Few people are as able to share their love and knowledge of Sicily as our two driver-escorts, Emilio and Salvatore. Both were born and raised in the USA, then moved to their ancestral land and made it their passion. We are proud to offer you their unforgettable day trips.
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Thanks to his fluent knowledge of English, as well as his warm and outgoing personality, Salvatore establishes an immediate rapport with his clients. He takes great pride in learning about your interests, your pace, your goals and you tastes so that he can tailor the day to YOU. It takes a natural gift to connect with people so effortlessly and thoughtfully, and his clients tells us over and over again that he gave them the best day they had in Italy. Here are some of the options he offers you, but if you want something not mentioned here (such as an outing to your family's hometown), do not hesitate to ask us! |
FULL-DAY TOUR OF PALERMO & MONREALE
As soon as Salvatore meets you at the hotel, you will choose with him the elements that will make up your ideal day in this fascinating city. You can concentrate on history, art and architecture, traveling back across the centuries to see spectacular vestiges of all the various cultures that have invaded and left their colorful marks on Palermo. Rub shoulders with the ancient Greeks, the Arabs, the Normans, the Anjovins, the French and the Spanish as you visit the immense 12th-century cathedral and the royal palace. Wander the narrow secretive alleys of the medieval quarter, turning a corner and stumbling upon the brick-red Islamic cupolas San Giovanni degli Eremiti church. See some of Italy's most extravagant stucco work inside the many ornate churches such as San Francesco d'Assisi and the Gesù. If you are a lover of gardening, be sure to include the 25-acre Botanical Gardens, which boasts a flamboyant collection of species from around the globe. And if you're a people watcher, then we urge you to stroll with Salvatore through the Mercato di Capo. Surely one of the most interesting outdoor markets in all of Italy, this conglomeration of stalls wends its way for miles through the narrow streets and tiny squares of the old city. You'll find absolutely every kind of merchandise on earth here, as well as an astounding assortment of unforgettable human beings. After time on your own for a typical Sicilian lunch, Salvatore will whisk you up the hill to see one of the greatest achievements of the Italian Middle Ages, the Cathedral of Monreale. Erected in the 12th century, it blends the Muslim, Byzantine and Romanesque styles as few other buildings on earth can do. On the way back to your hotel, enjoy the views of Palermo's picturesque Conca D'Oro bay.
This tour lasts up to nine hours. It is available daily. The price is for the total number of people, of all ages.
| 2012 Prices for the Full-Day Trip |
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407 EURO/group
449 EURO/group |
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Price includes private English-speaking driver-escort and transportation. Entrance tickets and meals are not included. |
A shorter version of this tour, including quicker visits to Palermo AND Monreale, or an in-depth visit to Palermo OR Monreale, is also available daily and lasts five hours. The price is for the total number of people, of all ages.
| 2012 Prices for the Half-Day Trip |
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252 EURO/group
280 EURO/group |
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Price includes private English-speaking driver-escort and transportation. Entrance tickets and meals are not included. |
FULL-DAY TOUR OF PALERMO & CEFALÙ
After your morning in Palermo, you may elect to have a typical local snack instead of a sit-down lunch, and let Salvatore take you 70 km east to the seaside town of Cefalù. Founded by the ancient Greeks, the city is now mostly Baroque, and occupies a stunning position between the silvery Mediterranean and a precipitous cliff. A classic Sicilian town, it boasts elegant streets shaded by tall palm trees, as well as one of the most important cathedrals in Italy. The austere stone façade, topped by two squared-off towers, belies the extravagance of the Byzantine mosaics that decorate the immense, silent interior. Anyone who saw Franco Zeffirelli's Brother Sun, Sister Moon will never forget the gigantic image of Christ slowly emerging on the screen, overwhelming the viewers just as it did the humble friar from Assisi who would later become St. Francis.
This tour lasts up to nine hours. It is available daily. The price is for the total number of people, of all ages.
| 2012 Prices for the Full-Day Trip |
|
407 EURO/group
449 EURO/group |
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Price includes private English-speaking driver-escort and transportation. Entrance tickets and meals are not included. |
A shorter version of the tour to Cefalù (without Palermo) is also available daily and lasts five hours. The price is for the total number of people, of all ages.
| 2012 Prices |
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280 EURO/group
308 EURO/group |
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Price includes private English-speaking driver-escort and transportation. Entrance tickets and meals are not included. |
FULL-DAY TOUR OF AGRIGENTO
Salvatore will drive you today to what is perhaps Sicily's most famous archeological destination, the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. On UNESCO's list of cultural heritage sites since 1997, it is one of the world's most outstanding examples of greater Greek architecture and art, dating back to the 5th century BC. There are no less than seven temples, in various states of ruin, for you to visit. T he Temple of Concordia is ranked amongst the most notable edifices of ancient Greek civilization existing anywhere, inside or outside Greece -- but each temple has its bragging rights, and the ensemble of the whole cluster, especially when viewed from the hill above the valley, poignantly evokes a culture that dominated the entire Mediterranean a very long time ago.
This tour lasts up to nine hours. It is available daily. The price is for the total number of people, of all ages. Because of the distance from Palermo, you will have only three hours at the site itself. A private guide at the temples is available and must be reserved in advance by us. The cost for a two-hour tour is 80 Euros, paid in cash to the guide.
| 2012 Prices for the Full-Day Trip |
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442 EURO/group
490 EURO/group |
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Price includes private English-speaking driver-escort and transportation. Entrance tickets and meals are not included. |
FULL-DAY TOUR OF SEGESTA & SELINUNTE
Meet Salvatore at your hotel and travel with him to one of Sicily's most magical sites, the Greek temple of Segesta. Thanks to the utter tranquility of the spot, you will immediately feel you've left the 21 st century behind and stepped into faraway antiquity. The elegant Doric temple is just about all that's left of the ill-fated Greek colony who settled here, as mentioned in the Aeneid. Eternal enemies of the other colony you will visit today, the people of Segesta were constantly besieged. The story goes that 2600 years ago, they felt their only chance of survival was to erect a temple so imposing that its very stature would strike terror in the hearts of any invader, thus inducing them to flee. Alas, it seems the ruse was unsuccessful because there was not enough time to finish the building before the city was destroyed in 307 BC. You can clearly see that the columns were never completed, but nonetheless this is one of the most striking ancient ruins in the entire Mediterranean. After a pause for lunch on your own, Salvatore will take you to the very southern shore of the island, just across from the ancient city of Carthage. Here you'll visit the site of Selinunte which, unlike Segesta, was one of the most important Greek colonies in Sicily. Its great wealth made it a prime enemy of Carthage, which eventually destroyed the city and deported all its citizens during the first Punic War. The huge temples of Selinunte are mighty testimony to the difference between a serene, backwater outpost such as Segesta and a prosperous coastal trading colony such as Selinunte, and seeing both sites in the same day is a striking way to make ancient history come alive today.
This tour lasts up to nine hours. It is available daily. Because of the distances, there are at least five hours of driving in this trip. The price is for the total number of people, of all ages.
| 2012 Prices for the Full-Day Trip |
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442 EURO/group
490 EURO/group |
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Price includes private English-speaking driver-escort and transportation. Entrance tickets and meals are not included. |
Ashorter version of this tour to Segesta (without Selinunte) is also available daily and lasts five hours. The price is for the total number of people, of all ages.
| 2012 Prices for the Half-Day Trip |
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280 EURO/group
308 EURO/group |
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Price includes private English-speaking driver-escort and transportation. Entrance tickets and meals are not included. |
FULL-DAY TOUR OF SEGESTA & ERICE
After your visit to Segesta, you may elect instead to continue on to Erice, the only true medieval hilltown in Sicily. To get there you wind your way up a slope covered by a delightful, cool pine forest where the only sound you'll hear is an occasional bird call. Once at the summit, the first thing Erice has to offer is a breathtaking view of the sprawling bay and valley below. When you can bear to turn your back on this panorama, you'll venture into the pristine stone alleyways of the town, off-limits to cars and, it would seem, to all the modern world. Like any perfect vantage point, Erice boasts not one but two castles, one dating all the way back to the Saracens and the other, "newer" one attributed to the 12th-century Normans. If you'd like, you can take the cable car back to the foot of the hill where you'll meet Salvatore for the trip back to your hotel.
This tour lasts up to nine hours. It is available daily. The price is for the total number of people, of all ages.
| 2012 Prices for the Full-Day Trip |
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435 EURO/group
477 EURO/group |
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Price includes private English-speaking driver-escort and transportation. Entrance tickets and meals are not included. |
FULL-DAY TOUR OF MARSALA & ERICE
Another variation on this day is to precede your stop in Erice with a visit to what we consider one of the most interesting small towns in Italy. Nowhere else does such a tiny village offer such a vast selection of historical sites! For starters, Marsala is the only place on the planet where you can see a longship dating from the Punic Wars, considered the oldest archeological remains of a warship in the world. From there we move "forward" in time to peer down at the ruins of a Carthaginian city next to what's left of a Roman city; stroll across the water to a Phoenician island; then cross back to the village, where the streets are paved with polished marble and lined with elaborate Baroque churches, inside one of which is a priceless collection of 16th-century Flemish tapestries. After all this exploration, the pièce de resistance is the Salt Museum, which occupies a 500-year-old windmill exactly like those invented by Archimedes. You can climb all over the interior and learn how it works, then see the mounds of pure sea salt that are protected from the winter weather by terracotta roof tiles. Be sure to buy some -- it is as different from our own table salt as Sicilian Marsala wine is from the supermarket variety!
This tour lasts up to nine hours. It is available daily. The price is for the total number of people, of all ages.
| 2012 Prices for the Full-Day Trip |
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435 EURO/group
477 EURO/group |
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Price includes private English-speaking driver-escort and transportation. Entrance tickets and meals are not included. |
Emilio was born in Agrigento, in central Sicily. When he was two, his family moved to Cleveland, where he lived in Little Italy until earning his Master's Degree in Education at Cleveland State University. After going on to obtain a social worker license in 1992, he made a trip to his birthplace that turned out to be pivoltal, because he soon decided to stay! Now Emilio's mission is to introduce English-speaking visitors to Sicily, an island he loves deeply after having explored it from stem to stern.
FULL-DAY CEFALU' AND SANTO STEFANO DI CAMASTRA
About
an hour east of Palermo, the coastline rears up and forms a mighty cliff that can be seen for miles. Nestled
at its feet is one of the most charming villages in northern Sicily, Cefalù (whose name
probably derives from the Greek word for "headland"). We know its origins go back at least as far
as 396 BC, when it was invaded by the Carthaginians, just one of the many foreign powers that have swept through
Sicily, which for centuries has been a stoplight at the crossroads of the Mediterranean. Cefalù itself
has been dominated by the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs and the Normans, until finally, in 1861, it became
part of Italy. During your day here with Emilio, you will see
traces of all these civilizations, but it was a Norman king, Roger II, who built
the most astounding monument, the 12th-century Cathedral. A masterpiece of Sicilian Romanesque architecture,
it stands proudly above a broad staircase at the far end of the town square. Its cream stone façade
is adorned with intricate carving and flanked by two tall towers. Inside awaits one of the greatest Byzantine
mosaics in the world, the gigantic Christ Pantocrator who somehow manages to seem austere and spiritual despite
the breathtaking gold that surrounds him.
After
a visit to the cathedral and a walk through the streets to see the many 13th- to 16th-century palazzi of local
bigwigs, you'll drive up the hill to Gibilmanna, where you'll thrill to the best view of Sicily's northern
coast. If it is open, you can also peek into the incredibly ornate sanctuary.
Now it's time for lunch! Depending on whether you just want a snack,
or a pizza, or a full lunch, Emilio will suggest his favorite places and give you some time on your own to
relax and enjoy la cucina siciliana.
Afterwards
you'll drive a bit farther east to Santo Stefano di Camastra. Along with Deruta and Vietri, this is the third
point of Italy's famed ceramic triangle. Perched at the edge of a cliff, the little village is unprotected
except on its sea side. It was laid out in the late 17th century by the Sicilian-Spanish Giuseppe Lanza, Duke
of Camastra, with one main street that curves gracefully along the edge of the cliff. The entire length of
the street is lined on either side by the workshops of the local artists, who make astounding creations using
clay as well as lava from Mt. Etna. The local specialty is a bright red-and-blue pattern, but each artisan
has his own styles and colors, from traditional to modern, from small plates to giant urns. The prices are
some of the best to be found anywhere, clearly lower than those in more touristy destinations like Taormina,
and only a fraction of those charged in the ritzy establishments of Florence or Siena.
In Santo Stefano you will watch an artisan create his own pieces.
Later, you can purchase anything from a salt shaker to a complete dining set for 12 to the tiles for your
new kitchen backsplash. They will be shipped to your door and perhaps get home before you do! The day ends
with a relaxing drive back to your central Palermo location.
The
tour is approximately 7/8 hours long. We regret that it is not possible for cruise passengers. The cost for
lunch and any eventual entrance tickets is not included. Please note that there is a considerable amount of walking
on this tour. It can be reduced but not eliminated.
| 2012 Prices From downtown Palermo |
- 1-4 people:
- 5-6 people:
- 7-12 people:
- 13-20 people
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|
399 EURO/group
628 EURO/group
799 EURO/group
913 EURO/group |
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All fees include transportation to/from your address in downtown Palermo and private guide. Your guide
is happy to pick you up and take you home to other locations. Please ask
us for a price |
FULL-DAY SEGESTA AND SELINUNTE
You
may be wondering why Emilio does not propose to show you the world-famed Greek temples in his own hometown,
Agrigento. Sadly, although the Agrigento temples are splendid, they are surrounded by ugly (and mostly illegal)
modern urban sprawl. Segesta and Selinunte, on the other hand, are both located in pristine countryside, standing
alone in tranquil beauty amidst nature. There are virtually no modern-day structures to mar the setting. You
can really enjoy the splendor of the temples and imagine what it was like to live in Sicily in ancient times.
Segesta is considered one of the most important surviving Hellenic temples in the world, and Selinunte's location
on the edge of the Mediterranean makes it an unforgettable site.
Your
day begins when Emilio picks you up at your central Palermo location and drives you to Segesta. It is believed
that the temple was erected between 420 and 430 BC. Segesta was populated by a local tribe called the Himerans.
It is first mentioned in history around 500 BC, when the Greek colony of Selinunte, which had sprung up just
60 kilometers away on the southwestern coast of Sicily, began to dramatically grow and prosper. This alarmed
the Segestans, who initially welcomed the Greeks but now viewed the rapidly expanding power of Selinunte as
a serious threat. The Carthaginians of North Africa also viewed the Greeks as a double-edged menace, so Segesta
allied itself with Carthage. However, with the great victory of the combined Greek armies over the Carthaginians
at Himera in 480 BC, the Segestans quickly changed sides, becoming allies of one of the victorious Greek cities.
Interestingly
enough, this temple never had a roof. A local legend about that goes like this: In 450 BC, Selinunte allied
herself with Siracusa, the mightiest of all the states of Magna Graecia, as the western Greek colonies were
called. Segesta sought help outside Sicily, turning to Greece itself and beseeching mighty Athens for aid.
To the Athenians, Segesta was only a distant provincial outpost, so before considering it an ally, the Greeks
sent a delegation of diplomatic envoys to investigate the city's claims of great wealth. In order to deceive
the Athenians into thinking their city was more prosperous than it actually was, the Segestans began building
a magnificent temple to impress their visitors. The ruse was successful and the envoys were convinced of Segesta's
wealth. But once they departed, work on the temple ceased, and this is why it never had a roof. Thanks to
its architectural simplicity and the peacefulness of its location, a visit to this temple is quite a moving
experience.
Afterwards, it's off to lunch! You tell Emilio what kind of meal
you'd like and he'll take you to a place he recommends. If you like fish, we suggest one of the seaside eateries
near your next stop, Selinunte.
Selinunte
was founded in the 7th century BC and effectively destroyed in 409 BC. Its glorious heyday lasted for a period
of about two centuries, when it was one of the most progressive Greek cities in Sicily, famous throughout
Magna Graecia for its trade, riches and elegant buildings. The city of Selinunte proper, known as the "Acropolis," is
situated on high land overlooking the Mediterranean Sea about twenty meters below. The Acropolis is located
roughly in the center of the park's area.
As
we said above, it was Carthage that eventually brought about the city's demise. Selinunte's citizens remained
neutral in the war of 480 BC, not siding with their fellow Greeks when Agrigento and Syracuse decisively defeated
the Carthaginians at Himera. In 409 BC Selinunte became involved in a war between Syracuse and Athens, when
the Greek metropolis sent an expedition to punish the Sicilian cities that sided against her on behalf of
Syracuse. The Athenians were never able to capture Syracuse, and were eventually forced to leave Sicily, having
incurred heavy losses. But most of the Sicilian Greek cities were worse off, with their armies weak and disorganized.
Among these were Agrigento and Syracuse, Selinunte's allies. This opened an opportunity for the Carthaginians,
who sent an army said to number 100,000 men equipped with battering rams and siege towers that were taller
than Selinunte's walls. The city appealed to Agrigento for aid, but that proved to be in vain.
After
a siege that only lasted nine days, the Carthaginians breached the walls of Selinunte and easily overwhelmed
the defenders. What followed was an orgy of destruction, torture, rape, murder and looting that was considered
abhorrent even by the standards of those days. About 16,000 of Selinunte's estimated 25,000 or so civilians
were butchered outright and 7,000 were enslaved. Only a scant two thousand Selinuntians managed to escape
the bloodbath and make their way to Agrigento. This brutal massacre marked the end of Selinunte's glory and
freedom, and although the city was repopulated to some extent by the Carthiginians, who practiced human sacrifice,
the city never regained its former beauty, power or prestige. During the first Punic War with Rome in 250
BC, the Carthaginian forces, fleeing the Roman advance towards the main center of Panormus (Palermo), decided
to deprive the Romans of a prize by razing Selinunte to the ground, destroying it forever. Still, what remains
today are several massive temples, quite different in style and impression from the one at Segesta, and from
them you will be able to get a good idea of what life was like in Magna Graecia.
Your day ends with the relaxing drive back to Palermo.
The tour is approximately
7/8 hours long. We regret that it is not possible for cruise passengers. The cost for lunch and
entrance tickets is not included. Entrance tickets cost 4.50 Euro/person extra for Segesta and 6 Euro/person
extra for Selinunte, paid in cash during the tour (ticket prices may vary slightly without notice). Please
note that there is a considerable amount of walking on this tour. It can be reduced but not eliminated.
| 2012 Prices From downtown Palermo |
- 1-4 people:
- 5-6 people:
- 7-12 people:
- 13-20 people
|
|
399 EURO/group
628 EURO/group
799 EURO/group
913 EURO/group |
|
All fees include transportation to/from your address in downtown Palermo and private guide. Your guide
is happy to pick you up and take you home to other locations. Please ask
us for a price |
