We'll leave the big, busy city of Catania behind and drive south of Mt Etna, and visit Marchesi San Giuliano, a historic family-run citrus estate. The south slopes of Etna are famous for blood oranges and many wonderful types of citrus. Marchesi San Giuliano produces a wonderful range of organic marmalades, jams, and confections using their beautiful citrus fruit.

We'll learn about the estate, and the history and future of citrus in Sicily.

We'll have a casual lunch at local eatery on the south slopes of Etna before we head further south.

Our home base in Vittoria/Ragusa is Tenuta Cammarana, a historic family-run farm villa in the countryside near Castello Donnafugata.

We'll enjoy the peace of this farming landscape, with dairy cows nearby and big sky above. The gardens around the Tenuta are filled with flowers, fruit, and loved by garden cats and a the sweet and charming resident family dogs. Enjoy the elegant Sicilian interiors, lush country gardens and the pool at our home in rural SE Sicily.

This historic property is set in the active, agricultural surrounding countryside and vineyards. This historic building showcases authentic Sicilian architecture, complemented by an on-site kitchen serving locally sourced dishes, made just for us.

We'll enjoy a botanical walk of the Tenuta's garden from our lovely tenuta host Silvia, and have a welcome drink together, then dine together with a home-cooked south-eastern Sicilian seasonal meal.

Enjoy fresh, homemade breakfast at the tenuta.

We'll spend the day exploring Vittoria's wine!

We'll visit two of the area's most iconic vineyards: COS and Occhipinti, both known for their organic farming practices and minimal-intervention winemaking. Their expressive wines showcase the unique terroir of the region.

We'll enjoy a visit to the vineyards, learn about the winemaking processes in the cellar where the new harvest is bubbling away, then have a tasting of a range of the wines.

We'll have a local Vittoria lunch together between vineyard visits.

Ragusa is one of Sicily's Baroque gems!

Enjoy free time to walk historic Ragusa and watch the sun glow off the Baroque churches.

We'll have mapped suggestions for a walk to see some of the beautiful sites of Baroque Ragusa.

Ragusa's local trattoria and osteria await! Enjoy dinner on your own at your choice of restaurant -- we'll have plenty of mapped suggestions.

Enjoy fresh, homemade breakfast at the tenuta before or after we go to the dairy farm.

By 9am, we'll walk about 10 minutes to the dairy farmhouse from the tenuta and learn how to make ricotta -- indispensable in Sicilian cuisine, from savory to sweets!

We'll sample warm ricotta straight from the copper pot, and also try our hand at shaping the local provola di Ragusa cheese.

And don't forget to say hello to the cows!

What a delight to be in Sicily at harvest time!

We will learn how to harvest olives for olive oil at the tenuta, then accompany the olives to the local olive oil press to watch the local action! We'll have a chance to taste the fresh, green, lively new harvest oil, too.

We will join the Tenuta's kitchen pros and learn how to make that most important of Sicilian snacks - arancini! We'll follow the cook's instructions and using local Ragusa ingredients. Recipes and techniques you can take home with you!

We'll enjoy our arancini together, as well as a full Ragusa meal, and toast all the fruits of our labors today with Sicilian wine!

Enjoy the gardens or take a dip in the pool. Write those postcards or just take it the scents and sights of rural Sicily -- hot sun on the herbs, the olive trees green-silver leaves...

Beach day!

Our van will take anyone who would like to the beach for the afternoon.

We'll enjoy the salt, the sand, and the sun at the beach in Marina di Ragusa on Sicily's southern coast. Enjoy golden sands and soft waves in shallow, beautiful waters. (Weather dependent.)

We'll reserve beach loungers and umbrellas at the beach club for anyone who wants to come to the beach, approximately 30 minutes from the tenuta. The beach club has changing cabins, restrooms, shower, a full bar, a cafe, and a restaurant.

Or, spend a relaxing day at the Tenuta, enjoying the calm and the quiet.

Dinner together at the legendary Sakalleo, on the seaside beach and fishing town of Scoglitti, about 30 minutes drive from the Tenuta.

Here we'll indulge in a menu-less, epic, multi-course seafood tasting meal from crudo to cotto to pasta dictated by the day's catch. Unforgettable!

Our final homemade breakfast at the Tenuta! Enjoy a cappuccino in the garden before we start our next adventure.

Our van will take us to Ortigia -- the island that formed the heart of Greek Siracusa. Siracusa was known as the most beautiful part of the Greek world -- we'll let you be the judge!

Welcome to Ortigia!

We'll have free time to wander ancient ruins, stroll the seaside promenades, ponder Archimedes's genius, shop Sicilian-scented soaps, and enjoy the open air market. Stock up on local capers, olives, and more to bring home!

For lunch, stop for spritz with a view, a granita and brioche on the piazza next to the Greek temple-turned-cathedral or opt for a fritto misto di mare in the bustling fish market. We'll have plenty of delicious mapped options to consider.

We'll reconvene after lunch to continute our journey north.

After lunch, our van will take us to the northern slopes of Etna to our home base in the town of Linguaglossa.

A 17th century family home lovingly restored and brought to new life. Alfio and his family's passion for food, hospitality, and art permeates every corner of the Palazzo.

Enjoy dinner at the Palazzo's intimate on-site multi-course contemporary Sicilian restaurant or explore Linguaglossa's delicious offerings in local trattorias, all walking distance from the hotel in this charming Etna town.

Enjoy breakfast at the Palazzo.

OPTIONAL: After breakfast we'll embark on a guided tour of Mount Etna - a 4-hour walk and drive through otherworldly terrains shaped by recent and ancient lava flows. Our local guide will tell us about lava flows, geology, plant life and more.

The food and wine of the region will come to life as we learn about the unique geology and history of this UNESCO World Heritage site.

After our morning spent exploring the volcano, we'll stop for lunch and Etna wine at Randazzo's legendary wine shop and enoteca, Il Buongustaio. Pippo, the proprietor and local icon, will prepare a charcuterie board for us with local cheeses and salumis.

Don't forget to get a bottle or two to take home with you!

In the evening, the Palazzo kitchen becomes a culinary workshop, where we’ll roll up our sleeves to prepare a meal dictated by the season. Get ready to make some local, homemade pasta!

For dinner, we’ll sit down together to enjoy the fruits of our labor and toast Mamma Etna with beautiful food and wine, and even better company.

After breakfast, we’ll set out to explore the volcanic landscapes of Mount Etna, where rich, ash-laden soil has nurtured a vibrant winemaking tradition.

We’ll spend the day visiting a curated selection of influential vineyards including established winemakers like Frank Cornelissen - learning how altitude, lava, and tradition shape the region’s distinct wines.

It's a fantastic time to be in Sicily in the midst of harvest season, with the new vintage bubbling away in the cellars!

We'll enjoy a local lunch together in between our vineyard visits and tastings.

Enjoy dinner on your own in one of Linguaglossa's osterie, trattorie, pizza joints, or wine bars!

Or, enjoy fine dining of contemporary Silician at our hotel restaurant. (Reservations required.)

We have many mapped suggestions, all walking distance to our Palazzo hotel.

In our two days visiting the vineyards and cellars and tasting Etna wines, we will be sure to meet both established, legendary, even winemakers, as well as less known and less established. All these winemakers tell the story of Etna wines, from local, generations-long stories of grape production, to those from abroad -- foreigners or even Tuscans--who came to Etna specifically to make wines from Mamma Etna's unique terrains.

At the end of our time on Etna, we hope you have a broad and deep knowledge and a delicious appreciation of Etna wines!

We'll enjoy a local lunch together in between our vineyard visits and tastings.

Enjoy dinner on your own in one of Linguaglossa's osterie, trattorie, pizza joints, or wine bars!

Or, enjoy fine dining of contemporary Silician at our hotel restaurant. (Reservations required.)

We have many mapped suggestions, all walking distance to our Palazzo hotel.

It is hard to say goodbye to Etna! Enjoy a final breakfast with at the Palazzo before setting off for Taormina and Catania.

Our van will pick us up after breakfast for the hour drive down the mountain to the coast to historic, impressive medieval clifftop town Taormina.

We’ll visit the Teatro Antico di Taormina, a remarkably preserved ancient Greek theater offering panoramic views of the coastline and Mount Etna.

Off the bustling touristy main drag, we'll enjoy lunch together in a quiet back courtyard trattoria, with local, seasonal pastas and an ever-changing menu. Paired with lovely Sicilian wines, of course!

Our van will bring us back to Catania, about an hour's drive south from Taormina.

Settle back into our Catania hotel and enjoy the bustling pedestrian center of evocative Catania.

Enjoy buzzy central Catania!

Restaurants and snack shops feature local pasta dishes and lots of fresh caught tuna.

Enjoy walking the city's Baroque downtown with wide avenues and charcoal grey lava stone architecture.

We'll have plenty of mapped suggestions for dinner, from wine bar to full fish market menu.

OPTIONAL: Dutch Treat
To be booked in advance

Come hungry!

Our local guide will take anyone who'd like to join through Catania's produce and fish markets, sample pastries, see the range of fruit and vegetable stands, sample from the cheese and salumi vendors, and more wherever your tastebuds take you!

Taste the important and iconic treats that define the city, and get an insider's history -- historical, social and geological -- of Catania.

In the evening, we’ll gather one last time at a special Catania restaurant for a farewell dinner, raising our glasses to new friends, Sicilian sunshine, and unforgettable meals.