A biking tour through the beauties of Sicily's baroque, to enjoy its rich culture, traditions… and great cycling

Arrival at Catania airport, transfer to accommodation in the wonderful Syracuse at a four-star hotel.

It’s time to leave and start your adventure. Say goodbye to Syracuse riding along the Ionic sea coast till we reach the village of Avola. There we find the first climb of the trip, through the Natural Reserve of Cavagrande in Cassibile. This is a 8 km long climb that features amazing views on the eastern coastline. Some kilometers after the end of the climb, we'll be riding across the Grand Canyon of Sicily, carved in the white limestone. Left the Natural Reserve, we'll start a descent towards Noto, the capital of Sicilian Baroque, where we stay overnight and have dinner at a four-star hotel.

Our ride today will feature continous up and downs. After a little bit more than 16 km, we'll meet another UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ragusa Ibla, an important site to the Sicilian baroque lovers. From Ragusa to Monterosso Almo - through Giarratana - is all climbing, for some kilometers on the same route of the 4th stage of Giro d’Italia 2018. We will enjoy a refreshment stop in the ancient town of Vizzini, hometown of the noted writer from the 19th century Giovanni Verga, and take a chance to taste the famous Sicilian cannoli in the best pastry shops in the old town. A continuous up and down will take us the destination: Caltagirone - UNESCO World Heritage site since 2002. This town is famous for its - exported worldwide - typical ceramics and pottery. But it is also renowned for a very special architectural beauty: the staircase of Santa Maria del Monte, a 142-step stair ramp that you can climb all the way up if the daily ride’s been too easy! Overnight and dinner in Caltagirone at a four-star hotel.

We don’t want to just see it in the background, so it’s time to ride to the feet of the tallest active volcano in Europe, Mt Etna, crossing the Nebrodi mountain range towards Troina. Troina worth a stop to refresh with a slice of a “vastedda cu sammucu”, the typical Troina’s flatbread with sambuco flower essence. Tasty, right? OK, it’s time to get back on the bike, as there are still 40 km to go. After a descent through a lovely countryside, we climb up for 7km to Cesarò. Then a 10km descent - the same ridden during the 4th stage of Giro d’Italia 2017 - will take us to the northern side of the Natural parc of Etna. Overnight in Linguaglossa at a four-star hotel.

Last stage, but still full of great insights. We'll ride along the northern side of Etna’s vineyards up to Castiglione di Sicilia. This little village has been awarded as the most beautiful village in Italy in 1994. Not too far from Castiglione di Sicilia, we ride along the famous Alcantara gorge, a basalt canyon created by watercourses and lava flow. We keep riding down, up to the beginning of the climb to Taormina. From there we go all the way up on a 9km climb that takes us to Castelmola, small village that overlook Taormina and where we believe you’ll have an unusual (believe us) and yet unforgettable experience when paying a visit of the tiny old center. Coming back to Taormina, we won’t miss a visit to downtown to discover squares, monuments, architecture, flavours of the so called “Pearl of Mediterranean”. Letojanni is close, and so the end of the trip. But we’re sure you won’t be happy about the end of this cycle tour in the hearth of Baroque Sicily. Overnight and dinner at a four-star hotel.

Transfer to Catania airport and end of services.