THE SPLENDOR OF SOUTHERN ITALY SICILY and CALABRIA

Arrival at Catania airport, meeting with your tour escort and departure by private minivan to the harbor. Boarding in Messina and transfer to Reggio Calabria. During the transfer to the harbor, stop in Acireale to take a walk and visit the city. Arrival at the hotel in Reggio Calabria, dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast in your hotel in Reggio Calabria and departure, by private minivan, to Stilo.
Stilo is a marvellous village down the Monte Consolino, dominated by the ruins of a great Norman Castle.
The village is also known for being the city where the philosopher Tommaso Campanella was born, and for the “Cattolica”: a jewel of bizantin art and architecture. The Cattolica is built on the rock, in one of the most beautiful and picturesque places of the village. After the visit, we leave to reach Gerace.
Light lunch in a typical farm with biological products.
Visit of Gerace. It is the most important city in Calabria for its history and its monuments. First of all, the Cathedral of XI century with its French style architecture, after three naves and the central apse, reach the crypt with a Greek cross and 26 columns from Locri.
Really interesting also the Church of San Francisco and San Giovannello one, all well preserved.
Back to the hotel for the dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast in your hotel and departure towards Locri to visit the city. Locri is a city rich in culture, as the famous archaeological site of Locri Epizephiri, an ancient and not fully explored Greek colony that was founded in the eighth century B.C.
Visit the ruins of Ionic Temple of Marsa, the sanctuary of Persephone, the Greek – Roman Theater and the necropolis
this is a real travel in the past.
In the archaeological site museum you can also admire the numerous remains as collections of coins and votive objects .
Back to Reggio Calabria and lunch in our hotel.
In the afternoon, half/day guided visit of Reggio Calabria.
Back to the hotel in the evening, dinner and overnight stay.

Breakfast in our hotel in Reggio Calabria and check out.
Departure by private minivan for a visit to Pentedattilo.
Pentedattilo is 250 meters over the sea level. It stands on the rock of Mount Calvario.
The characteristic shape that resembles a giant hand with five fingers.
It stands in a picturesque setting between the hills overlooking the Ionian Sea, between Salinas and Melito Porto Salvo.
The name of the village comes from the greek pentedàktylos, that means five fingers. Clearly visible from all around the coast is the first of the ancient centers scattered across the Ionian Aspromonte worth visiting at least once.
After the visit, we leave to go to Bova Superiore, the origin of this centre is very ancient and is proved by the archeological ruins from Neolithic near the Norman Castle.
The first historical evidence dating back to the early second millennium when between 1040 and 1064 the Normans imposed their domination and after their reign on the Arabs and Byzantines in the domain of Sicily and Calabria.
In the VIII – VI B.C. it became a colony of Magna Grecia, while in the following centuries it was besieged by the Saracens, Arabs and Normans.
We will have lunch in a typical farm where you can see and taste local production of the bergamot plantation and the production of bergamot spirit.
In the afternoon visit of Scilla and Chianalea.
Back to Reggio Calabria and transfer to the Messina harbor, to board towards Milazzo.
Arrival in the hotel in Milazzo, dinner and overnight stay.

After breakfast in the hotel in Milazzo, take a walk to the Milazzo harbor to board for an original mini cruise.
Sailing towards Panarea, with a wonderful view on the sea of the Baia di Calajunco we can see Zinneri beach landscapes.
Stop at S. Pietro harbor to have lunch in a typical restaurant “Eoliano” after our lunch we can take a typical Panarea taxi cab to reach the prehistorical village of Capo Milazzese, dated to 1400 b.C.
Departure from Panarea and circumnavigation of the archipelago in front of the island, transfer to Stromboli.
Stop on the sea in front of the picturesque village of Ginostra. Sailing near the island coast in Stromboli , Scari harbor until the sunset. We resume navigation to the Sciara del Fuoco to admire the volcano eruptions.
During the transfer on board you will taste a typical “macaroni” dish accompanied by a local wine, water and bread.
Back in the hotel in Milazzo and overnight stay.

Breakfast in your hotel in Milazzo and departure by private minivan, towards the archeological area in Tindari for a guided tour with a local guide. Tindari is one of the most visited destinations in the province of Messina, in Sicily, for its extraordinary beauty of the landscape and its archeological complex. Tindarys was founded in the fourth century B.C. by Syracuse, it stands on a rock 300 meters high. The Greek Theatre is one of the most important ruins, but also importanrt are its streets, the walls and the Roman Villa.
We leave Tindari and we reach Cefalù, where we will have lunch in a typical restaurant and will visit the city with local guide. Cefalù is one of the 15 municipalities on the Madonie Park, an important naturalistic and historical center, as it preserve evidences of the man’s life over millennium.
Cefalu strikes for its charm , its location, its marvelous Roman Cathedral that rose from a tangle of narrow streets and the some medieval elements, as those found along the slopes ranging from Rocca to Corso Ruggero, the area with small picturesque streets and archway that join the various buildings.
Back in Milazzo, dinner and overnights stay in the hotel.

Breakfast in your hotel in Milazzo check out and departure to Messina
Arrival in Messina, check in at our hotel
Guided visit with a local guide .
We will can admire the church of San Francisco, the Government Palace, the Neptune Fountain, Via Garibaldi, the Opera House, the Municipality and the Church of the Annunziata Catalanos in Arab-Norman style. From here we reach the Piazza del Duomo to visit the Cathedral, in Norman style modified different times with other architectonic styles. The cathedral is now also famous for its astronomical clock made by Strasburg Ungerer brothers in 1933.
Back in the hotel for a light lunch
In the afternoon we can visit of the city with our tour escort.
The Castle of Milazzo is the largest one of all Sicily, over 7 acres and nearly 14.000 square meters. It rose up on places of the early settlements of the Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and Muslims.
Dinner and overnight stay in our hotel in Messina

Breakfast in your hotel in Messina
Check out and departure for the transfer to Catania.
During the transfer stop in Zafferana Etnea to take a walk down the wonderful Etna volcano.
We will have a “merenda” snack tasting composed by typical food, wine and honey in a farm on the way .
Arrival at the airport in Catania .
End of the services and say Good Bye!