Sicily Food & Wine

Name: Sicily Food & Wine
Brand: Exodus
Rating: 4.6 (39 reviews)

39 reviews

Activity

Culture

Overview

Enjoy world-famous Sicilian food while visiting the best heritage sites

From cannoli to arancini, Sicilian food is known across the planet, but this tour shows how varied and diverse the cuisine here really is. The various civilisations that have occupied the island over millennia have not only left an unparalleled cultural heritage, but also a culinary history that sets Sicily apart from mainland Italy. Sample the street food of Palermo in vibrant markets, practise hands-on cooking with local chefs in Erice, sip wines in Marsala and Etna, and indulge in gelatos while relaxing in baroque piazzas. Let food lead the way in this captivating journey through culinary and cultural highlights.

Key Information

Trip Code: ADY
Ways to Travel: Guided Group
Countries: Italy
Carbon Footprint: 16kg CO2e per person per day

What's Included

All breakfasts, two wine tastings, one cookery class/lunch, four produce tastings (three of which are lunches) and one dinner
All accommodation
All transport and listed activities
Tour leader throughout and guided tours in main Unesco sights
Group arrival and departure transfers available

Highlights

Combine cuisine and culture on a culinary adventure through Sicily
Wander through colourful markets and try the unique street food of Palermo
Enjoy a hands-on cookery class with a local chef in Erice
Sample a variety of local specialities on produce and wine tastings
Visit a renowned wine cellar on Mount Etna before a walk on the slopes
Explore unique heritage sites and baroque cities, including Agrigento and Noto

Itinerary

First Destination: Palermo
Next Destination: Catania

Accommodation:B&B Hotel Quattro Canti (or similar)
Meals included:Dinner

Accommodation:B&B Hotel Quattro Canti (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:Villa Favorita Bungalow (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:Hotel della Valle (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Accommodation:Hotel Mediterraneo or Hotel Barocco (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation:B&B Hotel Catania City Center (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Accommodation:B&B Hotel Catania City Center (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast, Lunch

Meals included:Breakfast

First Destination: Palermo
Next Destination: Catania

This tour starts in Palermo, the regional capital of Sicily. This busy port city on the northwest coast encompasses fascinating and often-overlooked attractions. There is fine architecture to admire, good museums, palazzi and churches. It is the food scene, colourful markets and long-established food shops, however, that give the city an original, eccentric character worth discovering.

Around 6pm, say ciao to your tour leader and fellow travellers, when we gather as a group for the first time to get to know each other and learn more about the adventures ahead.

Your tour leader then ensures a big welcome by arranging a group dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Want more time in Palermo? Secure pre-tour hotel nights through your sales representative.

Upgrade to a deluxe room today – speak to your sales representative for more details

Accommodation:B&B Hotel Quattro Canti (or similar)
Meals included:Dinner

We start our week with a guided foodie tour through the historic centre of Palermo. During our walk, we wander through the carts and kiosks of street vendors, colourful markets and local bakeries while trying some of the best local specialities. These vary by season, but usually include arancini (fried rice balls stuffed with meat sauce and cheese), panelle (fried chickpea pancake), and sfincione (the traditional pizza of Palermo) – all delicious. As we walk, our tour leader reveals secrets of Sicilian street cuisine and explains the history of the city, while pointing out notable monuments and historic streets, such as Piazza San Domenico, Vucciria and Quattro Canti. The rest of the day is free; you may decide to continue sightseeing at your own pace or take an optional visit to Monreale, famous for its duomo (cathedral), considered the greatest example of Norman architecture in the world.

Upgrade to a deluxe room today – speak to your sales representative for more details

Accommodation:B&B Hotel Quattro Canti (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast, Lunch

In the morning, we transfer to our next destination, the hilltop town of Erice. The local gastronomy in this part of Sicily is strongly influenced by the Arabs, who occupied the area for many centuries until the Normans took over. A hands-on cookery course with a local chef gives us the opportunity to learn more about the interesting culinary fusions, while practising (and tasting) traditional regional recipes.

In the afternoon, we head to the southern town of Marsala, home to the much-loved fortified wines of the same name. A wine tasting is offered after a tour of one of the best local wineries.

Upgrade to a superior room today – speak to your sales representative for more details

Accommodation:Villa Favorita Bungalow (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast, Lunch

In the morning, we leave Marsala and transfer to a traditional organic olive farm. We learn about the cultivation and production methods and sample olive oil accompanied by local produce. In the afternoon, we transfer to the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento. A guided tour allows us to learn about the history of this archaeological park, which consists of eight temples (and various other remains) built between about 510 BCE and 430 BCE.

Upgrade to a superior room today – speak to your sales representative for more details

Accommodation:Hotel della Valle (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

Today’s destination is Piazza Armerina, home of Villa Romana del Casale. Built in the fourth century CE as a hunting lodge by a Roman patrician, the villa is home to well-preserved Roman mosaics, which are spread over 37,670sqft (3,500sqm). After a guided tour of this UNESCO-listed site, we enjoy a delicious produce tasting of Sicilian delicacies.

In the afternoon, we transfer to the baroque gem of Ragusa, one of the most beautiful cities in Italy. The town is part of the Val di Noto World Heritage site and 18 of the buildings are protected by UNESCO. After a short orientation walk, we have free time to enjoy a relaxing and well-deserved aperitivo (traditional Italian pre-dinner drinks and snacks) in a piazza.

Upgrade to a junior suite today – speak to your sales representative for more details

Accommodation:Hotel Mediterraneo or Hotel Barocco (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast, Lunch

We start our day with a transfer to a family-run farm in the countryside near Ragusa, a province where cheese-making traditions are stronger than anywhere else in Sicily. After a cheese-making demonstration and a farm tour, we taste samples, including ricotta made by the owners. Later, we transfer to the other baroque gem of the Val di Noto, the town of Noto itself. After a relaxing stroll through what is considered one of the most beautiful historic centres in Sicily, we can enjoy another staple of Sicilian cuisine: granita (crushed ice flavoured with fresh fruit or nuts and sugar) accompanied by traditional brioche (a soft, fragrant sweetbread). In the afternoon, we transfer to Catania, our base for the last two nights of the tour.

Upgrade to a deluxe room today – speak to your sales representative for more details

Accommodation:B&B Hotel Catania City Center (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast

After breakfast, we visit La Pescheria, the colourful, loud and pungent fish market, which is one of the oldest and biggest in Italy. Held every morning except Sunday, it is everything one expects an Italian market to be; following the local traditions, fishermen try to attract buyers with their loud voices and plenty of gesticulation. Nearby, there are also fruit and vegetable stalls plus other produce from the mountain villages around Etna.

Later this morning, we transfer to a renowned wine cellar on Mount Etna and enjoy a wine and produce tasting for lunch, followed by a walk (one hour, 3mi/5km maximum) around the most active volcano in Europe, hiking on hilly, steep terrain of dried lava, rocky ash and sand. If you’d prefer to skip the walk, you can ascend the central crater (see Extra Expenses for prices), first by cableway to the terminal, before a 4×4 ride and walk with a volcanology guide.

We return to Catania in the afternoon, and in the evening our tour leader will recommend an excellent local restaurant where we can enjoy a farewell dinner.

Upgrade to a deluxe room today – speak to your sales representative for more details

Accommodation:B&B Hotel Catania City Center (or similar)
Meals included:Breakfast, Lunch

This Sicilian food adventure comes to an end after breakfast. If you’d like more time to explore this fascinating island, speak to your sales representative about extending your stay.

Meals included:Breakfast

Dates & Prices

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Accommodation

Three- and four-star hotels

On this Sicily trip, we use three- and four-star hotels. Some have been chosen for their warm hospitality and typically Sicilian character and others for their convenient location. They are often near the historic centres we visit so we can easily explore the towns in the evenings or during our free time. Below are the hotels normally used.

Upgrade to a higher category of room throughout the itinerary – speak to your sales representative for more details.

Palermo: B&B Hotel Quattro Canti (nights 1-2)

Sicily Food & Wine

Our first stop is Quattro Canti, a three-star hotel in the historic centre of Palermo. For foodies, the highlight may well be the rooftop restaurant, which serves Italian cuisine with views over the city. On select departures, we use Hotel Posta instead.

Marsala: Villa Favorita bungalow (night 3)

Sicily Food & Wine

In Marsala, we stay at the Villa Favorita resort (above). The Villa Favorita resort was built by wine entrepreneur Salvatore Amodeo in 1860 and we typically stay in igloo-style accommodations within the property. There’s also a pool with loungers, plus plenty of green space to wander.

Agrigento: Hotel della Valle (night 4)

Sicily Food & Wine

After visiting the Valley of the Temples, we head to the nearby Hotel della Valle. Relax post-exploration with a dip in the pool or dine together in one of the two restaurants, which serve a mixture of Sicilian and international cuisines.

Ragusa: Hotel Mediterraneo or Hotel Barocco (night 5)

Sicily Food & Wine

In Ragusa, we either stay at Hotel Mediterraneo (above) or Hotel Barocco, depending on availability. The former is a modern hotel within a few minutes’ walk of Ragusa Ibla (the old town); it has a restaurant-bar serving Mediterranean cuisine. The latter is within Ragusa Ibla and has a restaurant-pizzeria.

Catania area: B&B Hotel Catania City Center (nights 6-7)

Sicily Food & Wine

We spend our final two nights at the modern Hotel Catania. It’s well placed for our activities, and, when we’re not out exploring, it has a lobby shop for food and drink.

Essential Information

Trip Expert

Francesco Genzone

Expert Leader: Sicily

Introducing Francesco: Born and raised in Palermo, Francesco is passionate about sharing the true soul of Sicily with Exodus groups.

This trip is graded Activity Level 1 (Easy), meaning it is suitable for everyone in good health and fitness. For more information on our trip gradings please visit our Activity Level Guidelines page. If you have any queries about the difficulty of the trip please do not hesitate to contact us.

This is a very relaxing week where you can enjoy excellent regional gastronomy while visiting the most important heritage sites and towns in Sicily. All the transfers are by private air-conditioned vehicle. Due to the distance covered during the week, some of the drives are quite long but should never exceed four hours (including stops). Due to traffic restrictions in a lot of the historic centres visited, you may have to carry your suitcase over cobbled pavements, although the bus will leave you as close to your hotel as possible. When this is not possible, a porterage service is provided, which has been included in the cost of the trip. Please be aware that some hotels don’t have a lift.

Sicily can reach the high 30Cs (around 100F) from June to September. The excursion on Mount Etna is on foot and we walk for up to one hour on hilly terrain of old dried lava, rocky ash and sand. The walking isn’t too strenuous and is done at a leisurely pace.

Key information

Start hotel: B&B Hotel Quattro Canti, Via Vittorio Emanuele, 291 , 90133 Palermo (on select departures, we use Hotel Posta instead)
Phone: +39 091 332082
Recommended arrival time: You can arrive at any time today. There will be a welcome briefing at the start hotel around 6pm
Airport: Palermo Airport (PMO)

Getting to the start hotel

The standard start hotel is approximately 40 minutes’ drive from the airport. We provide one group transfer from the airport to the hotel, which you can join at no extra cost, provided you can be at the airport before the transfer leaves. Speak to your sales representative for the transfer times or to arrange a private transfer.

If you would like further information on joining this trip, please speak to your sales representative.

Catching your return flight

There’s one group transfer to Catania Airport (CTA), which you can join at no extra cost. Please speak to your sales representative for the time of the transfer. If the group transfer does not suit your flight time, speak to your sales representative to arrange an alternative.

Italy

Travellers from the UK, US and EU normally do not need a visa to enter Italy. Please note, visa requirements often change and it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas for this trip. Therefore, we recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/europe/italy
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/italy
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/italy/entry-requirements
• USA:  www.travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/Italy.html

Please note: it is compulsory to carry ID with you at all times in Italy.

Sicilian cuisine is a melting pot of all the different cultures that have occupied the island, from the Arabs to the Normans. The island itself is incredibly fertile, enjoying an ideal climate for the cultivation of produce, such as olives, oranges, lemons, aubergines (eggplants), tomatoes, pistachios, almonds and grapes; not to mention all the seafood, tuna and swordfish caught right off the coast. The result? A cuisine that’s fresh, varied and delicious. Sicilian wines are also superb and known to be strong and syrupy, such as marsala and moscato. Here are some of the regional specialities we recommend trying during this trip:

Caponata: A tasty salad made with aubergines, olives, capers and celery, makes a great appetizer.
Sfincione: A local form of pizza made with tomatoes, onions and (sometimes) anchovies. Prepared on a thick bread and more likely found in a bakery than in a pizzeria.
Pane e pannelle: A favourite street food of Palermo, panelle (chickpea fritters) are served between bread, like a sandwich.
Arancini (also known as arancine): Fried rice balls stuffed with meat or cheese.
Pani câ mèusa: The name literally means bread with spleen, but don’t let that put you off. It is a delicious speciality of Palermo.
Cannoli: Tubular fried dough filled with sweetened ricotta (made from sheep’s milk).
Cassata siciliana: A sponge cake soaked in liqueur, the slices layered with sweetened ricotta, and the whole cake covered in almond paste andicing. It is also studded with candied fruits and other goodies.
Pasta alla Norma: Made with fried aubergine, tomatoes, basil and salted ricotta.
Pasta with pistachio pesto.
Pasta con le sarde: Sardines are popular in Sicily, so it’s common to see them as a topping for pasta. One common variety is bucatini with sardines, fennel, saffron, pine nuts and raisins.
Frutta martorana: Other places call this marzipan, but in Sicily the almond paste is moulded into little, incredibly realistic fruits, hence fruits of Martora, or frutta martorana.
Granita: The perfect summer refreshment, granita, originally from Sicily, is now found all over Italy. It’s crushed ice with sugar and fresh fruit, simple but delicious.
Involtini di pesce spada: Rolls of thinly sliced swordfish stuffed with pine nuts, raisins, breadcrumbs, anchovy fillets, orange juice and lemon juice, eggs and grated pecorino.
Tonno e spada affumicata: Smoked tuna and swordfish shaved paper thin and layered on a plate. These can be accented with shaved fennel and oranges, or olives and sun-dried tomatoes, or can be served with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and good-quality crusty bread.

Sicily has a pleasant climate year-round with plenty of sunshine and warm/hot temperatures. Summer has daily sunshine with temperatures reaching 30C-35C (86F-95F). The earlier and later departures are likely to be cooler with a slightly higher chance of rain. In late summer, there is the possibility of heavy thunderstorms, but these are usually short-lived.

Excellent

Advice for Potential Travellers

Don't rely on Exodus to book your flights, ours kept changing, and as they were very early outwards and very late return we had booked hotel rooms, but they resulted in staying at the wrong Heathrow terminal on departure, and paying extra because we had to change the dates. On return the Hotel we had booked at Gatwick was superfluous as the flight was cancelled and we flew to Luton 12 hours later.

Suggestions

Holiday good, flights bad

Peter Cross

Added May 2023

Etna in action!

This is a fantastic tour if you’re interested in both the food and the history of Sicily, as the tour combines both of them very well. The trip manages to pack so much in, every day there is something new to see, a new place to visit and a new...

Most Inspirational Moment

Lots of moments to mention. Visiting a mountain village to learn how to make pasta, the whole village was covered in thick fog! The visit to Ragusa, a perfectly beautiful town, I wished we’d had a little more time there. Being in Catania when Etna erupted! Although she ruined my return home, as a bit of a volcano enthusiast it was a bit of a special moment being part of that.

Thoughts on Group Leader

Alessio was a superb group leader. As an original native of Palmero himself, his knowledge of Sicily was unsurpassed. I found him informative, a great story teller and I appreciated that he shared a lot about life in Sicily as a real local, it gave what he said true authenticity. He very clearly knows his job, and seems to know someone familiar in every town! I liked that Alessio wasn’t overbearing as a group leader, if people wanted a bit of ‘space’ away from the group there was always time to do this.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Despite thinking May would be glorious weather, I’d pack a raincoat and an umbrella as well as your sun cream.

Suggestions

One thing I’d ask about before you book are the flights offered by Exodus. I had an arduous journey from London, via Milan, with lots of hanging around. What should be a 2.5 hr flight direct ended up being more like 6 hours, plus if you don’t live near London there is the travel there to also factor in. All in, it took me a full day to get to Palmero. I think this is one area Exodus need to look at, offer more direct flights. In hindsight I’d have booked my own flights. As a final point, I’d give special praise to Monica, the local emergency contact. She was brilliant in helping me when I was stranded at the airport, sorted me an extra nights accommodation and text me the following day to make sure I was ok.

Jill Mapes

Added November 2022

Food Trip to Sicily

A thoroughly enjoyable, varied holiday. Plenty of interesting visits, no shortage of excellent local food and wine.

Most Inspirational Moment

The cookery experience, and then enjoying the results!

Thoughts on Group Leader

Knowledgeable and enthusiastic, Francesca worked really hard to make our trip work.

Advice for Potential Travellers

Wear loose clothes! Be prepared to hotel hop and abundance of coach travel.

Suggestions

A short trip on the last morning after hotel check out would be helpful, the overly long wait at the airport was a pain.

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Sicily Food & Wine

Activity Level

Comfort Level

Activity

Overview

Enjoy world-famous Sicilian food while visiting the best heritage sites

Key Information

What's Included

Highlights

Itinerary

Dates & Prices

Skip the hassle: We’ll handle your trip from start to finish, with competitive flight prices, deposit-only payments, and full ATOL protection available.

Your Group, Your Adventure

Accommodation

Three- and four-star hotels

Essential Information

Trip Expert

Key information

Getting to the start hotel

Catching your return flight

Italy

Reviews

Sicily Food and City Adventure

Thoughts on Group Leader

Loved it!

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Advice for Potential Travellers

ADY: Sicily Food Adventure

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Advice for Potential Travellers

Sicilian food adventure

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Advice for Potential Travellers

Sicily - an island of contrasts

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Advice for Potential Travellers

Suggestions

A packed week of food and culture

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Advice for Potential Travellers

Sicily Food Adventure

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Advice for Potential Travellers

Sicily

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Advice for Potential Travellers

Suggestions

Etna in action!

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Advice for Potential Travellers

Suggestions

Food Trip to Sicily

Most Inspirational Moment

Thoughts on Group Leader

Advice for Potential Travellers

Suggestions

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