Beach, Fun & Culture from Palermo

Breakfast in the hotel. This day you can swim at the beautiful sandy beach of Mondello or you can visit Palermo & Monreale.
Suggested itinerary Today you will visit Palermo. You begin with the Teatro Massimo, the third biggest opera theatre in Europe.
Then you enter the popular market “Il Capo”, that looks like an African souk; at the end of the visit of the market you will taste in a
bar the typical Sicilian “Arancina”, a speciality of the local street food. You will continue the visit in the old part of the city with the
Cathedral, the Royal Palace and the Palatine Chapel. Proceed to Monreale, famous because of its Cathedral with polychrome
mosaics on a golden background, representing scenes of the Old and the New Testament. You will end the visit with the cloister. In
the afternoon enjoy one of the most beautiful beaches in Italy, so close to the centre of Palermo. You will reach Mondello beach in
30 minutes from the centre of the city. Mondello was (and still nowadays is) a fisher village, that at the beginning of the XX century
was chosen by the rich families of Palermo as seat for their summer holidays. For these reasons you will admire there a lot of villas
built in liberty style, and another interesting liberty building, the “Stabilimento Balneare” (the bathouse), erected on stilts on the
water, that hosts also one of the best restaurants in Palermo. Mondello beach is half-circular shaped, between two promontories
(Monte Pellegrino and Capo Gallo) and the colour of the sea will astonish you. Depending on the weather and on the sea conditions
you could also have the opportunity to swim (from May to the end of October). A stroll along the sea-promenade (with the palm
trees) is a “must”. In the main square you will have the opportunity to taste on your own the specialities of the sicilian street food
or an ice-cream. Overnight.

Breakfast in the hotel. This day you can swim at the beautiful sandy beach of Cefalù and you can visit Castelbuono.
Suggested itinerary: Drive to Cefalù where you can start your day visiting the Piazza del Duomo which stretches out below the
Cathedral with its splendid mosaics and which is surrounded by a range of splendid palazzi, walk through Corso Ruggero, the main
street, lined with a wide range of boutiques and built over the ancient Roman decumanus street, and head then to the ancient
lavatory. You can then drive you up the hills, to Castelbuono, a charming town that was formed in the 14C around the castle built
by the Ventimiglia family, a massive square construction with square towers, which has undergone many alterations over the years.
Here is also the heart of the Madonie regional park. We suggest you to seat at some local restaurant to taste special meat and
mushrooms. Drive back to Palermo. Overnight in Palermo.

Breakfast in the hotel. This day you can swim at the beautiful sandy beach of San Vito lo Capo or Macari.
Suggested itinerary: Drive to Marsala, famous because of the salt works and the production of wine. Stop in the Riserva dello
Stagnone a magical place, with a striking natural landscape of rare beauty for its white salt pans with windmills. Continue driving to
Erice, the medieval town on the summit of Monte San Giuliano. Here you can admire the Venus Castle (exterior) and the Cathedral.
In the meantime we suggest you to have a stop at a bakery to taste the typical almond pastry of Erice. Drive to Segesta, one of the
most beautiful archeological sites of Sicily, where you should visit the Doric temple whose majestic appearance and dominating
position bestows great nobility to the landscape. Return to Palermo. Overnight in Palermo.

Breakfast in the hotel. This day you can swim at the beautiful sandy beach of Scala dei Turchi
Suggested itinerary: Drive to Agrigento to discover the wonderful and well-known Valley of the temples where you can admire the
Temple of Juno, the Temple of Concordia (one of the best preserved Doric temples in the whole Greek world), the Temple of
Hercules and the Temple of Castor and Pollux. Come back to Palermo and overnight.

Breakfast in the hotel. This day you can swim at the beautiful sandy beach of Favignana or drive to Corleone, known today as a
symbol of the fight against the Mafia.
Suggested itinerary: Drive to Trapani/Marsala port and departure by boat/hydrofoil to Favignana, with its butterfly shape, it is a
fantastic destination for beach lovers and diving enthusiasts. Climb aboard the adorable Egadilandia, a tourist train that goes
around the many coastal roads and streets of the island. Do not miss the former Stabilimento Florio (a canned tuna factory that has
become a museum), the hard walk up the hill will lead to the ruins of the Castle of Santa Caterina and the suggestive Grotto of
lovers. Return to the hotel. Ovenight.
Suggested itinerary Today you can make the visit of Corleone, known for being a symbol of mafia power, hometown of the boss of
the bosses Totò Riina. Today it is the seat of associations that carry out activities against the mafia that lives in assets seized from
mafia bosses. Their activities are inspired by the ideas carried out by men like Placido Rizzotto, Corleonese, trade unionist and
Italian politician who was killed by the mafia for his commitment to the peasant movement for land occupation. You can visit the
Laboratorio della Legalità where the paintings of the Sicilian painter Gaetano Porcasi illustrate some highlights from the history of
the mafia and anti-mafia. On to San Giuseppe Jato to visit the Consorzio Libera Terra Mediterraneo, which deals with soliciting civil
society in the fight against mafias and promoting legality and justice, where the cultivation and processing of organic products
takes place in the afternoon you can go to Portella della Ginestra in Piana degli Albanesi to visit the Memorial and reconstruction of
the massacre of peasants gathered to celebrate the workers' day, which took place on 1 May 1947. In both these locations Terra
Libera has been able to transform 2 assets seized from the mafia into a farmhouse (Agriturismo Corleone and Agriturismo Portella
della Ginestra) where, you can also stop for a lunch tasting the local products grown in the seized lands. On to the hotel for
overnight.

Breakfast in the hotel Today you can go swimming at Capo Gallo natural reserve in Mondello or you will discovery Palermo.
Suggested itinerary: Today you could decide to have an Apetour http://www.apetourpalermo.it in Palermo of 1 hour and entering
to the small streets you will discover the real 'old' Palermo and the famous markets such as the Capo, Ballarò, the Vucciria.
During the day you will have the chance to taste local sicilian food snacks in authentic places, such as ARANCINI (rice balls with
meat or butter) – PANE PANELLE (deep fried pancake made of chickpeas basted with Lemon juice and served in Panini) –
SFINCIONE (sicilian Pizza, instead of Mozarella Pecorino cheese is used and also anchovys) – CASSATA SICILIANA (Sicilian sweet with
ricotta cheese and Martorana fruit and almolds).
In the afternoon you are free to see a show of Sicilian Opera dei Pupi of Cuticchio with explanations in approx. 1 hour
http://www.figlidartecuticchio.com). Dinner at typical Sicilian restaurant eating Pizza rustica or Pasta alla Norma, or with sardines
and desert Cassata Siciliana or cannolo. Overnight.

Breakfast in the hotel. Check out at 10:00. Drive to the airport, release of the car and end of our services. Grazie e arrivederci!