A 7 day tour of
Sicily, Italy
Indulge yourself in the Italian way of life, history, food and culture as Carmel takes you on an immersive food tour in Italy. The 2023 tour will travel to the best locations in the south of Italy from the beautiful seaside town of Ortigia to the historic city of Modica.
This small group food tour takes you to some of the most popular locations in Southern Italy on the island of Carmel’s beloved Sicily.
When you are choosing a vacation destination in Italy there are not too many locations that remain unspoilt by modernisation or tourism. Sicily is one of those, making it ideal for the discerning traveler.
Tour profile
Duration
6
NIGHTS
NIGHTS
price
AUD $4,800 PP
USD $3,379 PP
USD $3,379 PP
Guide
English &
Italian
Italian
Free time
2-3 hrs
per day
per day
group size
Up to
20
20
Arrival
CATANIA
Departure
CATANIA
accomodation
Hotel
meals
Most included
season
EARLY summer
Play Video about People enjoying lunch on a Food Tour in Sicily Italy
SICILY Tour Highlights
- All inclusive with meals & accomodation
- Small group up to 20 people
- 6 nights on a relaxing small group tour
- Beaches and ancient sites
- Food markets and producers
- Up to 3 hours free time every day
- Private vehicle with airport transfers
Are you ready to travel?
Sicily is a place to visit in Italy where the mountains meet the sea. Carmel will help you explore this idyllic summer holiday island destination to experience a mix of food, wine, cooking, sightseeing & relaxing in the golden summer sunshine with its unspoilt coastlines.
Every moment of this tour of Italy has been perfectly chosen to create a beautifully balanced mix between leisure or travel time so that you can soak up the exquisite scenery and beautiful summer weather. It is a small group tour for those who love food and relaxation time on their holiday.
We know that each location we visit will have you wanting to eat everything you see & fill your phone camera with hundreds of photos. With more than 20 years experience as a restauranter you can trust Carmel to know the right places and people to give you a memorable travel experience – it is why so many foodies have written raving reviews about these tours.
"... I’d visited Sicily before, but Carmel provided a personal connection to our experience by introducing us to incredible makers of gelato, pizza, pasta and restaurateurs throughout southeastern Sicily..."
You get a chance during the tour to throw on a vibrant red Sicilian Food Tour apron to try your hand at rolling fresh dough to make a pizza, making cannoli, picking vine ripened tomatoes to make traditional sauce and more. Novice cook or experienced chef, this tour of Italy will appeal to anyone who loves food and wants to travel to Italy to tickle every taste bud & fulfill culinary dreams, escaping the world of mass produced, preservative laden shelf bought food.
Our small group tour let’s you absorb the history created within the different regions of Italy and the unique cuisines that hail from different villages or families. Every day we only eat the freshest, seasonal, produce that is sourced locally. Most holiday makers will know Sicily as a type of crossroad in the Mediterranean with its proximity to Algeria, Malta, Tunisia and Libya, it’s food and wine has an alluring, storied history with many influences.
What's Included in this tour?
- English and Italian speaking tour guide
- All tour transportation
- Behind the scenes access
- Cooking classes and demonstrations
- Historic location site seeting
- Plenty of free time each day
2023 tour Itinerary
DAY 1 | SUNDAY 4TH JUNE – Catania to Scoglitti
We meet at Catania Airport at 2pm for a two hour bus trip to the undiscovered South coast of Sicily, Italy, to the small fishing village of Scoglitti overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Here we settle into our beachfront hotel Al Gabbiano.
In the evening it’s aperitivo time at my favourite local bar followed by dinner at one of Scoglitti’s best seafood restaurants where we will enjoy a seafood degustation served with local Sicilian wines made in Italy.
- Overnight: Scoglitti
- Meals: Dinner
DAY 2 | Monday 7th June – Valle Dell’acate & Scoglitti
We visit my cousin’s tomato farm on the outskirts of Scoglitti. Sicilian tomatoes are like sweet plums, a taste sensation you will never forget. Walking through these Serre (hot houses) is definitely a unique experience. For lunch we head to the Valle dell’Acate winery run by the Jacono family where our host Giovanni Carbone takes us through the original 19th century palmento for a tasting of Frappato, Nero D’avola and Cerasuolo, Sicily’s only DOCG wine enjoyed with a light rustic Sicilian lunch. We get to taste the famous Ragusane scacce.
This evening we enjoy a traditional Sicilian Sunday feast at Carmel’s family home, where food and wine will be aplenty. We try the famous traditional Sicilian digestif Averna, which comes from nearby Caltanisetta. A BBQ feast with the whole family where we enjoy Sicilian salsiccia and an array of local tomatoes which we picked this morning.
Zia Maria & cousin Carmel will demonstrate a few Sicilian classics like everyone’s favourite dessert sfingi (a type of Sicilian donut). Time to roll up your sleeves, join in and have some fun cooking.
This is everyones favourite night on our tour in Italy.
- Overnight: Scoglitti
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
DAY 3 | Tuesday 8th June – Agrigento
Today we make our way to the region of Agrigento. One of Sicily’s most famous historical attractions is without a doubt the Valley of the Temples, just outside Agrigento city. The Valley of the Temples. So many people may choose to visit Rome or Pompeii, but very few realise there are even more ancient locations in Italy like these.
The archaeological park consists of eight temples built between about 510 BC and 430 BC:the Temple of Hera, the Temple of Concordia, the Temple of Heracles, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the Temple of Hephaestos, the Temple of Demeter, and the Temple of Asclepius. All are situated in the same area on rocky crests south of modern day Agrigento – not really in a valley at all, but one of the oldest areas of Italy.
Tonight we enjoy a little party in town, with DJ and fireworks.
- Overnight: Scoglitti
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
DAY 4 | Wednesday 7th June – Modica & Ragusa Ibla
Today cousin Massimo will teach us how to make Pizza in his pizzeria at the nearby tiny town of Punta Secca. We get to taste the most amazing maccale’ in the world. A local favourite dessert. We spend the afternoon discovering the beautiful Baroque Valley of Modica. Narrow lanes, alleys and staircases climb up the slopes on both sides of picturesque Corso Umberto. Always one of the favourites on our tours.
We visit Antica Dolceria Bonajuto, the oldest chocolate factory in Sicily founded in 1880. The New York Times called it “…chocolate of astonishingly pure, powerful flavor.” Here we taste a variety of chocolate and one of the best cannoli in Sicily.
This evening head to the cobblestone town of Ragusa Ibla. Ragusa Ibla hosts a wide array of Baroque architecture including palaces and churches. We take a walk through the beautiful communal villa. We enjoy a rustic dinner at one of Ibla’s finest restaurants & we try local homemade ricotta ravioli a specialty of this area.
- Overnight: Scoglitti
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
DAY 5 | Thursday 8th June – Ortigia (Siracusa)
Todays lunch is at one of this regions finest wineries. We indulge in these Zisola fine wines while taking in the surrounds of this spectacular winery. After lunch we make our way to the east coast of the island, our home for the second part of our tour, Ortigia. The island, also known as Città Vecchia. It contains many historical landmarks including the spectacular Duomo di Siracusa. We wander through the narrow medieval lanes and enjoy dinner in one of the most beautiful piazzas in Italy.
- Overnight: Ortigia
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
DAY 6 | Friday 9th June – Ortigia (Siracusa)
This morning we head to the fish markets in Ortigia. We take a walk through the bustling markets & discover all the spices, fruits and veggies of Sicily. We stop at one of Ortigia’s famous amazing delis for lunch. This afternoon take a little boat ride around the magnificent island. A chance for a swim in the Ionian Sea. Ortigia is a small island which is the historical centre of the city of Syracuse.
We spend this evening at the UNESCO heritage town of Noto, one of Sicily’s most beautiful towns, flanked by grandeur baroque palazzi and churches. It’s like visiting a movie set. This is the perfect end to our time in Sicily.
Tonight is our farewell dinner.
- Overnight: Ortigia
- Meals: Breakfast, lunch and dinner
DAY 7 | Saturday 10th June – Ortigia to Catania
Departure day. The shuttle bus will depart at 9am for Catania airport from the Ortigia Hotel.
Amazing reviews of tours in italy
Carmel’s charm, planning and “personality plus” made our group of disparate travelers aged 23-80 happy and at ease throughout a creative, comprehensive and fascinating itinerary.
If you enjoy great food and wine, and a mix of history, culture, laughter and local color, this is the tour for you.
I’d visited Sicily before, but Carmel provided a personal connection to our experience by introducing us to her family and friends, who just happen to be incredible makers of gelato, pizza, pasta and restaurateurs throughout southeastern Sicily.
Having traveled with Tauck, Rick Steves and National Trust for Historic Preservation Group tours over the years, I can honestly say that Sicilian Food Tours far exceeded my expectations and may have spoiled me for more conventional group experiences henceforth.
Can’t recommend Sicilian Food Tours highly enough. Hat tip to Valter DiCecco for adding so much to our journey with his humor and chef expertise!
The week that we spent with Carmel and her extended family was amazing! The food was incredible, the scenery spectacular, but what makes this tour a "not to miss" event is Carmel and her generous extended family.
All the Sicilians we met were warm and inclusive - I felt that we had made friends in a few short days. Having lunch at Zia Maria's place and playing handball with Sicilian teenagers that hardly spoke English, chatting to fisherman on the shore outside our hotel, meeting Carmel's numerous cousins at the bar - these are experiences that you will never get on a standard tour.
I cannot rate this tour highly enough! If you are reading these reviews then do yourself a favour and book-you won't regret it!
Carmel's Sicilian Food Tour is truly outstanding. If you want to experience all Sicily has to offer ... it's history, culture, food, family life and fun then this is the tour for you !
You will make authentic Sicilian Food and then delight in eating the fruits of your labour. The small group allows a friendly fun filled tour and Carmel and her team put their hearts and souls into making sure everyone has the greatest time.
What makes this tour so very special is how you are so warmly welcomed by Sicilian families throughout the tour and how you become immersed in their lifestyle.
We would have no hesitation in recommending Sicilian Food Tours.
Essential travelling Information
Accommodation
Accommodation is included in the price of the tour. We stay in local hotels while you are in Sicily & base ourselves at a couple of different locations so that we are not moving from hotel to hotel each day. This provides more time to enjoy each day on the tour.
Transportation
We start and end the tour in Catania and there are multiple ways to get to Sicily depending if you are flying or driving. There are international flights to Italy from all major airports around the world as well as ferrys or driving options available.
Read our tour information for more details & advice
Meals
Where indicated meals are provided during the tour plus additional tastings during cooking classes or demonstrations.
As you will see from the reviews there is no shortage of food, our goal is to make sure you enjoy everything Sicilian food has to offer.
Unlike large tours where food is made to suit large groups with high volume processing techniques, our tours are small so we can be accommodated like locals.
If you have food allergies we will do our best to accommodate your needs.