Italy · 1 tour
Panelle and arancine in Palermo’s old markets, chocolate worked cold in Modica, almond granita in Noto, Catania’s fish market at dawn and the vineyards of Etna. Eight days across the island, west to east.
Street market, Palermo
Overview
Sicily cooks with the leftovers of three thousand years of visitors. Greeks planted vines and olives, Arabs brought citrus, almonds, rice and sugar, the Spanish brought cocoa and chili, and the island turned all of it into something of its own: sweet and sour caponata, couscous with fish in Trapani, cannoli and cassata, and a street food culture as strong as any in Europe.
Our tour starts in Palermo, crosses the island to the Baroque towns of Modica and Noto, and ends in Catania and on the slopes of Etna. Salvo Grasso, born in Catania and a sommelier on Etna for twelve years, hosts.
Jump to: tours and prices · places · food seasons · questions
1 tour · prices per person
Palermo · Modica · Noto · Catania · Etna
MarketsProducersWine
From$4,290per person, double room, most meals
View tour4 places
01
Palermo eats on the street. Its old markets, Ballarò in the Albergheria and the Capo near the cathedral, have run in the same lanes for centuries, with stallholders calling out prices in dialect. The classics are cheap and fried: panelle, chickpea fritters in a soft roll, crocchè of potato and mint, arancine with ragù, and sfincione, a thick, spongy pizza with onion and anchovy sold from carts. Pani ca’ meusa, veal spleen in a bun, is for the curious. Pastry shops fill cannoli to order with sheep’s ricotta. Our tour spends three nights here, with a morning in Monreale.
Best monthsApril, May, October
Tours that visit Palermo
02
Modica and Noto were rebuilt in the Baroque style after the earthquake of 1693, and they are part of the UNESCO-listed towns of the Val di Noto. Modica is famous for chocolate made the old way, ground and mixed with sugar at a low heat, so the sugar does not melt and the bar is grainy and crisp. It is protected as an IGP. Noto, forty minutes east, is a town of honey-colored stone and the place for almond granita with a warm brioche at breakfast. The wines of the area are Frappato and Cerasuolo di Vittoria. Our tour spends two nights in Modica, with a farmhouse cooking class.
Best monthsApril to June, September and October
Tours that visit Modica and Noto
03
Catania is built of black lava stone at the foot of Etna, and it is louder and more hurried than Palermo. Every morning except Sunday, La Pescheria fills the square and lanes behind the cathedral with swordfish, tuna, anchovies, sea urchins and shouting fishmongers. The city’s own dish is pasta alla Norma, with fried eggplant, tomato and salted ricotta, named, the story goes, after Bellini’s opera. Arancini here are pointed, like the volcano, and the city has its own granita culture too. Our tour stops here for the fish market and lunch on the way up to Etna.
Best monthsApril, May, September and October
Tours that visit Catania
04
Etna is Europe’s tallest active volcano, and its north slope has become one of the most interesting wine zones in Italy. Vines grow on black lava terraces up to about a thousand meters, some of them old, ungrafted bush vines that survived phylloxera in the volcanic sand. Etna Rosso is made mainly from Nerello Mascalese, light in color and firm, and Etna Bianco from Carricante. West of the volcano, Bronte grows its protected green pistachios, harvested every other year in late summer. Our tour spends two nights at a wine estate guesthouse, with a walk on an old lava flow and two cellars.
Best monthsMay, June, September and October
Tours that visit Mount Etna wine country
Ways to go
01
Sicily: Palermo Street Food, Modica Chocolate and Etna Wine spends three nights in Palermo, two in Modica and two on Etna, with street food walks, a chocolate workshop, a farmhouse cooking class, the Catania fish market and two wineries.
02
Arrive early for more time in Palermo, or stay on after the tour in Ortigia, the old island center of Siracusa, an hour south of Catania airport. Lena can book the extra nights.
03
Groups of six or more can run the tour on their own dates, add Trapani and the salt pans in the west or the Aeolian Islands in the north. Grant Mosley plans private groups.
What’s included
The eight-day tour includes hotels in Palermo, Modica and on Etna with breakfast, the lunches and dinners listed, street food walks in Palermo, the Modica chocolate workshop, a farmhouse cooking class, La Pescheria with your host, two Etna winery tastings and wine with included meals for guests 18 and over, the van and airport transfers at group times, and Salvo or another host.
Not included: flights to the start city, travel insurance, the meals not listed, tips. Alcohol only for guests 18 and over, the legal drinking age in Italy. Full list
When to go
Sicily is best in spring and autumn. April and May bring wildflowers, artichokes, fava beans and fresh ricotta, and it is warm enough to eat outside. June is hot but the evenings are long. September and October bring the grape harvest on Etna and warm sea water, and November is mild, with olive oil pressing and mushrooms on the volcano. July and August are very hot in the interior and crowded on the coasts, so we do not run then. Winter is quiet and often rainy.
Before you book
Ask Lena directly
Lena Ortiz in reservations replies within one working day, Monday to Friday.
Sicily: Palermo Street Food, Modica Chocolate and Etna Wine, eight days from Palermo to Etna with a cooking class near Modica.
It saves a full day of driving back across the island. Both airports have good connections through Rome, Milan and other European hubs.
Yes. The stalls we use are busy, cook to order and are known to our host. Fried food is hot from the oil, and Salvo picks the stops.
Very good. Panelle, caponata, pasta alla Norma, arancine with butter and peas, and the pastries are all vegetarian. Tell us when you book.
Yes, with a flight via Rome or Athens. Athens and Crete runs in many of the same months.
Wine with included meals and two Etna winery tastings, for guests 18 and over, with a non-alcoholic option at every stop.
More destinations
1 tour · from $3,390
1 tour · from $4,190
2 tours · from $175
Dates and seats
Tell us which tour, roughly when and how many of you. Lena Ortiz in reservations replies within one working day with dates, seats, the price and how we can handle any dietary needs.
Lena, Grant and Priya, Charleston
SubjectSicily: Palermo Street Food, Modica Chocolate and Etna Wine: dates and seats
Please include
Lena Ortiz in reservations replies within one working day. No payment now. A $300 deposit per person holds seats on a multi-day tour; day tours are paid when you book.
Search · 16 food tours in 12 destinations
Or browse all 16 tours, all 12 destinations or current deals.