• Explore Eastern Sicily’s private gardens

• Visits hosted by the owners, with several including private lunches

• Tour led by renowned local gardener, Rachel Lamb, an expert on Mediterranean gardening

• Stunning botanical variety seen at a lovely time of year to visit

• Excellent food & wine & a wine-tasting on the lower slopes of Mount Etna

• Historic family-run 4* hotel located in the heart of Taormina

Nowhere in the Mediterranean can horticulture be seen to such fecund and thrilling effect as on Sicily, particularly around the island’s volcano, Mount Etna. Flowering trees, shrubs and plants, olives, vines and citrus groves have all thrived in Sicily’s sub-tropical climate, emerging from the mineral-laden, lava-based soil, formed from the earth’s gift which has flowed down these slopes over millions of years. 

In times past, the luxuriant hunting parks of the Arab emirs and Norman kings, together with eighteenth century aristocratic pleasure gardens, all thrived close to the coastal cities of the island.  Today, several private gardens, principally located on the eastern Ionian coast of Sicily, have grown at remarkable speed displaying rare, exotic plants which thrive due to the fertile slopes and plains in sight of Mount Etna. Our gently paced visit will explore a selection of these gardens, rich in botanical variety and diverse in layout, all created through the vision of the Sicilian owner-gardeners who will be our hosts.          

We shall be based in Taormina, high on a promontory of Mount Tauro, spectacularly overlooking the Gulf of Naxos and Mount Etna.  Ionian Greeks left their homeland and settled at Naxos in 734 BC, founding Sicily’s first Greek colony.  Dionysius I of Syracuse destroyed Naxos in 403 BC and its survivors founded Tauromenion.  Given the strategic importance of its location, Byzantine emperors, Arab emirs and later Spanish viceroys all cherished the city.  By the end of the nineteenth century Taormina was transformed into a bucolic colony for foreign artists and intellectuals who flocked to its Greek remains, shady terraces and amazing views.

The tour will be led by Rachel Lamb who is an internationally known expert on the flora of Sicily. Rachel will co-guide our group with the owner-designers, ensuring a highly personal introduction to these private versions of a Sicilian ‘paradise’. We shall stay at the 4* Hotel Villa Schuler situated in the historic centre.  This converted fin de siècle villa is the oldest owner-run hotel in Taormina, still in the family of the original owners.   The terraced garden overlooks the Gulf of Naxos with the eastern slopes of Mount Etna in the distance.  Many restaurants, bars and shops are within easy walking distance of our hotel.  Guests should also note that there are many steps and narrow streets in the town, with limited vehicle traffic. 

Day 1: Sunday 12 April – We make an early start and fly from Gatwick to Catania arriving just ahead of midday. On arrival we drive the very short distance to the northern outskirts of Catania to visit the Parco Paterno’ del Toscano. Devised by renowned post-war landscape architect Enrico Paterno, the botanical garden is rich in palm varieties displayed across a number of asymmetrical ‘rooms’. We shall first have a light lunch in the garden prior to our owner-led visit. In the mid-afternoon, we continue northwards to Taormina, located close to the north-eastern corner of Sicily where we check in at the 4* Hotel Villa Schuler and rest for the remainder of the afternoon.  In the early evening, we shall have dinner in a local restaurant - wine, water and coffee are included with all group lunches and dinners. 

Day 2: Monday 13 April – We drive the short distance just south of Taormina to visit the Giardini Victoria. Guided by the estate’s owner, Princess Vittoria Alliata di Villafranca who has only recently opened the estate to visits, the terraced gardens are rich in antique fruit trees, native Mediterranean plants and complimented by a rose garden. Following refreshments on site, we travel to the northern outskirts of Catania to visit the home and garden created by Rossella Pezzino Geronimo. Her Stanze in Fiore di Canalicchio is a sensory journey across a number of floral rooms with rare tropical and subtropical plants inspired by her many travels.  A Burmese ‘secret garden’, an Oriental rock garden and a marvellous Arabic irrigation system tie these disparate parts together, a fascinating whole set around our hostesses’ neo-classical home. After a group lunch in the gardens, we return to Taormina where the evening will be free.

Day 3: Tuesday 14 April – This morning we travel south the short distance to Giarre to visit the Radicepuro, a ‘horticultural park’ arranged around rare plant species in a modern landscaped design enriched with garden and landscape art. After refreshments on site, we travel to the lower eastern slopes of Mount Etna to visit a renowned vineyard where we shall taste the estate’s wines and enjoy a group lunch on site. We return to Taormina mid-afternoon where the remainder of the afternoon and evening will be free for private explorations.  

Day 4: Wednesday 15 April – Today we drive along the Ionian coastline of the island to visit two remarkable modern gardens. The Giardino di San Giuliano is owned by the current Marquis of San Giuliano who commissioned three distinct garden spaces: an Arabic room, a tropical room and a scented room all divided by low stone walls and enclosed by the estate’s huge citrus orchard which produces a million kilos of oranges! Rachel will lead our party around the garden, after which we shall also enjoy a private lunch in the courtyard of the villa. In the afternoon, we drive the very short distance to Il Biviere, the creation of the late Princess Maria Carla Borghese, whose daughter-in-law will be our guide. A good water supply and the fecund lava-based soil has helped fashion a series of green rooms joined by sloping banks, lined with Aleppo palms and an extraordinary array of succulents. The evening will be free.

Day 5: Thursday 16 April – Our two visits this morning in Taormina begin with the Ancient Theatre dating from the third century BC with later Roman additions. Dug directly from the rock of the promontory, spectators still enjoy quite extraordinary views of the Gulf of Naxos and nearby Mount Etna. After a coffee break, we walk to the other side of the town to visit Casa Cuseni where we shall be received for a private guided visit of the reception rooms of the house and terraced garden. One hundred years ago the English watercolourist, Robert Kitson, sought to escape the British winter, creating his Sicilian home as a base for his Mediterranean travels. He quickly established the house as an international art salon. Painters, poets, playwrights and politicians continued to visit when the estate’s second owner, the British author Daphne Phelps, lived in the house. Her paintings and furnishings depict an idyllic Sicilian life well-lived.  Sir Frank Brangwyn’s murals survive in the villa as does his garden, designed as a ‘Mount Etna landscape’ with geometric rooms full of flowers and plants tumbling into the pathways.  After lunch, not included, the remainder of the afternoon will be free for leisurely explorations of the town.  We meet again in the evening for our final dinner in a renowned restaurant close to the town’s cathedral.     

Day 6: Friday 17 April – We leave our hotel after breakfast and drive to Catania airport for our return flight to London Gatwick airport. 

Price £2990 Without Flights £2740    Deposit £450 per person

Single Supplement       £375 (Double Room for Sole Use with a Garden View – 5 only); £575 (DSU Sea View)

Room upgrades £475 for Jr Suite/Superior Room with Sea View & bath (per room, sharing). Subject to availability

Hotels: 1 night at the Premier Inn London Gatwick (room only) 5 nights with breakfast at the 4* Hotel Villa Schuler, Taormina

Flights EasyJet

            Outward:          EZY8287 Departs London Gatwick (North Terminal) 0700 arrive Catania 1110

            Return:             EZY8286 Departs Catania 1145 arrive London Gatwick (North Terminal) 1405

Price includes 2 dinners & 4 lunches with wine, water & coffee, all local transfers, City Tax, entry fees & gratuities, the services of Rachel Lamb and James Hill

Not included Travel to/from Gatwick, 3 dinners & 1 lunch