Sicily: Baroque Towns Easy Biking

Elaborate and easy. Baroque and biking.

Join us on this exciting journey through the southeastern part of the island where the baroque towns and rolling landscapes are abundant. This tour is similar to our Baroque Towns and Rolling Hills Biking Tour, but offers different routes which are more gentle and shorter. You’ll bike along quiet roads with open views of the Iblei countryside with its deep canyons carved by the fast flowing streams. Enjoy the beauty of the vast orange and lemon plantations.

Cycle to Vendicari, a protected white beach where many different species of birds build their nests. You’ll discover relics and monuments, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, caves excavated in the rock walls from the 13th to 7th centuries which housed some 5,000 tombs. You’ll cycle through Noto’s Valley, which in 2003 was included as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Discover several baroque towns such as Noto, Modica, Syracuse-Ortigia, and Palazzolo Acreide. Each town showcases intricately carved portals, windows and railings. You will love the richly decorated churches and palaces. Astonishingly beautiful and best seen by bike!

Sicily will capture you by the food; unique cuisine developed over time by the influences of many cultures. Choose from such tasty dishes as caponata, parmigiana, pasta with sardines, tuna, fresh tomato sauce, or sauce with a base of fresh olive oil. All are enhanced by regional wines. And, of course, a piece of Sicily’s famous and elaborate dessert, cassata, a cake you will never forget.

Cost: € 1235 (group) $
€ 960 (self-guided) $
Duration: 8 days/7 nights
Start/End: Syracuse/Syracuse
2010 Start Dates: April 10, May 8, May 29, September 4, September 25, October 16, October 23

Highlights of the tour

Explore the town of Syracuse and its archeological sites including a famous Greek theater and the little island of Ortigia, the historical city center with narrow streets and baroque duomo square
Bike through several small villages richly decorated by baroque architecture
See the city of Noto, the capital of Italian Baroque
Experience Vendicari Nature Reserve with beautiful white beaches and migratory birds
Discover the ancient sites and villages of Akrai, Noto Antica, Ragusa, and the Necropolis of Pantalica.
View the Iblei Mountains with its excavated caves and canyons
Traditional Sicilian cuisine and wine

Itinerary
Photos
Maps
Notes
Pricing

Day 1 – Welcome to Sicily!

Arrival at Catania Airport. Transfer on your own to Syracuse-Ortigia by bus, taxi or train.

Twenty-seven centuries of history separate the origin of this city from present days. Ortigia, the little Island very close to the coast, is the ancient heart of the city. It was from Syracuse the Greek’s began colonization of Sicily. It’s delightful to wander through Ortigia with small routes leading to artisan shops. Walks along the beach are stunning with the rise of the sun or a fresh breeze in the afternoon. An overnight stay in Ortigia or in Syracuse in a three-star hotel with b&b service (close to the archaeological theatre site). Please check your voucher, more options are available.

Day 2 – Ortigia to Noto (train & bike) and from Noto to Vendicari Nature Reserve (18 miles/30 km)

Noto is universally recognized as the capital city of the baroque style. It offers a cross section of buildings that came about after the 1693 earthquake. The Spanish governor, at the time, chose to re-build the city instead of renovate damaged buildings. New aesthetic values were applied, including and above all the ostentatious nature of the political and religious powers. You will notice in Noto the imposing design of palaces and churches, classic of the baroque style, that mix with cozy, hidden courts.

On to the Vendicari Nature Reserve, famous for bird-watching of several species coming from Africa. In autumn it is possible to observe larger wading birds. Overnight stay in Noto, with dinner on your own.

Day 3 – Noto to Noto Antica by bike (16.4 miles/27.4 km)

Today a circular bike route of about thirty kilometers with as much up as down. We will reach Noto Antica. Little is known of its origins. Over the centuries its strategic position always made it the object of attention, with each successive domination adding to its cultural wealth. The Siculs, Greeks, and Arabs turned it into one of the most beautiful towns in Sicily, until the earthquake of 1693 reduced it to rubble. You can reach the ancient ruins via the Porta Reale gateway. The route overlooks the surrounding area of “cave” (canyons). Overnight stay in Noto, with dinner on your own.

Day 4 – Noto to Ragusa-Ibla (train & bike) (3 miles/5 km)

Ibla is adorned with “grinning masks” carved out of stone on the buildings. By light of day, you feel like you can almost talk to these faces. If you take a night-time stroll through the alleys and see the laughing masks of Ibla, you may feel it is all a dream.

SanGiorgio Cathedral towers overhead and watches over the town. Overnight stay in Ibla with dinner on your own.

Day 5 – Biking from Ibla to Palazzolo Acreide, on to Anapo Valley (32 miles/53 km)

Today you bike to Palazzolo Acreide, another jewel of the Val di Noto area, where the baroque is in contrast to the ancient ruins. Akrai was founded by the Siracusans in 664 BC as a strategic position overlooking the surrounding countryside and the “via Selinuntina”, the road that joined Syracuse to the coastal towns in the south of the island. Historian Tommaso Fazello discovered Akrai at the end of the 16th century. The archaeological excavations ran until the beginning of the 19th century under the direction of baron Gabriele Iudica.

Pantalica, located inside the Valle dell’Anapo (Anapo Valley), is another fascinating archaeological site with its mysterious origins dating back to 2300 years ago. You will see the Necropolis of Pantalica, the biggest in Sicily and one of the most important in the world. More than 5,000 tombs were excavated into the rock overhanging the Anapo and Calcinara Rivers. An overnight stay in the Anapo Valley in a farmhouse, dinner included.

Day 6 – Anapo Valley – your choice of options

Today a free day in the Anapo Valley with several options: relax, walk on your own, hike a nature trail with a guide, ride on the back of a donkey or take a cooking class. In the valley you can enjoy the shade trees such as Plans, Ashes and Oaks. You’ll become intoxicated by a thousand smells of this little Eden. Walk along the cold waters of the river, hike the coastal paths or perhaps along the track of the old narrow gauge railway that passed through these valleys until 1956. Overnight stay at an Anapo Valley farmhouse, dinner included.

Day 7 – Anapo Valley to Ortigia by bike (17.6 miles/29.4 km)

Our route will take us back to Ortigia by bike. Syracuse offers classical plays at the Greek Theater. If our timing is right, it is possible to tie a performance into our last day of the tour. Overnight stay in Ortigia or in Syracuse (close to the theatre archaeological site) in a three-star hotel. Please check your voucher, more options are available. Dinner is on your own.

Day 8 – Departure Day

End of the tour. Back to Ortigia-Catania by bus. Ciao!

Actual tour itinerary may vary slightly due to unforeseen circumstances.

Click on any photo to enlarge it.

Level of difficulty: Easy

This tour is an easy one not only because of the total distance you’ll cover along the week (ony 87 miles!), but also because of the rest days you’ll enjoy on day 4 (option ride is available anyway) and day 6. Besides: the rest day more at the beginning of the tour allows you the possibility to have a gentle beginning of your holiday. The mix with the railway is another point which gives you an opportunity to have relaxing stops from the cycling and more opportunities to share your experience with the local people.

Travel notes

The reference airport for this tour is Catania.

Books

Salvatore Quasimodo, poet and writer: Ed è subito sera, Giorno dopo giorno, Dare e avere. Modica
Gesualdo Bufalino, novelist Diceria dell’untore (the plague sower), Le menzogne della notte (Night’s lies). Comiso
Jacopo da Lentini (sec XIII), poet. Lentini
Vitaliano Brancati, novelist: Don Giovanni in Sicilia, Il Bell’Antonio, Paolo il caldo. Pachino

Movies

Divorce, italian style 1961, film director: Pietro Germi. This movie It won the Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay.
Anni difficili 1948, film director Luigi Zampa, from the novel of Vitaliano Brancati, “II vecchio con gli stivali”
Gente di rispetto 1975, film director Luigi Zampa, from the homonymous novel of Giuseppe Fava
Kaos 1984, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, from several novels of Luigi Pirandello
The star maker or best known as L’Uomo delle stelle 1995, Giuseppe Tornatore

Group tour price

€ 1235 (minimum 8 people) – currency converter

Additional options and fees

High season surcharge – € 120 (effective July 1– August 31)
Private room – € 230
Half-board – € 135 (5 dinners, 2 dinner are already included in the standard package)
Bike rental – € 130 (€ 18 each additional day), which includes 1 bike pannier per bike, helmets and a cycle computer.
Cooking class – € 45 per person (included for the group tour)
GPS rental – € 35 (Garmin E-Trex Venture HC)
Transfer rates per person (two person minimum)
- Catania airport to Syracuse – € 35
- Syracuse to Catania airport – € 35
- Noto to Ragusa Ibla – € 40
- Extra transfers – € 30

Included

One English-speaking trip leader
Seven nights in three-star hotels, all rooms with en suite bathroom
Seven breakfasts and two dinners
Baggage transportation between hotels
Detailed route information and maps
Van support

Not included

Admission to museums and archaeological sites
Tickets for trains or any public transportation
Wine or beverages
Airfare
Transfers to the starting point or from the finishing point unless specified; we can assist you in planning and arranging for any necessary shuttles
Transport of bike case (for guests who bring their own bike)
Personal expenses (laundry, personal supplies, phone calls, etc.)
Gratuity

Self-guided option