SICILY +++ snow, fish, almond trees and citrus fruit +++ Catania, the black daughter of the Etna +++ from Baroque to micro electronics +++ Normans looking for the sun +++ Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans+++ Pantalica, Syracuse, Noto Antica +++ To Dionysos, the tyrant, snuck Möros with a hidden dagger. (Friedrich Schiller) +++ Rough mountains and deep gorges +++ riding the Etna train deeper into the country on a narrow track +++ Then answered the ambassador - Your Majesty will doubtlessly be in Sicily in time for dinner. +++ from snow to the seal, through lava fields and vineyards +++ Taormina, Antique architecture and outstanding bathing at the base of the Monte Tauro +++ Our tour through the East of Sicily in 7 days, up to 14 persons. 3 double overnight-stays. Hotels Gastronomy Culture Nature Messina ***** *****! *****! **** Reggio Calabria Randazzo Parco dell Etna Travel dates 2018 ISZ1: Saturday, 31-mar-2018 to Saturday, 07-apr-2018 ISZ2: Saturday, 07-apr-2018 to Saturday, 14-apr-2018 ISZ3: Saturday, 14-apr-2018 to Saturday, 21-apr-2018 ISZ4: Saturday, 06-oct-2018 to Saturday, 13-oct-2018 ISZ5: Saturday, 13-oct-2018 to Saturday, 20-oct-2018 ISZ6: Saturday, 20-oct-2018 to Saturday, 27-oct-2018 Traveling price Price per person in the DR for 7 nights with half-board, ebike, entrance free, transfers, guided tours: 1930 Single-room surcharge: 420 Does not include lunch, drinks and your personal expenses as well as travelling there and back. Bronte Taormina Monte Etna Paternò Catania by ebike by bus or train Vizzini Syrakus Pantalica Ragusa Noto Scicli 10 km 1
Flight Target airport Catania from/to Munich (as available): 385 Surcharge for other German airports: 50 Flights from airports in other countries on request. Car Direct motorway connection to Catania and ferries from Civitaveccia, Naples and Reggio Calabria. From Munich it s an 18 hours trip (including ferry). You can leave your car at the Catania airport during the bicycle tour (50 /week). Train From Munich you can reach Catania by train (also overnight train) in at least 21 hours with with two transfer. Participation conditions The arrangement contains the above services. Our terms and conditions apply. With your booking confirmation, you will receive the pedelon travel information, which contains useful notes on travelling to Catania and other advice around your trip. 2
SI C IL Y Discover the pearl of Southern Italy by ebike, see karstic mountains, valleys with lush vegetation, black volcanoes and mostly the sea, with its incredible colors and its clear floods, making Sicily one of the most beautiful islands in the world. The magic is enriched by many archaeological finds that report on the antique origins of Trinakria. Any number of building monuments are silent witnesses of the time of epochs of great art and rich culture. Best hotels in country estates and palaces, great cuisine on the largest island of Italy. Discover Sicily at its best with pedelon; enjoy a comfortable bicycle tour full of authenticity and surprises. 1st day, Sunday: Catania Ragusa, 43 km The first kilometers with heavy traffic will be bridged by bus. After the short drive, you will first receive your pedelon ebike in cozy Vizzini. You will continue across calm streets in a slight rise up to Monterosso Almo. This is particularly fun on ebikes. You will continue by bike through the picturesque landscape past the pretty artificial lake S.Rossalia, to Ragusa. Where you will arrive late in the afternoon. The small town on a hill is known for its Sicilian Baroque. The pedelon partner hotel Antica Badia Relais is an The rooms in the Hotel Romano House Luxury Hotel are available from 2 PM onwards. The recently renovated four-star hotel is centrally located in the old town. It is a skillful mix of historical building substance from the 17th century and new design. From here, you can reach the sights of the black town on foot easily. Use of lava stone as construction material can be seen in palaces, residences, churches, road paving and at the harbor of Catania. The antique theatre and the Roman amphitheater are also made of black stone. After the eruption in 1669 and the disastrous earthquake of 1693, Catania was rebuilt in the Baroque style of the 18th century. It has hardly changed since. A tour of the town will show you the most beautiful corners and teach you lots of interesting things about the impressive town at the base of the Etna. Meet in the hotel hall at 5:30 PM. Invitation to dinner in an tavern within spitting distance, which offers exquisite typical specialties of the country. elegant five-star hotel with comfortable and tastefully furnished rooms (two nights). Take the opportunity of a walk to dinner to explore the lower Ibla. In this part of the old town, which is considered a world cultural heritage, Marcello, the Padrone of the Ristorante 4Gatti, is waiting for pedelon guests, to whom he serves typical ragusan specialties. 3
2nd day, Monday: Ragusa Scicli Donnafugata Ragusa, 68 km With a last spectacular look back on Ragusa, you will take off across an idyllic side road slightly downhill towards Scicli, where you will arrive in the morning. Visiting the town that was destroyed by an earthquake in 1693 impressively shows the successful reconstruction in the style of Sicilian Baroque. Enjoy a Cappuccino on the Piazza before the city hall, reminiscent of Commissario Montalbano, the famous novel hero of Andrea Camilleri, who ac- 4th day, Wednesday: Siracusa Pantalica Siracusa, 45 km Today s cycling section starts in pretty Buscemi after a short bus ride. Your ebikes will take you to Càssaro on side roads with little traffic and between small, idyllic hills. A downhill ride across three kilometers will take you to the forge of the Anapo river in several serpentines. The bicycle path meanders through the nature preserve Valle dell Anapo on the old train route and through a few short tunnels to just before Sortino. There, the necropolises of Pantàlica with approx. 5000 chamber graves are located. They cording to the author never has his espresso anywhere else. Always close to the sea, this leg will lead across Donnalucata and to Maritima di Ragusa, before continuing along the edge of a nature preserve to Punta Secca, where the beach near the Commissario Villa invites you to take a break. A slight climb to the Castello di Donnafugata ends today s cycling trip. A bus will return you to the hotel in a quarter of an hour. You will walk across the Corso to the Dioniso, where Luciano will treat his guests to treats today. 3rd day, Tuesday: Ragusa Noto Siracusa, 60 km The next morning, you will leave Ragusa by ebike through the narrow alleys of Ibla. After a brief flat area, the batteries will help you climb to San Giacomo. On the nearly abandoned high plateau, the cyclists will find a wonderful section of lonesome side streets crossing olive groves until lunchtime at Noto Antica, another pearl of Sicilian Baroque. After a short descent, we reach Noto, another gem of the Sicilian Baroque, waiting with the most beautiful balconies in the world, as it is said. Noto was rebuilt in 1693 after an earthquake had completely destroyed the town. From Noto, you will reach Syra- cuse by taxi in about half an hour. In this town, which is rich with cultural monuments, the Hotel Gutkowski will wait for its guests right by the sea. For dinner Dario invites us to his nearby trattoria Spizzuliamu. are only accessible by foot in the slopes above the river. They are important documents of early settlement and used to be a place where the Sicans, the Sicilian indigenous people, withdrew to. After a lunch break in a wonderful Agriturismo the bicycle path goes across 20 picturesque kilometers to Floridia at the fringes of Syracuse. To avoid the traffic in town, we recommend taking the taxi for the last kilometers to the hotel. After a sightseeing through the alleys of Ortigia, we will meet at one of the best restaurants in town, where Stefano will present a subtle interpretation of traditional sicilian dishes. 5th day, Thursday: Siracusa Taormina (around the Etna), 47 km After breakfast, the bus will take you to Paternò in about an hour. From there, you will round the Etna with the famous Ferrovia Circumetnea. It is a memorable experience of overwhelming nature and nostalgic railway technology, past Bronte, which is famous for the supposedly best pistaccios in the world.from Maletto, you will continue by bike to Randazzo, where you will visit the vineyard of Giuseppe Russo. Its outstanding and organically grown Etna wines will accompany our picnic in the vineyards. The remaining kilometers of this day start out across slightly hilly terrain to the Gole di Alcàntara, a nature park in the middle of a spectacular gorge cut into the basalt stone by the Alcàntara river. To avoid the traffic in town, a small bus will take you to the hotel in Taormina, one of the most-frequently visited places in Sicily. The hotel Villa Schuler, where Signore Schuler cordially welcomes his guests, 4
is located fantastically with a view of the Etna and the bay of Giardini di Naxos. Through the magnificent garden of the hotel, you will get directly to the Corso Umberto, inviting you to shop with its stores while also a wonderful place to just stroll around. At its end, Daniele will be waiting for you in the Il Giardino with taorminian cuisine. 6th day, Friday: Taormina Etna (from the crater s edge to the sea!), 53 km After an extraordinary breakfast on the sun terrace with a view of the sea, the bus will take you to the Rifugio La Sapienza, about halfway up the Etna at a height of 1986 meters. After a brief hike around the Silvestri side crater, which extinguished 100 ye- ars ago, you will have a spectacular view in all directions. After a brief downhill ride, you will soon reach Zafferana. In Milo, a picnic on the sun terrace with a view of the Ionian sea will top off this day. The remaining bicycle kilometers of the trip will lead through slightly hilly country with chestnut and oak forests before turning down to the sea across the sleepy Presa. At the beach of Marina di Cottone, you can top off this outstanding bicycle section with a glass of white wine or a jump into the Ionian sea. Back in the Hotel Villa Schuler, you will have a little time left before meeting for the last shared dinner in nearby Ristorante Tiramisu. Giuseppe will take care of a pleasant end to this ebike tour rich in experiences with an outstanding fish menu. 7th day, Saturday: Taormina Catania After the city tour, where the pedelon guests are introduced to the old town with its ancient theater, the travel ends. Of course, the guide will be happy to arrange for further help, whether with the transfer to the airport of Catania, a return journey to the start hotel Romano House Luxury Hotel or also the procurement of a rental care. The latter is particularly suitable for an additional holiday, the tariffs are quite reasonable in Sicily. 5