Sicily: Etna, Baroque Towns & the Godfather Trail (2027)

Depart the United States on an overnight flight bound for Sicily. Two weeks of volcanic landscapes, baroque cathedrals, seaside villages and Sicilian cooking lie ahead.

Arrive in Catania on Sicily’s eastern coast, with Mount Etna rising behind the city. Transfer to the hotel and settle in. The evening is free to adjust to the local pace and rest ahead of the first full day.

Begin the morning with a guided walking tour of Catania led by Agata, whose knowledge of the city brings its lava-stone streets and baroque squares to life. Pause midday for lunch built around the flavors that define the region.

The afternoon is free to uncover Catania’s quieter corners, from the fish market to the courtyards tucked behind the main avenues. As the sun sets, gather for dinner.

After breakfast, travel north to Taormina and down to Isola Bella, the small island reserve set in a pebbled cove below the town. Take your time along its paths and shoreline, where clear water and Mediterranean scrub make it one of the most photographed spots on the island.

Start the morning at the Cathedral of Syracuse, a baroque facade built straight around the columns of a Greek temple. Continue into Neapolis Archaeological Park, where the Greek theatre and the Ear of Dionysius are cut into the limestone, then break for lunch. Round out the ancient city at the Temple of Apollo.

As the day cools, set sail on a sunset boat trip around Ortigia, then come ashore for dinner.

Spend the day on a guided tour of the filming locations from The Godfather. The route climbs into the medieval hill villages of Savoca and Forza d’Agrò, which stood in for Corleone on screen and have changed remarkably little since.

Walk the church steps where Michael and Apollonia left their wedding, then stop for a drink at Bar Vitelli, where Michael asked her father for her hand. The drive between the villages opens onto long views over the Sicilian countryside.

Spend the morning in Taormina. Start at Piazza IX Aprile, the terrace square looking straight out over the Ionian Sea, then walk up to the Ancient Theatre of Taormina, a Greek theatre later rebuilt by the Romans and still framing Mount Etna in the distance. Stroll the length of Corso Umberto, the pedestrian spine of the old town.

Later, head into the vineyards for a winery tour at Oro d’Etna. Learn how volcanic soil shapes the wine, taste the local bottles and enjoy a light lunch among the vines.

Give the day to Mount Etna, the most active stratovolcano in Europe and the presence that defines Sicily’s eastern shore. Move through its shifting landscapes, from chestnut woods on the lower slopes to black lava fields and spent craters higher up.

Pause midday for lunch on the mountain, surrounded by terrain that looks like nowhere else on the island.

Leave the east coast behind and travel northwest across the island to Palermo, Sicily’s capital and its loudest, most layered city. Arrive with the evening free to walk the neighborhood and find dinner.

Start the day with a hands-on cooking class, working through the dishes that define Sicilian cuisine and the Arab, Norman and Spanish influences behind them.

Later, join Anita for a guided city walking tour. Visit the Cathedral of Palermo, trace the Norman and Arab layers of the Norman Palace, stand at the Quattro Canti crossroads where the old city divides into quarters and finish at the Teatro Massimo, the largest opera house in Italy.

After breakfast, drive west to Trapani and the Marsala Salt Pans, where shallow basins and wooden windmills have been producing sea salt since antiquity. The museum sits inside an old windmill and lays out the tools and the trade, including the cultural journey known as the Salt Route.

On the way back, stop at Terme Segestane, a set of natural sulphurous hot springs running through a limestone gorge. The mineral-rich water has drawn bathers since Roman times and is still valued locally as a soak for tired skin and joints.

Spend the morning at your own pace in Palermo, wandering the streets and the small independent shops of the old quarters. For anyone after something stranger, the Capuchin Catacombs are an optional visit, an underground gallery of mummified residents still dressed in their own clothes.

Later, meet Anita for a guided food tour through the city’s markets and street-food stalls, working through arancine, panelle, sfincione and whatever the day happens to offer.

After breakfast, begin at Monreale Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the great medieval churches of Europe. Its interior is lined with acres of gold mosaic, the high point of Norman Sicilian art.

Continue to Cefalù. Start along the Lungomare Giuseppe Giardina and follow the promenade to Via Vittorio Emanuele, where the historic houses begin. The narrow streets behind are full of shops, family restaurants and gelaterie, and the town’s beach is among the finest on the island, with white sand and clear water.

The day ends in Castelbuono, set in the Madonie mountains. Visit the medieval Church of San Francesco, which holds the Ventimiglia family’s baroque funeral chapel and Byzantine frescoes, then the seventeenth-century Church of the New Matrix, with its baroque altars, a fifteenth-century crucifix and a sixteenth-century polyptych of the Madonna and Child with saints.

After breakfast, visit the Aspra Anchovy Museum, where Mr. Michelangelo tells the story of the fishing families who built this stretch of coast and the salted anchovy trade that sustained them.

Spend the afternoon at Mondello Beach, Palermo’s own crescent of pale sand and turquoise water. As evening comes, gather with fellow travelers for a farewell dinner and a last look back over the journey.

Transfer to the airport for the return flight to the United States. Depart with the flavors, the landscapes and the stories of Sicily to carry home.