SICILY Palermo and the West

9 days | Coming soon! |  11 - 19 April 2027

Palermo and the West

For Oscar Wilde, Palermo was ‘the most beautifully situated town in the world – it dreams away its life in the Conca d’Oro, the exquisite valley that lies between two seas’. Founded by the Phoenicians in the 8C BC, called Panormus by the Greeks and known as Bal’harm under the Arabs, Palermo is an exciting and complex city with a rich cultural heritage. Sicily’s capital reflects the history and geography of the island, at the heart of the Mediterranean, a steppingstone between North Africa and Europe, where Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Germans, French, Spanish and Italians have all passed through and left their mark. As well as giving you a thorough introduction to Palermo, its Norman architecture and exquisite mosaics, magnificent baroque churches and oratories, palaces, art collections, gardens and lively street markets, our tour will take you to some of the most beautiful sites in the west of Sicily. The Greek temples of Agrigento and Selinunte are among the grandest and best preserved anywhere and the Dancing Satyr at Mazaro del Vallo is one of the loveliest Greek bronze statues to survive. On display in the museum at Marsala is a rare example of a Punic ship, brought up from the coastal waters nearby, and just a short boat ride across the lagoon of Lo Stagnone the little island of San Pantaleo is the site of the ancient Phoenician settlement of Motya. Gastronomy should be a part of any Sicilian tour. We enjoy typical Sicilian cuisine and a variety of regional wines in our carefully chosen restaurants and visit an agriturismo near Agrigento where we sample the local olive oil and have a light lunch focusing on local produce after our sightseeing of the temples.

Day to day Itinerary

Day 1

Fly from London to Palermo. By private coach to our hotel in the city centre. After settling into our rooms, we begin our exploration with an orientation tour of Palermo by coach. We conclude the afternoon with a short walk around the area of the Vucciria and a visit to the Oratorio di San Lorenzo, decorated in 1699 by the master stuccodore Giacomo Serpotta. We return to the hotel where we enjoy a welcome drink followed by dinner. 

Day 2 

A day in Palermo. In the morning we visit the royal apartments of the Palazzo dei Normanni and the 12C Cappella Palatina, with its splendid mosaics and painted wooden ceiling, a masterpiece of Arabo-Norman art. Not far from the palace is the charming church of San Giovanni degli Eremiti, also built by Roger II, which has five red domes, a pretty garden and little cloister. After an independent lunch we visit the Duomo founded in the 12C on the site of an earlier church which had been turned into a mosque in the 9C by the Arab rulers of the city. Within the cathedral, which has seen many additions over the centuries, are six royal tombs, including that of Roger II, the first King of Sicily, who was crowned here on Christmas Day 1130. 

Day 3 

A morning excursion east of Palermo to Cefalù, where a walk through the old town takes us to the magnificent Norman cathedral, in a dramatic setting, below the high rock of the ancient Greek acropolis. The powerful mosaic figure of Christ Pantocrator in the apse is a masterpiece of Norman Byzantine art. In the Museo Madralisca is the Portrait of a Man by Antonello da Messina, Sicily’s great Renaissance painter. Our lunch is at a local establishment in Cefalù. On our return to Palermo we visit La Zisa, a Moorish style pavilion that was once a summer retreat in the extensive pleasure park and hunting grounds bordering the royal palace to the west. Dinner is independent. 

Day 4 

Our first stop is the Villa Malfitano, built for the Whitaker family at the end of the 19C, which has an opulent interior and is surrounded by lovely gardens. We continue to the lively Ballarò market and the Chiesa del Gesù decorated in exuberant baroque style with sculpted figures, marble reliefs and coloured stone inlay. After an independent lunch we make our way to the crossroads of Quattro Canti, which displays statues of four Spanish kings of Sicily and the four patron saints of Palermo, was the heart of the 16C and 17C city, while in the nearby Piazza Pretoria is the monumental Fontana Pretoria, purchased from Florence in 1574 church of La Martorana, which was founded by George of Antioch, admiral and first minister under Roger II, and contains some fine mosaics. From here we head to the Archaeological Museum Antonio Salinas which houses a fine collection of objects from prehistoric to Roman times including the metopes which once adorned the Greek temples at Selinunte. Dinner is independent.

Day 5 

A morning visit to Monreale on the mountain slopes overlooking Palermo and the Conca d’Oro, where the great 12C Norman cathedral built by William II is one of the most impressive buildings in Sicily. The interior glitters with over 6400sq.m of magnificent mosaics showing traditional scenes from the Old and New Testaments, while the adjoining cloister has over 200 double columns with figurative Romanesque capitals supporting ArabNorman arches. We return to Palermo for an independent lunch. In the afternoon we visit the Regional Art Gallery in the Palazzo Abatellis, the highlight of which is the Virgin Annunciate by Antonello da Messina. In the evening we are invited by special arrangement to a private tour, drinks, and dinner with the Duchess Nicoletta Polo at the Palazzo Lanza Tomasi, last home of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, author of one of Sicily’s bestknown novels, ‘The Leopard’. 

Day 6

We leave Palermo in the morning and drive west towards Marsala, famous for its sweet wines. We stop on the way to take a short boat ride to the island of San Pantaleo. Here we explore the ruins of Punic Motya and visit the small museum, which houses a remarkable marble statue known as the Motya charioteer, a masterpiece of ancient Greek sculpture, before stopping for lunch at the Whitaker Foundation café (included). We then continue our journey to Marsala where we visit the archaeological park of Lilybaeum by the seafront, which includes the Baglio Anselmi Museum, in a former Marsala distillery and wine cellar. One hall contains a Punic warship discovered by British underwater archaeologist Honor Frost in 1969. We then continue by coach to to Mazara del Vallo, a lively fishing port with a distinct Arab character. In 1998 a superb Greek bronze statue of a dancing satyr, the jewel of the small local museum, was discovered in the waters off Mazara by a local fisherman. We continue by coach to Agrigento for the first of three nights. Dinner is in our hotel, overlooking the Valley of the Temples. 

Piazza Borsa

A 4-star hotel centrally located that blends ancient architecture with all necessary comforts. The hotel has many dining opportunities and a panoramic roof garden where breakfast is served during the summer months. All rooms are air conditioned and have free Wi-Fi. 

Hotel Park Colleverde

The Colleverde Park Hotel is a modern and comfortable 4-star hotel successfully combining traditional tastes and modern comforts. Immersed in a lush park overlooking the Valley of the Temples and the sea, the hotel boasts fine ceramics, 19th Century Sicilian furniture and Persian carpets which create a prestigious, welcoming and familiar atmosphere.

With Flights:   TBC

No Flights:   TBC

Single Supp:   TBC

Deposit: TBC

Departure Dates:

11 - 19 April 2027

Duration:

8 nights / 9 days

Your Holiday Includes:

• Return flights (Economy class) from London to Palermo
• Five nights’ bed and breakfast at the Hotel Piazza Borsa, Palermo
• Three nights’ bed and breakfast at the Hotel Park Colleverde, Agrigento
• Private coach transfers and  excursions
• Five evening meals and four lunches
• Guided visits to monuments and museums listed in the programme
• Services of the Tour Lecturer and a Tour Manager 
• Detailed programme and study notes 
• All entrance fees, taxes, and gratuities for coach drivers and waiters 

Expert Lecturer

Sue Rollin

Sue Rollin specialises in the ancient and Islamic Middle East, India and the Mediterranean. An archaeologist, historian and linguist by training, Sue lectures for the Arts society and the V&A and has led Study Tours in Spain, Sicily, Morocco, the Middle East, Central Asia and India. Sue speaks Spanish, Italian, French and German. She is co-author of two travel guides: the Blue Guide to Jordan and Istanbul: A Traveller’s Guide.

Travel Information
The price does not include extras at the hotels or travel insurance.

Please note that Art Pursuits use hotels of character featuring a variety of rooms & styles.

Stamina

Please note that most of our tours involve a large amount of walking, across uneven ground and often without the opportunity to sit down for at least half an hour. We ask that clients inform us if they have difficulties before booking to avoid any issues whilst on tour.