area, which includes Italy, for up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa.
Citizens of European Union or Schengen Treaty member states need no visa for Italy, those from the United States, Canada and Australia do not need to apply for a visa to visit Italy for trips of less than 90 days duration.
Further Details about Exploring Sicily
Our Exploring Sicily tour is a comprehensive introduction to this beautiful and complex island, allowing you to immerse yourself in its history, culture, geography, archaeology, food and wine over a magnificent 14 day journey. You will visit many of the most important sites on the island, seeing the famous monuments of the prehistoric, Greek, Phoenician, Roman, Byzantine and Norman civilizations that made this island their home, as well as some other sites that are further off the beaten track and seldom visited.
There can be no doubt that the sites on the itinerary are unusually fascinating and that the various landscapes travelled through are especially beautiful, but you need to be aware that the trip is an intensive and occasionally physically demanding one. In contrast to our gulet cruises which tend to visit one ancient city per day, and are designed with rest and relaxation as well as history in mind, our Exploring Sicily tour often visits at least two archaeological or historical sites a day. Since the island is a large one, and we aim to introduce you to all aspects of its natural diversity, some days include relatively long driving times, usually through beautiful landscapes. We use a comfortable coach with ample space for all of our group and try, as far as possible, to make sure that we arrive at our evening destinations with time to spare for refreshment and relaxation before dinner. There are also free mornings or afternoons which will allow you to relax or explore at your individual discretion.
With just one exception, we spend two or more nights in each of the hotels/agriturismos on the itinerary. Each of these places has been carefully chosen for their location, style, character and atmosphere. They are complemented by meals at a carefully chosen selection of restaurants reflecting the entire breadth of the Sicilian culinary tradition, as well as by several wine tastings at some of the islands’ best wineries.
The sites themselves often have rough and uneven terrain with loose stones underfoot, so guests must be fit and well to take part in this tour. Some of the site visits, such as at Agrigento, involve up to 3 hours walking within the site itself. In addition, this tour includes a number of long countryside walks, of up to two hours’ duration. They all follow walking tracks, but do involve considerable differences in elevation and fairly broken terrain. With the exception of the site visits themselves, all the major countryside walks lead to key sites on the programme, and alternative means of transport can be provided for guests wishing to skip this hiking.
Tour Includes:
Accommodation – we use high standard 3-5* hotels with character
All meals (except 2 lunches and 3 dinners) including water, tea and coffee and wine with dinner
The services of your expert tour leaders throughout the entire trip
Airport transfers on first and last day of tour
Travel by private minibus
All entrance fees
All tips to restaurant and hotel staff
Hotel taxes
Not included:
Flights and airport taxes
Visas
Travel insurance
Tips for drivers
Tips for guides
Paul Beston
Inspired by finding a musket-ball in Gibraltar, Paul spent his childhood drawing Spartans, watching historical documentaries and devouring archaeology books. Certain that life ought to revolve around his passion for the ancient world Paul studied Ancient History at King’s College, London, gaining a first, and then earned a distinction in his Masters. Alongside lecturing posts at King’s and Royal Holloway in London, he has acted as an historical adviser for TV including HBO’s Fire from Heaven. Previously he taught Classics in Hertfordshire but we are delighted that he is now full time with us. He is also working with Michael Metcalfe on the publication of some notebooks of early travellers to Greece. He has a lively interest in all periods and regions, but a particular passion for Late Antiquity, Roman Britain and the Near East. He also focuses on tour design, creative content, and writes our blog and newsletters. We are very glad Paul is on our team of guides.
What previous guests have to say about Paul:
"Paul Beston is fantastic. He is hugely knowledgeable and engaging and really brings the history to life. He is the difference-maker!" Rhys Grossman
"Couldn’t have been better. Incredibly knowledgeable, professional, and never off duty. Nothing was too much trouble. This was our second trip with Paul Beston as a guide and he did not disappoint. Rome was brought alive! It was another amazing holiday and we will be back." Jan Rowland
"A wonderful learned host whose comprehensive and lively knowledge was superb. I would give Paul a 12 out of 10 – always engaging, open to questions - I was enthralled and engaged, and appreciated his care for everyone on the trip. An intellectual feast!" Janyce Rebecca Lyman
"Paul is the most excellent guide for all things ancient." Christopher Shore
"Paul made it an outstanding trip. 10 out of 10. If I could rate at a higher level I would. Paul is an excellent leader, source and inspiration." John Persiani
Olivier Henry
Olivier holds a Degree in ancient history, two Masters Degrees in ancient history and classical archaeology and a PhD from the University of Bordeaux. After a couple of years at the University of Illinois, lecturing on ancient architecture, he worked at the French Institute for Anatolian Studies, coordinating all French archaeological activities in Turkey from 2010 to 2014. He later held the Chair of Excellence in "Anatolian Archaeology" at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. Olivier has excavated in Turkey since 1998, working on a variety of sites which we visit on our tours including Herakleia, Iasos and Labraunda. He has been the Excavation Director at Labraunda since 2012.
Fluent in French, English and Turkish, Olivier is a specialist in Classical Archaeology and has published extensively. Although particularly involved in the History and Archaeology of Ancient Caria, Olivier has a strong interest in Greece and Sicily. He is Professor of Greek Art and Archaeology at the University of Lyon. We are delighted Olivier will be sharing his passion, knowledge and expertise with our guests.
What previous guests say about Olivier:
"Olivier made the trip very special. a first class scholar and great company. I have been on many guided tours and would rank him at the very top of the cohort." Gloria Kim
"Our archaeological guide, Olivier, was amazing! He was so knowledgeable and super enthusiastic that you could feel the life and activity in sites that were unused for thousands of years. He was always eager to answer all of our questions - no matter what he was asked." Michael Santori
"Olivier was an extremely knowledgeable guide and a pleasure to travel with. He was concerned about our interests and comfort during the entire tour." Patricia Wahlstrom
"We felt very fortunate to have Olivier as our guide. He was fantastic! Olivier made all the excursions so fascinating and entertaining. The archaeological sites were amazing and enhanced by Olivier's guidance." Stephanie Carden
"Olivier made the trip so memorable and enjoyable. Absolutely fantastic! Would definitely take another trip with him." Irene Sudac
Italo Giordano
Italo is an Italian archaeologist as well as a licensed tour guide who, in all the various arenas he works in, aims at making Sicily’s complex history accessible, memorable and meaningful. His academic work is focussed on Sicily, particularly the Greek and Roman periods and the island’s later Byzantine, Arab and Norman layers. Beyond research, he has been working on how heritage is presented, particularly on how that’s best done on the ground for international travellers. As well as guiding, Italo works in the cultural heritage sector monitoring and assessing these efforts in collaborations with public bodies and teams, so has played a major part in every stage of the process of understanding, interpreting and bringing to you the sites you’ll be seeing. Not only does he present sites with clarity and passion, his understanding of the archaeology, its survival and discovery and what shapes how we see it today is second-to-none.
Paola Vergilio
On returning home to Sicily, Paola went through the process of obtaining official qualification as a tour guide, achieving the goal in 2017. Her educational and academic research background is in contemporary theatre and performing arts: while away from Sicily she graduated with a Master’s Degree in Arts and Theatre at Bologna University, and she’s performed in both Palermo and Milan Opera Houses, worked as a cultural promoter on and off stage and participates in various community projects. Working as a guide allows her to indulge a long-standing passion for her homeland, and she’s led many tours related not just to archaeology, but also cuisine, nature, literature and the arts.
What makes this tour especially ideal for travellers interested in history and archaeology?
What kind of accommodation can I expect on your Sicily tour?
We choose small, characterful hotels that reflect the island’s rich cultural blend—properties with charm, comfort, and a strong sense of place. Whether situated in an historic harbour town, in an agriturismo in beautiful countryside, or in a lively Baroque town, each hotel is selected to complement the spirit of the tour.
What kind of food and dining experiences are included?
Sampling the celebrated Sicilian cuisine is one of the great joys of exploring this wonderful island. The food, wines and other delights of Sicily are so good that our standalone Gastronomic tour of Sicily has been one of our classic tours for over 15 years. Meals on the tour highlight regional specialities — fresh seafood, seasonal fruit and vegetables, ricotta and other cheeses, together with olive oils and wines shaped by the island’s volcanic soils. Dining is unhurried and convivial, offering a delicious insight into Sicily’s diverse culinary traditions.
How large is the group?
We keep our groups deliberately small — a maximum of 16 guests on our Exploring Sicily tours. This ensures a friendly, relaxed atmosphere and allows our guides to offer personal attention, answer questions fully, and foster the sense of shared discovery that defines our tours.
Who leads your Exploring Sicily tours?
Your expert guides are archaeologists and historians with long experience working and travelling in Sicily. Their knowledge of the region from prehistory via the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Byzantines and through to the modern day, brings each site, museum and landscape vividly to life. Please click on the tour expert’s name to read a full bio.
How much walking does this tour involve?
Our Exploring Sicily trip includes regular walks through archaeological sites, historic towns, and natural landscapes. Distances vary, but you can expect uneven ground, some inclines, and occasional longer site visits. We take everything at a measured pace, with time to pause, absorb the atmosphere, and enjoy expert commentary. Good walking shoes and a reasonable level of fitness will ensure you get the most from the experience. The tour is rated 3 out of 5 on our intensity scale, meaning it is classed as intermediate. You can find out more by visiting the fitness levels page on our website.
