Italy: Sicily, the Noto Valley & Syracuse

Your vacation is about to begin! Spend your first night aloft and arrive ready for an unforgettable trip.

A VBT representative will greet you at the Catania airport to start your adventure off right. A complimentary car service will whisk you to your centrally located hotel in Taormina. From here, you are perfectly positioned to explore this charming city at your leisure.

After an included breakfast, meet your VBT representative and the rest of the group in the lobby of our Taormina hotel at 8:00 a.m. The VBT representative will be easily recognizable and holding a sign.

From Taormina, you’ll travel to Scicli by private motor coach (transportation time is approximately three hours with a short stop on the way). The city is listed among UNESCO’s World Heritage sites for its baroque palaces and churches. You will be greeted by our local guide and embark on a 40-minute walking tour. You will have time for lunch with plenty of options in this wonderful little city.

Early this afternoon, settle into your luxurious hotel Borgo Hedone. The hotel is a carefully restored 17th-century villa with outbuildings, configured in a picturesque borgo, all connected by stone staircases and little patios. Terraces and two swimming pools (outdoor and indoor heated) offer the best view of the town and the Duomo. After a safety talk and bike-fitting, follow your trip leaders on a warm-up ride outside the town in the beautiful Noto Valley. Later, gather with the group for a welcome cocktail on the elegant grounds of our hotel followed by a true Sicilian dinner at a local restaurant.

Today’s Ride Choices

Afternoon Warm-up — 16 km (10 miles)

What to Expect:

The warm-up ride explores Altopiano Ibleo, a peaceful, rural region outside Scicli. After an initial short stretch in the city, you will soon be cycling out of town, passing farms and groves of olive and carob trees set along old stone walls. In the distance, you will see the coastline and the sea. On the way back, you will have a wonderful panoramic view of this baroque town.

Cumulative Distance Range: 16 km (10 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

After breakfast, cycle the rolling countryside in the Province of Ragusa toward the sea, surrounded by miles of stone walls, cattle grazing in the shade of stately carob and olive trees, and vegetable greenhouses that supply markets both local and all over Europe.

You will reach Sampieri via a bike path along the sea. Sampieri is a summer resort town and its beaches are ideal for swimming. Your morning ride ends at a peaceful pine forest for a picnic prepared by your VBT trip leaders. Take some time to stroll around or swim at the beach. Reward yourself with a delicious gelato. From here, you can continue riding or shuttle to your hotel where you can relax at the swimming pool or explore the sites of Scicli. The city has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site for the extraordinary beauty and the importance of its late-baroque architecture, built after a devastating earthquake in 1693.

This evening, stroll Scicli and enjoy the magnificent architecture lit up at night, the perfect backdrop for dinner on your own.

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Scicli to Sampieri — 23 km (14 miles)

Afternoon Sampieri to Scicli — 17 km (10 miles)

What to Expect:

The morning ride heads through the quiet countryside and a patchwork landscape accentuated by lovely stone walls. The roads are paved with little car traffic and you will pedal gradually downhill. Along the way, you will see large greenhouses, one of the city’s main sources of income, as Sicily provides 10% of Europe’s fruits and vegetables. The ride follows a scenic, flat bike path through a park by the sea with a sandy beach for swimming. Trip leaders will prepare a picnic lunch in the shade of the pine trees. In the afternoon, it’s easy coastal riding through the seaside village of Sampieri, followed by a long, yet manageable, uphill ride back to your hotel in Scicli, leaving the afternoon free for you to discover this baroque city. You can opt for the support vehicle to skip the hill.

Cumulative Distance Range: 17 – 40 km (10 – 24 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Today pedal in the peaceful countryside of the Noto Valley toward the coast, with a stop on the way for lunch at an organic farm.

From Baroque Modica, you start riding north in the peaceful countryside of the Noto Valley, with a stop on the way for lunch at an organic farm. You are welcomed by the owner (mama Nella) who oversees the many activities of her 50-hectar farm while making breads, focaccia, jams, sherbets, and much more for her guests. Complement your lunch with garden to table vegetables, local cheese and olives, followed by a mouthwatering tasting of Modica chocolate, matched with local wines.

Your afternoon ride follows a mostly downhill route toward the sea and your hotel. Relax at Villa Favorita, built in 1753 following the Renaissance design on what once was the feud of the marquis of Avola. Enjoy the swimming pool and terrace with views of the blue sea on one side, and the orange roofs of Baroque Noto at sunset, on the other.

Tonight meet the owner Corrada, a descendant of the marquis of Castelluccio and tour the beautiful common rooms and orange garden with giant cactus, before enjoying dinner at the villa restaurant.

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Modica to farm — 25 km (15 miles)

Afternoon Farm to Villa Favorita — 39 km (24 miles)

What to Expect:

The morning ride starts from Modica and is one of the most scenic routes offered on this tour. It unfolds in the rolling countryside of Modica and Val di Noto, past rural areas and through little hamlets to your lunch stop. The afternoon ride from the lunch stop to Villa Favorita is a mostly downhill route. Today may offer an additional independent ride for experienced cyclists. Ask your trip leader for details.

Cumulative Distance Range: 25 — 64 km (15 — 40 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After a hearty breakfast, pedal along quiet, mostly easy country roads, toward the sea. On the way, you’ll want to stop to admire the fourth-century Roman villa mosaics.

Your destination is the recently restored, ancient fishing village of Marzamemi, nestled on a small promontory south of Syracuse. In good weather, you can take a break at the San Lorenzo beach for a refreshing swim. Marzamemi was developed in the 17th century around a tuna fishery, which is now the second-largest in Sicily and a national monument. The family known as the Princes of Villadorata still visit their 17th-century palace, a beautiful summer residence. Marzamemi is a good place to find a relaxing café or local fish restaurant for lunch on your own.

This afternoon continue riding toward the most southern tip of Sicily, the beaches of Porto Palo. From here enjoy beautiful views of the islands of Isola di Capo Passero and Isola delle Correnti (Isle of Currents).

Spend the rest of the day relaxing before shuttling to Noto for a stroll to admire the local architecture in this famous baroque city. We take you to visit the most beautiful baroque palace of Noto, an authentically restored and still inhabited 18th-century Sicilian palace and its collection of furniture, art objects, and paintings.

Dinner is on your own.

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Villa Favorita to Marzamemi — 30 km (19 miles)

Afternoon Marzamemi to Porto Palo — 8 km (5 miles)

What to Expect:

Today’s loop is on remote country roads, away from traffic, to Marzamemi and the coast. Marzamemi is completely free from car traffic and pleasant to stroll on foot. The afternoon route follows the coastline and is gently rolling, with great sea views. From Porto Palo to the hotel you are shuttled by a private coach.

Cumulative Distance Range: 8 — 38 km (5 — 24 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast

A short shuttle takes you up a plateau called the Belvedere di Noto, from where you will pedal a panoramic route ending at your lunch stop, the Feudo Bauly. Acquired at the end of the 18th century for the noble family of the baron Judica, this property belonged to the same family for generations. Today, the Feudo Bauly is a country estate covering 150 acres including several buildings and a large wild holm oak wood forest. In the forest there are houses carved in the rocks that were inhabited in ancient times. The entire property is quite evocative. Here, you will follow a local truffle hunter and his dog, in search of the precious black mushrooms. At lunch, enjoy the result of your ‘work’ with ‘pasta al tartufo’ and more specialties prepared by the chef with fresh garden produce.

In the afternoon, another scenic route leads to your final destination: an ancient fortified masseria, or farm estate, surrounded by acres of carob and olive trees. This fine country inn, Borgo del Carato, is your home for the next two nights. You will be seduced by the quietude, the sweeping views, the elegant spa, and the panoramic pool set in a manicured garden of fragrant flowers. Horseback riding is also available. Tonight, you will meet the owner and discover why the carat, or carob seed, is the unit of weight for diamonds and the name of the Borgo. Tonight’s dinner will be prepared with fresh vegetables and herbs from the garden.

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Belvedere di Noto to Bauly — 27 km (17 miles)

Afternoon Bauly to Borgo del Carato — 20 km (12 miles)

What to Expect:

Take a short shuttle to the starting point at Belvedere di Noto. From there, ride rolling scenic and country roads with little car traffic to your lunch stop, the Bauly country resort. Afterwards, the ride continues along a scenic plateau on a road with almost no car traffic. Today may offer an additional independent ride for experienced cyclists. Ask your trip leader for details.

Cumulative Distance Range: 20 — 47 km (12 — 29 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Your ride crosses a scenic region that was inhabited in prehistoric times, and where archeologists have found cave tombs carved in the steep limestone cliffs. As you bike the quiet roads and a long canyon, you will admire the countryside dotted with farms and typical masserias with the sea—as far as Syracuse—in the distance. Today’s highlight is walking the Sant’Alfano bridge, and just before Canicattini Bagni, take the opportunity to become familiar with its mysterious statues.

A local specialty of this area is honey. You will stop to meet Rosa and visit her organic farm, where she will introduce you to her bees and a myriad of honey products. Intrigued by her husband’s vocation for beekeeping, Rosa decided to turn his hobby into a business. In 2001 she opened this entirely family-run business specializing in raw, high quality honey, and bee products. Rosa is also committed to promoting the preservation of a rare and endangered Sicilian thyme that she uses in her award-winning honey. Her passion is contagious.

After your visit with Rosa stop in the baroque town of Floridia. Park your bike by the imposing Chiesa Madre church and find a typical café or restaurant for lunch on your own. Try the specialties of the local eatery: stuffed calzoni, pizza and arancini di riso, pasta di mandorle, cannoli, and gelato!

Back at the hotel, learn about Sicilian cuisine by preparing dinner with a local chef. Share the fruits of your labor with fellow travelers at a farewell dinner in the hotel restaurant.

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Borgo del Carato to Floridia — 36 km (22 miles)

Afternoon Floridia to Carato — 12 km (7 miles)

What to Expect:

This morning, the ride starts with a long gradual climb that can be skipped by a short van shuttle. It travels along and up and down a quiet region cut by a long scenic canyon on a paved road. It crosses the village of Canicattini Bagni, then continues down the canyon on a long and gradual route into the small city of Floridia, which is your lunch stop. The afternoon ride follows a slightly rolling and very panoramic route, leading to the large estate of our hotel. It is a very quiet, fully paved route, with the sea at your back.

Cumulative Distance Range: 12 — 48 km (7 — 29 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

After an included breakfast, complimentary transportation by private minibus (about 30 minutes) is provided to your centrally located hotel in Ortigia, Syracuse for your final overnight. You arrive at approximately 10:15 a.m. Follow a VBT local guide on a two-hour private walk of Ortigia, then spend the rest of the day exploring this wonderful town. You can consider a visit to the archeological park – a must-see for visitors. Or continue wandering the old city of Ortigia, its ancient medieval and Baroque delights are around every corner. Browse craft and souvenir shops, fashion designer stores and cafes with pastry and local specialties that whet your appetite. The entire city of Syracuse is a UNESCO World Heritage site, so spectacular is its beauty and importance. Your room may not be available until 3:00 p.m., but you may store your luggage at the reception desk.

If you have chosen the independent Post-Trip Extension, you will remain at this hotel for the next three nights. Syracuse is a good base for daily trips to Piazza Armerina and Agrigento. Your guide can facilitate your visits there.

Included Meals: Breakfast

After an included breakfast this morning, complimentary transportation to the Catania airport will be provided (an approximately 50 to 60 minute drive, depending on traffic) for your departing flight.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Meet your VBT representative and the rest of the group at 8:00 a.m. in the lobby of our Taormina hotel.

From Taormina, you’ll travel to Scicli by private motor coach (transportation time is approximately three hours with a short stop on the way). The city is listed among UNESCO’s World Heritage sites for its baroque palaces and churches. You will be greeted by our local guide and embark on a 40-minute walking tour. You will have time for lunch with plenty of options in this wonderful little city.

Early this afternoon, settle into your luxurious hotel Borgo Hedone. The hotel is a carefully restored 17th-century villa with outbuildings, configured in a picturesque borgo, all connected by stone staircases and little patios. Terraces and two swimming pools (outdoor and indoor heated) offer the best view of the town and the Duomo. After a safety talk and bike-fitting, follow your trip leaders on a warm-up ride outside the town in the beautiful Noto Valley. Later, gather with the group for a welcome cocktail on the elegant grounds of our hotel followed by a true Sicilian dinner at a local restaurant.

Today’s Ride Choices

Afternoon Warm-up — 16 km (10 miles)

What to Expect:

The warm-up ride explores Altopiano Ibleo, a peaceful, rural region outside Scicli. After an initial short stretch in the city, you will soon be cycling out of town, passing farms and groves of olive and carob trees set along old stone walls. In the distance, you will see the coastline and the sea. On the way back, you will have a wonderful panoramic view of this baroque town.

Cumulative Distance Range: 16 km (10 miles)

Included Meals: Dinner

After breakfast, cycle the rolling countryside in the Province of Ragusa toward the sea, surrounded by miles of stone walls, cattle grazing in the shade of stately carob and olive trees, and vegetable greenhouses that supply markets both local and all over Europe.

You will reach Sampieri via a bike path along the sea. Sampieri is a summer resort town and its beaches are ideal for swimming. Your morning ride ends at a peaceful pine forest for a picnic prepared by your VBT trip leaders. Take some time to stroll around or swim at the beach. Reward yourself with a delicious gelato. From here, you can continue riding or shuttle to your hotel where you can relax at the swimming pool or explore the sites of Scicli. The city has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site for the extraordinary beauty and the importance of its late-baroque architecture, built after a devastating earthquake in 1693.

This evening, stroll Scicli and enjoy the magnificent architecture lit up at night, the perfect backdrop for dinner on your own.

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Scicli to Sampieri — 23 km (14 miles)

Afternoon Sampieri to Scicli — 17 km (10 miles)

What to Expect:

The morning ride heads through the quiet countryside and a patchwork landscape accentuated by lovely stone walls. The roads are paved with little car traffic and you will pedal gradually downhill. Along the way, you will see large greenhouses, one of the city’s main sources of income, as Sicily provides 10% of Europe’s fruits and vegetables. The ride follows a scenic, flat bike path through a park by the sea with a sandy beach for swimming. Trip leaders will prepare a picnic lunch in the shade of the pine trees. In the afternoon, it’s easy coastal riding through the seaside village of Sampieri, followed by a long, yet manageable, uphill ride back to your hotel in Scicli, leaving the afternoon free for you to discover this baroque city. You can opt for the support vehicle to skip the hill.

Cumulative Distance Range: 17 – 40 km (10 – 24 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Today pedal in the peaceful countryside of the Noto Valley toward the coast, with a stop on the way for lunch at an organic farm.

From Baroque Modica, you start riding north in the peaceful countryside of the Noto Valley, with a stop on the way for lunch at an organic farm. You are welcomed by the owner (mama Nella) who oversees the many activities of her 50-hectar farm while making breads, focaccia, jams, sherbets, and much more for her guests. Complement your lunch with garden to table vegetables, local cheese and olives, followed by a mouthwatering tasting of Modica chocolate, matched with local wines.

Your afternoon ride follows a mostly downhill route toward the sea and your hotel. Relax at Villa Favorita, built in 1753 following the Renaissance design on what once was the feud of the marquis of Avola. Enjoy the swimming pool and terrace with views of the blue sea on one side, and the orange roofs of Baroque Noto at sunset, on the other.

Tonight meet the owner Corrada, a descendant of the marquis of Castelluccio and tour the beautiful common rooms and orange garden with giant cactus, before enjoying dinner at the villa restaurant.

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Modica to farm — 25 km (15 miles)

Afternoon Farm to Villa Favorita — 39 km (24 miles)

What to Expect:

The morning ride starts from Modica and is one of the most scenic routes offered on this tour. It unfolds in the rolling countryside of Modica and Val di Noto, past rural areas and through little hamlets to your lunch stop. The afternoon ride from the lunch stop to Villa Favorita is a mostly downhill route. Today may offer an additional independent ride for experienced cyclists. Ask your trip leader for details.

Cumulative Distance Range: 25 — 64 km (15 — 40 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

After a hearty breakfast, pedal along quiet, mostly easy country roads, toward the sea. On the way, you’ll want to stop to admire the fourth-century Roman villa mosaics.

Your destination is the recently restored, ancient fishing village of Marzamemi, nestled on a small promontory south of Syracuse. In good weather, you can take a break at the San Lorenzo beach for a refreshing swim. Marzamemi was developed in the 17th century around a tuna fishery, which is now the second-largest in Sicily and a national monument. The family known as the Princes of Villadorata still visit their 17th-century palace, a beautiful summer residence. Marzamemi is a good place to find a relaxing café or local fish restaurant for lunch on your own.

This afternoon continue riding toward the most southern tip of Sicily, the beaches of Porto Palo. From here enjoy beautiful views of the islands of Isola di Capo Passero and Isola delle Correnti (Isle of Currents).

Spend the rest of the day relaxing before shuttling to Noto for a stroll to admire the local architecture in this famous baroque city. We take you to visit the most beautiful baroque palace of Noto, an authentically restored and still inhabited 18th-century Sicilian palace and its collection of furniture, art objects, and paintings.

Dinner is on your own.

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Villa Favorita to Marzamemi — 30 km (19 miles)

Afternoon Marzamemi to Porto Palo — 8 km (5 miles)

What to Expect:

Today’s loop is on remote country roads, away from traffic, to Marzamemi and the coast. Marzamemi is completely free from car traffic and pleasant to stroll on foot. The afternoon route follows the coastline and is gently rolling, with great sea views. From Porto Palo to the hotel you are shuttled by a private coach.

Cumulative Distance Range: 8 — 38 km (5 — 24 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast

A short shuttle takes you up a plateau called the Belvedere di Noto, from where you will pedal a panoramic route ending at your lunch stop, the Feudo Bauly. Acquired at the end of the 18th century for the noble family of the baron Judica, this property belonged to the same family for generations. Today, the Feudo Bauly is a country estate covering 150 acres including several buildings and a large wild holm oak wood forest. In the forest there are houses carved in the rocks that were inhabited in ancient times. The entire property is quite evocative. Here, you will follow a local truffle hunter and his dog, in search of the precious black mushrooms. At lunch, enjoy the result of your ‘work’ with ‘pasta al tartufo’ and more specialties prepared by the chef with fresh garden produce.

In the afternoon, another scenic route leads to your final destination: an ancient fortified masseria, or farm estate, surrounded by acres of carob and olive trees. This fine country inn, Borgo del Carato, is your home for the next two nights. You will be seduced by the quietude, the sweeping views, the elegant spa, and the panoramic pool set in a manicured garden of fragrant flowers. Horseback riding is also available. Tonight, you will meet the owner and discover why the carat, or carob seed, is the unit of weight for diamonds and the name of the Borgo. Tonight’s dinner will be prepared with fresh vegetables and herbs from the garden.

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Belvedere di Noto to Bauly — 27 km (17 miles)

Afternoon Bauly to Borgo del Carato — 20 km (12 miles)

What to Expect:

Take a short shuttle to the starting point at Belvedere di Noto. From there, ride rolling scenic and country roads with little car traffic to your lunch stop, the Bauly country resort. Afterwards, the ride continues along a scenic plateau on a road with almost no car traffic. Today may offer an additional independent ride for experienced cyclists. Ask your trip leader for details.

Cumulative Distance Range: 20 — 47 km (12 — 29 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Your ride crosses a scenic region that was inhabited in prehistoric times, and where archeologists have found cave tombs carved in the steep limestone cliffs. As you bike the quiet roads and a long canyon, you will admire the countryside dotted with farms and typical masserias with the sea—as far as Syracuse—in the distance. Today’s highlight is walking the Sant’Alfano bridge, and just before Canicattini Bagni, take the opportunity to become familiar with its mysterious statues.

A local specialty of this area is honey. You will stop to meet Rosa and visit her organic farm, where she will introduce you to her bees and a myriad of honey products. Intrigued by her husband’s vocation for beekeeping, Rosa decided to turn his hobby into a business. In 2001 she opened this entirely family-run business specializing in raw, high quality honey, and bee products. Rosa is also committed to promoting the preservation of a rare and endangered Sicilian thyme that she uses in her award-winning honey. Her passion is contagious.

After your visit with Rosa stop in the baroque town of Floridia. Park your bike by the imposing Chiesa Madre church and find a typical café or restaurant for lunch on your own. Try the specialties of the local eatery: stuffed calzoni, pizza and arancini di riso, pasta di mandorle, cannoli, and gelato!

Back at the hotel, learn about Sicilian cuisine by preparing dinner with a local chef. Share the fruits of your labor with fellow travelers at a farewell dinner in the hotel restaurant.

Today’s Ride Choices

Morning Borgo del Carato to Floridia — 36 km (22 miles)

Afternoon Floridia to Carato — 12 km (7 miles)

What to Expect:

This morning, the ride starts with a long gradual climb that can be skipped by a short van shuttle. It travels along and up and down a quiet region cut by a long scenic canyon on a paved road. It crosses the village of Canicattini Bagni, then continues down the canyon on a long and gradual route into the small city of Floridia, which is your lunch stop. The afternoon ride follows a slightly rolling and very panoramic route, leading to the large estate of our hotel. It is a very quiet, fully paved route, with the sea at your back.

Cumulative Distance Range: 12 — 48 km (7 — 29 miles)

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

After an included breakfast, complimentary transportation is provided to our Syracuse hotel located in Ortigia. You will arrive at approximately 10:15 a.m. Follow a VBT local guide on a private two-hour walk of Ortigia, if you like. The rest of the day you are free to explore on your own. If you depart earlier, you must make transportation arrangements from the last hotel at your own expense. Taxi cost to Syracuse is about 35€/$45 USD (travel time is about 30 minutes).

Included Meals: Breakfast