DESCRIPTION:

1^st Day / Tuesday PALERMO
Independent arrival at the hotel in Palermo, accommodation, and overnight.

2^nd Day / Wednesday PALERMO
After a buffet breakfast, Free time at disposal for visit Palermo and for lunch. In the afternoon, appointment with your guide to start the guided tour of the city. First, visit the Cathedral, one of the most important architectural monuments. We will continue our visit by walking along Corso Vittorio Emanuele to reach “I Quattro Canti di Città” Piazza Pretoria, Piazza Bellini and the Church of Santa Caterina. Accommodation at hotel and free time at disposal for shopping and dinner. Overnight.

3^rd Day / Thursday PALERMO – MONREALE – CEFALÙ – MESSINA – TAORMINA
After a buffet breakfast departure to visit the town of Monreale, situated on a hill at few kms far from Palermo in 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 at disposal to explore the town and shopping and lunch on your own. Proceed to Taormina through the coastal road passing through Messina from where we’ll have the chance to admire the suggestive scenery of the Strait of Messina. Accommodation at your hotel and free time at disposal for dinner. Overnight.

4^th Day / Friday TAORMINA – MT. ETNA – TAORMINA (Wine Tasting)
After a buffet breakfast, excursion to Mount Etna, the highest active Volcano in Europe. Weather permitting, across fascinating landscape with different kind of vegetation, a mixture of citrus groves, vineyards and fruit trees. We will reach a height of 1800 metres to visit the Sylvester Craters where we’ll enjoy a spectacular panorama over the Ionian Sea. Stop at a local winery on the eastern slopes of Etna and visit a prestigious cellar. We will have the opportunity to taste different local wines accompanied by local cheese and cold cuts. In the afternoon back to Taormina, 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.

5^th Day / Saturday TAORMINA – MILAZZO – LIPARI
After buffet breakfast, departure to Milazzo. Boarding at 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 at the hotel.

6^th Day / Sunday LIPARI – PANAREA – STROMBOLI – LIPARI
After a buffet breakfast, free morning at disposal and lunch on your own. In the late morning departure by boat to Panarea / 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, the island defined as the wildest island because it seems to preserve its bond with nature and in particular with the volcano, called by the locals “Iddu”; 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.

7^th Day / Monday LIPARI – SALINA – LIPARI
After a buffet breakfast in hotel, departure by boat to Salina. After a stop in the centre of S. 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. Accommodation at hotel and free time at disposal for shopping and dinner. Overnight.

8^th Day / Tuesday LIPARI – CATANIA
After breakfast in the hotel, transfer to the port of Lipari, and boarding on the hydrofoil for Milazzo. Following transfer to Catania, arrival at the hotel and accommodation. Lunch on your own; afternoon at your disposal 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 Hotel.

9^th Day / Wednesday
After buffet breakfast, end of the Tour.

WHAT IS INCLUDED:

• 8 nights accommodation in 4* hotels
• Board: 8 Breakfasts at Hotel
• 1 Street food lunch in Palermo incl. water and a glass of wine
• Visit of a cellar and Wine tasting on Mount Etna
• Regular boat excursions from Lipari to Panarea, Stromboli and Salina (no guide)
• Taxi Tour of Lipari Island
• Transfer by hydrofoil Milazzo Harbour/Lipari RT
• Transfer by minivan from Lipari Harbour/Hotel RT
• Transfer by minivan Taormina/Milazzo (on day 5) and Milazzo/Catania-Hotel (on day 8)
• Transportation de Luxe motor coach
• English speaking Tour Escort* (excluded Aeolian Islands)
• Local Guides where necessary
• Whispers Kit (for group with more than 10 passengers)
• Porterage at hotels (excluded Aeolian Islands)

*Contact Us at 800-621-2259 or info@tourcrafters.com to book today!

*Package descriptions and pricing are subject to change without notice.