Syracuse food tour

Arrive to Hotel Gutkowski in the beautiful old town of Syracuse, directly on the sea. If you wish, we can organize your transfer from the Catania airport or ferry port, which takes about an hour. In the early evening, tour guide Monika Cortese will take you on a tour of the almost 3,000-year-old old town of Syracuse, located on a natural island. Get to know your fellow travellers over a dinner of traditional Sicilian dishes in an osteria in the old town of Siracusa.

Relax and enjoy the journey, knowing that our tour guide will assist you at every moment.

Today, you will get to know the nature guide Fabio, founder and president of a nature club in Sicily. With him, you will discover the area around Syracuse and its wild herbs in the coming days. Fabio will show you Syracuse from the perspective of a local and historical connoisseur on a city tour, and then invite you to a delicious lunch with locals. The approximately 40-hectare island of Ortigia is uniquely located between two natural harbours directly off the mainland. Founded by the Corinthians in the 1st century B.C., Syracuse developed quickly due to its unique location, and rose to prominence thanks to its victory in the naval battle against Athens in 413 B.C. It became the most important city and cultural centre of Magna Graecia in Sicily for around two centuries. Archimedes lived here and developed a screw crucial for water management in the Sicilian salt flats. The old town, which fell into disrepair after the Second World War, has been coming back to life in recent years. In 2005, Syracuse was added to the World Heritage List for its unique remnants of the Greek, Roman, and Baroque periods. In the late afternoon, you will visit a famous winery just outside Syracuse. The 18th-century castle-like property hosts a rock festival every year. Of course, the house wines are excellent—one has been awarded the best white wine in Sicily several times! After tasting some wines, you are invited to enjoy dinner at the winery under the stars.

Relax and enjoy the journey, knowing that our tour guide will assist you at every moment.

In the morning, you will travel to the area below ancient Noto, where you will collect wild vegetables and herbs with Fabio. It is a wonderful place, full of vegetation, with old mills along the Asinaro stream. You can even swim in a small lake that the river forms. For lunch, enjoy a picnic by the river. Fabio takes the wild herbs and vegetables that you have collected together home with him to prepare dinner for you while you have free time in the afternoon. In the evening, he invites you to his house for dinner. Note: June and October are not the ideal time to gather wild herbs and vegetables, as it is too warm. But you can always find some herbs, such as wild fennel (Finocchio selvatico).

Today, you will visit the beautiful town of Modica and find out what makes its chocolate so special. In the morning, you will visit a small, organic pastificio (pasta producer) that only uses ancient Sicilian grains. These ancient types of grain are particularly well tolerated and are even offered in pharmacies for gluten-intolerant people. The owner Giorgio is an engineer and has discovered many of the secrets of good pasta. Try the pasta at lunch in a cute restaurant in downtown Modica. Then, go to the sacred rooms of a small, organic Modica chocolate manufacturer. Francesca will explain everything to you, from cocoa beans to chocolate, so you can make your own chocolate. After such an eventful day, have dinner in the cozy, modern Gutkowskino, the hotel's restaurant.

Hike with Fabio through the Cavagrande del Cassibile nature reserve, which some call “the Grand Canyon of Sicily.” The once raging Cassibile River cut the approximately 250-metre deep gorge into the mountains. The waterfalls and many pools are particularly popular, with glittering turquoise water against white limestone. Continue down into the valley where you will be rewarded with a refreshing swim. An interesting culinary aspect of the area is the cultivation of carob trees and processing them into flour. Hardly known as an ingredient in cooking, many branches of the food industry would not be able to do without locust bean gum as a natural thickener or as a stabilizer. It can be found, for example, in jams, baked goods, canned fruits, and vegetables, as well as ice cream and lemonades. Back at the hotel in the afternoon, you can relax, go swimming, or stroll through the old town. For dinner, you are once more invited to Fabio's house.

Hike: about 4 miles, with a 300-metre difference in altitude downhill. Difficulty: easy.

Sicilian almonds are considered the best in the world and cost almost three times more than Californian ones. The botanist Giuseppe Bianca was one of the first to describe the diversity of almonds in Sicily. In his Manuale della coltivazione del mandorlo in Sicilia from 1872, there are descriptions of 752 different types of almonds on the island. The three most commonly grown varieties in Sicily today are Romana, Pizzuta d’Avola, and Fascionello. The area around Avola and Noto is the most important almond growing area in Sicily. The mandorla di Noto is also a Slow Food Presidio. Before you visit Corrado Assenza, one of Sicily's best pasticcerias in Noto, your guide will take you to an almond tree plantation so you can familiarize yourself with the plant. Corrado will then show you all the delicious things you can make from the almonds, from marzipan and almond milk to granita and gelato. For lunch, Corrado Assenza will give you a recommendation for a small local snack. To digest your meal, take the opportunity to stroll through the beautiful town of Noto. In the afternoon, return to Syracuse, where Alessia awaits to give you a Sicilian cooking class. Now you can put all the experiences of the week to use and then enjoy it together at the farewell dinner.

After breakfast, it's time to say goodbye to Sicily. We would be happy to provide you with suggestions to extend your trip, here or in another area of Sicily.