Make your way to your local airport, where you will board your overnight flight(s). Your meals will be served on board.

Upon arrival at Palermo airport, you will meet your tour escort who will accompany you throughout your tour. We’ll transfer to our hotel in Palermo for dinner and overnight.

After breakfast, we will visit the Santuario of Santa Rosalia where the relics of the saint are kept. Born into a wealthy family, Rosalia felt a strong calling to a life of solitude and prayer. She fled to the mountains near Palermo, where she lived as a hermit and performed miracles. Rosalia’s holiness spread throughout Sicily, and people from all walks of life sought her intercession. Afterwards we’ll tour through Palermo’s colorful and bustling Ballaro street market – all spiced with an evocative whiff of Africa. See the top attractions in the old town of the Sicilian capital of Palermo, including the Teatro Massimo (exterior), Cathedral, and Politeama Theater (exterior). Your visit will include the Palatine Chapel as well. Dinner and overnight in Palermo.

We’ll greet our driver and hop aboard our coach bound for the hill-topping town of Monreale, renowned for its Arab-flavored cathedral, blending Byzantine, Arab, Jewish, Gothic, and Norman traditions, heritage, and art. We’ll tour the cathedral’s interior of glittering, golden mosaics as well as the story-telling columns of the cloister. On to Cefalù to explore the beautiful seaside village with its stunning World Heritage Norman cathedral. Dinner and overnight at Mangia’s Pollina Resort.

After breakfast, depart for Gesso to visit this historic town and the Church of Sant’Antonio Abate. After lunch, continue Messina to visit this historic town and its Churches as they prepare for the Feast of the Assumption. Dinner and Overnight in Messina.

After breakfast, spend the whole day in Messina to celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Dinner and overnight in Messina.

After breakfast, departure for Catania, the second most important city in the island. City walking tour including the gorgeous cathedral of St. Agata of Catania a young Christian virgin from Catania who was martyred around the year 251 for refusing to renounce her faith and marry the Roman proconsul Quintianus. She is remembered for her courage and devotion and her relics are kept in a silver sarcophagus within the Cathedral of Sant’Agata. Explore the via Etnea and the via Crociferi, the very heart of baroque Catania. Dinner and overnight in the nearby town of Brucoli.

We’ll depart this morning to Siracusa. We’ll visit this place which illustrates the ancient history of the Mediterranean and Europe. Syracuse’s real attraction is the archaeological park, home to the pearly greek theatre. Constructed in the 5th century BC and rebuilt in the 3rd century, the 16,000-capacity amphitheatre staged the last tragedies of Aeschylus (including The Persians), first performed here in his presence. It serves as a model for the theaters across the Classical world where early Christians preached to their communities. Visit the Cathedral, Basilica and catacombs dedicated to St. Lucy the patroness of this city. We’ll also visit the Ortigia, dotted with impressive church facades, outdoor restaurants, elegant piazzas and surrounded by a crystalline sea. Dinner and overnight at the resort.

After breakfast, we’ll spend a day in beautiful Taormina with its remarkably situated ancient Greek theater, still used today for open-air performances. Later you’ll be free to enjoy the sights, sounds, and aromas of this beautiful cliffside old-world town. Dinner and overnight at the resort.

Prepare for your departure to Catania airport and your return flights home.

*206 Tours Disclaimer:
Though every effort will be made to follow the itinerary, it should be considered as an indication, rather than a contract of places to be visited. Occasionally local religious holidays, national days, weather, traffic conditions and other events may necessitate changes in the sequence of visits or the missing of certain visits.