Colorful Mediterranean-style buildings along the shoreline with a mountain in the background and a partly cloudy sky.
Ancient ruins with three tall white marble columns and brick arches, with snow-capped Mount Etna volcano erupting in the background under a blue sky.
Empty ornate theater with red velvet seats, decorated gold accents, and a stage with red curtains.
Colorful ceramic masks of a king and queen surrounded by a large pile of oranges on a wooden surface, likely at an outdoor market.
Aerial view of a sports complex with four tennis courts and one pickleball court, surrounded by green fields and a scenic ocean in the background.
A historic square with a white marble fountain and statue surrounded by green bushes and palm trees under a clear blue sky.

May 7 – 16, 2027

DAYS

10 days

TRIP DATES

Serving Up Luxury in Sicily

Join The Next Chapter Travel for an unforgettable 10-day journey through Sicily, where morning tennis clinics with Italian tennis pros meets the pleasures of the Mediterranean's largest island. From the clay courts and coastline of Verdura Resort to the hillside terraces of Taormina and the palaces of Palermo, this all-women small-group trip pairs active mornings on court with afternoons given over to Greek temples, volcanic vineyards, artisan workshops and long lunches with a view. Known for its layered history, extraordinary cuisine, and mesmerizing landscapes, Sicily provides the perfect backdrop for an Italian retreat unlike any other.


When you travel with The Next Chapter Travel, every detail is carefully curated to ensure a truly indulgent blend of sport, culture, and comfort — so the most difficult decision you’ll make is whether to spend the afternoon shopping for ceramics or in a thalassotherapy pool. Whether you're learning to stretch pizza dough with a Sicilian chef, tasting Etna wines among old lava flows, or strolling between temples that have stood for more than two millennia, each day brings new encounters with the island's most treasured experiences. With thoughtfully balanced moments of activity and leisure, this journey through Sicily's finest corners is crafted to restore, inspire, and create memories that will last a lifetime.

Traditional Mexican trompo-shaped pastries topped with different nuts and creams, displayed on a colorful decorative plate.
Ancient Greek temple ruins illuminated at sunset, featuring tall columns and a triangular pediment, in a historical site.
A breakfast table set outdoors with a view of the ocean, trees, and a boat. The table has various dishes including croissants, fresh fruit, pink flowers, and jars of jam, with a scenic ocean backdrop.

Your curated trip…

Highlights

  • Begin your mornings on the courts at Verdura Resort and again in Taormina  — with yoga, Pilates, and cycling on offer for those who'd rather ease into the day

  • Cruise the Agrigento coast to the Scala dei Turchi, the great stepped cliff of soft white marl that folds down into the sea — seen at its best from the water

  • Walk the Via Sacra through Agrigento's Valley of the Temples, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where a row of Doric temples stands on a ridge above the sea — the surviving skyline of Akragas, among the greatest cities of the Greek world

  • Browse the ceramic workshops of Sciacca, where the yellows, greens, and cobalt blues of Sicilian majolica have been painted by hand for centuries

  • Learn to make Sicilian pizza with a local chef, and the island's cocktails with a local bartender

  • Unwind at the Irene Forte Spa at Verdura, with four thalassotherapy pools drawing on mineral-rich seawater and treatments built around botanicals grown on the resort's own organic farm

  • Discover Mount Etna's volcanic winemaking traditions at Planeta's Sciaranuova estate, where the vines grow among old lava flows

  • Tour Taormina's Teatro Antico, cut into the hillside by the Greeks and rebuilt by the Romans, where Mount Etna sits framed in the broken stage wall

  • Explore Cefalù, a fishing town wedged between a headland of rock and the sea, with its great Norman cathedral at the centre

  • Step inside Santa Caterina d'Alessandria in Palermo, a Dominican convent kept under enclosure for some seven hundred years, now open to visitors — with the nuns' pastry recipes back in production in the cloister

  • Visit Palazzo Valguarnera-Gangi, still a private home and open by arrangement only, where Visconti filmed the ball scene in The Leopard

  • Take coffee at Ideal Caffè Stagnitta, the family roastery the Financial Times named among the best independent coffee shops in the world

  • Dine at Ristorante Timeo above the bay in Taormina, at Florio in Villa Igiea's Belle Époque dining room, and at a string of the island's best small kitchens in between

  • Enjoy leisure time at three exceptional properties, whether swimming, taking the spa, or simply doing nothing at all on a terrace above the Mediterranean

And while these highlights promise to be memorable, we've also reserved a few special moments that will unfold along the way, making your Sicilian adventure truly unforgettable...

What is included:

  • 9 nights' accommodation in three of Sicily's finest properties

  • Meals as indicated in the itinerary (all breakfasts, 4 lunches, 8 dinners)

  • Court fees

  • Optional yoga and Pilates sessions fees

  • All excursions listed in the itinerary with an expert private guide, including entrance fees and gratuities

  • Vineyard visit and wine tasting at Planeta Sciaranuova

  • Sicilian pizza-making class and cocktail-making class

  • All transportation by luxury coach with a professional driver/tour manager, including gratuities

  • Airport transfers for participants on the suggested arriving and departing flights

What is not included:

  • Spa treatments and fee-based activities not specified in the itinerary

  • Select at your leisure lunches and dinners as indicated in the itinerary

  • Airfare

  • Travel Insurance (Highly recommended)

Luxury Accommodations

Verdura Resort, a Rocco Forte Hotel — Days 1–5
A five-star resort set on its own long stretch of coastline outside Sciacca, on Sicily's southwest shore. Verdura combines clay tennis courts, an infinity pool, and a long private beach with olive and citrus groves running down to the sea. The Irene Forte Spa spans 4,000 square metres, with four outdoor thalassotherapy pools, a heated indoor pool, steam room and saunas, and treatments made with Sicilian botanicals from the resort's organic farm. A range of restaurants and bars, overseen by Rocco Forte's creative director of food Fulvio Pierangelini, range from beachfront seafood at Amare to wood-fired pizza at cliff-top Liolà.


In Taormina — Days 5–8 — your choice of two hotels:
Villa Timeo at Grand Hotel Timeo, A Belmond Hotel: A newly reimagined private residence from Belmond, Villa Timeo sits just a few steps from the main building of Grand Hotel Timeo — Taormina's first hotel, opened in 1873 beside the ancient theatre. Villa Timeo offers the privacy of a separate residence along with full access to the hotel's gardens, heated panoramic pool, and spa. Rooms and suites look out over the Bay of Taormina and Mount Etna, while the hotel's terrace — long a gathering place for the writers and film stars who made Taormina famous — offers one of the finest views in Sicily.

Grand Hotel San Pietro: A five-star boutique hotel in an elegantly restored early 20th-century villa, set in a garden of citrus and century-old olive trees on a terrace above the Ionian Sea. Recently restyled, its rooms and suites look out toward Isola Bella and Mount Etna. The hotel has its own spa with a jacuzzi overlooking the sea, a Finnish sauna and steam room, a pool, a panoramic terrace, and a complimentary shuttle to the historic centre, a ten-minute walk away.


Villa Igiea, a Rocco Forte Hotel — Days 8–10
An Art Nouveau palazzo designed by Ernesto Basile for the Florio family, standing at the foot of Monte Pellegrino with terraced gardens dropping toward the Gulf of Palermo. Restored by Olga Polizzi and Paolo Moschino, Villa Igiea pairs Belle Époque halls, frescoes and period furnishings with a spa, outdoor pool, and three restaurants and bars — Florio, the vaulted Igiea Terrazza Bar, and Alicetta out on the sea-facing terraces. The historic centre of Palermo is ten minutes away.

Transportation:

Luxury coach with professional English-speaking driver and tour manager.

Daily Itinerary
Elegant bedroom with a large window showing a scenic view of water and land, decorated with pink curtains, a vintage mirror, a wooden desk with a bowl of fruit, a blue upholstered bed and chairs, and a chandelier.
A swimming pool area with striped umbrellas and lounge chairs, overlooking a body of water with cliffs and greenery in the distance.
A bar with a dark wood counter, two rattan bar stools with woven seats, a glass display case with champagne bottles, wine bottles and glasses behind the bar, and decorative lighting and shelves with a vase and additional bottles.

Pricing:

Villa Timeo at Grand Hotel Timeo, A Belmond Hotel, in Taormina

  • Double occupancy: $9,900

  • Single occupancy: $14,900

Grand Hotel San Pietro in Taormina

  • Double occupancy: $8,200

  • Single occupancy: $11,800

Limited to a small group for an intimate experience. Two Single Rooms Available

A $2,500 deposit is due at booking, and the remaining balance will be split into 2 payments, 6 months and 3 months prior to departure.

The deposit is refundable for 30 days. After that all payments are non-refundable. Travel insurance is highly recommended.

We accept American Express, Mastercard & Visa.

Book Now

Cancellation Policy:

Cancellations made more than 90 days prior to the tour start date will receive a credit towards a future Next Chapter Travel tour commencing within a year of the canceled tour.

Cancellations made less than 90 days prior to the tour start date will receive no credits or refunds. Contact your travel insurance advisor to make a claim.

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