Moderate cycling with some longer, steady uphill sections, and longer days.
The season for this holiday is:
04 March - 30 June 2019
01 September - 15 November 2019
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| °C | 15 | 16 | 17 | 19 | 23 | 27 | 31 | 31 | 28 | 24 | 20 | 16 |
| mm | 73 | 51 | 44 | 30 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 10 | 35 | 104 | 61 | 76 |
Following the coast for much of the way before heading inland for the final leg, your ride today includes some gentle ascents to reach the Giardino del Barocco in Noto, the ‘capital’ of Italian Baroque. Its magical Noto Antica ruins predate the earthquake of 1693 and are well worth exploring if time allows.
7 nights: 04 March - 30 June 2019 & 01 September - 15 November 2019
Start any day | End by latest date(s) shown above
| Starting | Price | Single room |
|---|---|---|
| 4 - 31 March | £1095 | £215 |
| 1 - 30 April | £1185 | £215 |
| 1 May - 23 June | £1295 | £225 |
| 1 - 30 September | £1295 | £225 |
| 1 - 31 October | £1245 | £215 |
| 1 - 8 November | £1095 | £215 |
| 3rd & 4th person discount | £0 | |
| Single traveller supplement | £80 |
Includes accommodation, meals, bike hire, luggage transfers and any other services integral to the holiday as described, plus cycling notes and maps, but no travel from the UK, nor any connecting travel from the airport unless stated below.
Electric bikes available: add £155 per person
Book your flights through us and we'll find the best route and times to suit you. Please contact us to find out more about our flight booking service. We can also book connecting travel - see below.
Room upgrades (£ per person per night)
| Hotel Gutkowski | ||
|---|---|---|
| 'Classic': 04 Mar - 30 Jun 2019 | £13 | |
| 'Classic': 01 Sep - 15 Nov 2019 | £13 | |
| 'Plus': 04 Mar - 30 Jun 2019 | £30 | |
| 'Plus': 01 Sep - 15 Nov 2019 | £30 |
Extra nights (£ per person per night) in a double or single room
Prices include an extra day’s hire of a standard bike. If you are upgrading to an e-bike, add a further £21pp per day.| Hotel Gutkowski (B&B) | Double room | Single room |
|---|---|---|
| 04 Mar - 30 Jun 2019 | £85 | £135 |
| 01 Sep - 15 Nov 2019 | £85 | £135 |
| Il Giardino del Barocco (B&B) | Double room | Single room |
|---|---|---|
| 04 Mar - 30 Jun 2019 | £72 | £96 |
| 01 Sep - 15 Nov 2019 | £72 | £96 |
| Hotel Il Barocco (B&B) | Double room | Single room |
|---|---|---|
| 04 Mar - 30 Jun 2019 | £96 | £116 |
| 01 Sep - 15 Nov 2019 | £96 | £116 |
Travelling from the UK
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Bristol - Catania | easyJet |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Gatwick - Catania | Alitalia, British Airways, easyJet, Norwegian |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Luton - Catania | easyJet |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| London Southend - Catania | Air Malta |
| Outward route | Airline |
|---|---|
| Manchester - Catania | easyJet |
This list of flight options should be used as a guide only, and you should check each airline’s website for current routes, frequency and schedules. Not all flights operate daily, and may not run for the entire season. You should also heed the latest flight arrival time and earliest flight departure time stated in the connecting travel section, as it may not be possible to arrange connecting travel outside these times. Please do not book your flights until we have confirmed your accommodation to you. Alternatively, our expert reservations team will be happy to offer advice and to make flight bookings for you. We charge £30 per person for our flight booking service (£50 for India and Nepal). Your flights are then covered by our package-booking conditions, which give you greater protection in the event of delay or cancellation, as well as providing ATOL cover.
Connecting travel options - flying via Catania
| Outward route | Price per person |
Latest flight arrival time |
|---|---|---|
| direct taxi Catania Airport to hotel (1h) | £45 | flexible |
| rail Catania Centrale to Siracusa (1h25), walk Siracusa to hotel (0h30) or taxi Siracusa to hotel (0h10) pay locally | £10 | 1900 |
| bus Catania airport to Siracusa (1h15), taxi Siracusa to hotel (0h10) | pay locally | flexible |
| Homeward route | Price per person |
Earliest flight departure time |
|---|---|---|
| direct taxi hotel to Catania airport (1h) | £45 | flexible |
| walk hotel to Siracusa (0h30) or taxi hotel to Siracusa (0h10, pay locally), rail Siracusa to Catania Centrale (1h20) | £10 | 1100 |
| walk hotel to Siracusa (0h30) or taxi hotel to Siracusa (0h10), bus Siracusa to Catania airport (1h15) | pay locally | flexible |
If you've experienced this holiday first hand, why not write a review?
We are keen for as many customers as possible to review their holiday. To make it easier to do so, we include a specific review section on our post-holiday questionnaire, and this is what we publish here, unedited. Read our full review policy >
Crumbling vibrant towns steeped in history set in beautiful countriside - we have rarely seen so many wild flowers along the road. Food was stunning and we had many encounters with complete strangers who greeted us as friends. A wonderful part of the world we will definitely visit again. Cycling here is only advised for those used to challenging urban traffic and road cycling.
Brilliant, well thought-out holiday from start to finish. We felt really like Inntravel had done a fantastic job of creating a holiday that ticked all the boxes for us. It was really well organised and hassle free. All the accommodation was excellent, we loved Sacre Pietre as the owner was so friendly and welcoming and the Anapo valley is incredible and worth spending as long as possible hiking around. The cycling was within our fitness range, as we cycle all the time anyway, but if you don't then best take an ebike as it is hilly on some days.
The cycling tour of the Realm of the Baroque is an exceptional way to see this exciting part of Sicily and Inntravel provided first rate support from start to finish. All of the hosts and accommodations were wonderful in all regards; the hospitality of Vincenzo and the tranquillity of his Agriturismo Sacre Pietre were a highlight. We booked at the very start of the season and we accepted some cooler weather with winds over all that comes with more traffic & queues during the peak summer season. We are glad that we booked an extra day in both Noto and upon completion in Siracusa.
INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers enjoyed our Catania City add-on at the Il Principe Hotel followed by our Realm of the Baroque self-guided cycling holiday.
Crumbling vibrant towns steeped in history set in beautiful countriside - we have rarely seen so many wild flowers along the road. Food was stunning and we had many encounters with complete strangers who greeted us as friends. A wonderful part of the world we will definitely visit again. Cycling here is only advised for those used to challenging urban traffic and road cycling.
Brilliant, well thought-out holiday from start to finish. We felt really like Inntravel had done a fantastic job of creating a holiday that ticked all the boxes for us. It was really well organised and hassle free. All the accommodation was excellent, we loved Sacre Pietre as the owner was so friendly and welcoming and the Anapo valley is incredible and worth spending as long as possible hiking around. The cycling was within our fitness range, as we cycle all the time anyway, but if you don't then best take an ebike as it is hilly on some days.
The cycling tour of the Realm of the Baroque is an exceptional way to see this exciting part of Sicily and Inntravel provided first rate support from start to finish. All of the hosts and accommodations were wonderful in all regards; the hospitality of Vincenzo and the tranquillity of his Agriturismo Sacre Pietre were a highlight. We booked at the very start of the season and we accepted some cooler weather with winds over all that comes with more traffic & queues during the peak summer season. We are glad that we booked an extra day in both Noto and upon completion in Siracusa.
INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers enjoyed our Catania City add-on at the Il Principe Hotel followed by our Realm of the Baroque self-guided cycling holiday.
The weather was sunny and warm (low 20s) the majority of the time, apart from being overcast occasionally and a thunderstorm we got caught in. Owing to the possibility of thunderstorms and torrentially heavy rain at this time of year, good quality wet weather biking gear (which we lacked) we would recommend as essential.
We really enjoyed the day walking in the Anapo valley, although some of it was closed following 4 days of rain. It was fascinating to see the necropolis. It is quite rough walking and we had taken walking sticks which were very useful (I am 75 and my husband is 83).
This is a really fantastic way to see this extraordinary part of Sicily. You stay in UNESCO World Heritage site towns and there is so much to see. The food is generally fantastic..Il Barocco in Ragusa recommended, but hard to go wrong. Stay extra nights to make the most of Siracusa and the Greek and Roman sites and museum. Pantalica necropolis is really worth exploring.
Do get fit as it is definitely challenging, or hire the ebike for a bit of help with the hills!
Taking an extra day in each of Noto, Ragusa and Siracusa was well worthwhile as it gave the time needed to do justice to the remarkable Baroque churches and the other charms of the towns not least the wonderful Sicilian food and wine. This was a real highlight as was the friendliness of both our hosts and the locals. Regrettably our day in the Anapo valley was cut short by a violent thunderstorm, something apparently more common than it has been historically. Climate change deniers please note.
We really enjoyed every part of this holiday except for the first day. If we had realised how dangerous we would find the narrow roads filled with fast traffic that we encountered leaving Siracusa we would have opted to catch the train with our bikes directly to Noto. There is enough sightseeing in Noto to fill a day – or we could have done the optional extra ride from Noto to the coastal reserve.
As mentioned in our personal response we're very sorry that this element of your holiday was not enjoyable. We aim to find the most suitable routes but, in order to reach the outskirts of the city of Siracusa, this short busier section at the start of the cycle to Noto is unfortunately unavoidable. We are sorry you found it busier than was comfortable for you.
If you have the time, taking extra days is well worthwhile. We used them to wander Siracusa, take in both interiors and exteriors in Noto, take a bus to Scili and walk in Pantalica. We also ate better than ever in Italy. Prices vary, but there are some superb restaurants. We particularly enjoyed Il Liberty in Noto, Bella Vita in Siracusa, Ciciulena in Catania. and in Ragusa, Quattro Gatti and Il Barocco. To watch the day pass in Catania, Gulen on the main piazza is great.
We particularly enjoyed the day hiking in the Pantalica Reserve and exploring Ragusa and Siracusa. We would recommend eating in the Hotel Gutkowski restaurant.
This was a delightful time of year to cycle in south east Sicily, not too hot as we worked up the steady inclines, generally quite dry save one spectacular thunderstorm and some residual flooding for a few hours. The orange and lemon groves were lovely and the Baroque and much older Roman and Greek architecture were stunning.
This was a wonderful holiday with varied scenery and weather! We would highly recommend using e-bikes unless you are young and very fit as the route is hilly and we encountered strong head winds for 3 days. The bikes were excellent as were the hotels. It is well worth booking an extra night in Noto in order to visit the Vendacari nature reserve or other sites nearby. We were disappointed with our visit to Catania as it seemed scruffy and full of graffiti after such lovely places as Noto and Ragusa. The Pantalica reserve was another highlight not to be missed.
INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers added a separate stay at the Il Principe Hotel in Catania, onto the end of their cycling holiday.
Perfect October weather , blue skies, sun and light breezes every day. Cycling from amazing baroque town to town gave a brilliant combination of exercise, landscape and architecture. With great food and drink to end each day. The pantalica walk was a welcome change of era and mode, nice to be on foot and in the Bronze Age.
It was lovely to discover the quiet back roads in Sicily and have time to chat to the olive growers, small shop and cafe owners. A sufficiently challenging cycling holiday with superb accommodation and beautiful stop overs. We would highly recommend this holiday. Be aware some of the roads are rough and you may not encounter anyone else along the way.
The itinerary was great and we really felt we had a fine exposure to Sicilian Boroque and everything else. If we were to do this trip again (and we might, we rode in the rain one day, lost the next day's ride to rain and missed the Pantalica Reserve-closed due to rain damage!) we would take the train to Avola and take the extra night in Noto for the extra ride. Perhaps you should include these as standard. The last ride into Syracuse was short, and we easily fitted in a trip to the Greek Theatre and Roman Amphitheatre on the way to the hotel. This was simple and rewarding and I think you should include this in the itinerary as well.
We had a fantastic holiday and we were blown away by the beauty of Baroque Sicily. This is our fourth cycling holiday and probably the one we've enjoyed the most. We enjoyed the contrasts: beautiful historic cities, small coastal towns and breathtaking views in quiet rural inland Sicily. The two night stay in the Anapo Valley was a real highlight - peaceful, beautiful and fantastic authentic Sicilian food.
The cycling is quite challenging on some of the days and travellers should be experienced in cycling 30 to 40 miles, over hilly terrain, on consecutive days.
The bikes nearly new and well maintained. The baggage transfers were seamless.
The bikes were dropped off at our first hotel and left. We had the option of calling the representative of Siciclando to come back and adjust the bikes but we had come armed with a multitool and were able to make the adjustments ourselves.
We suffered one puncture, on the last day and were able to fix this easily.
The hotel staff were excellent and very supportive. We had one query about transfers which was answered by Inntravel, by email, very promptly and to our satisfaction.
We would recommend this tour very highly.
Fabulous holiday as usual, felt it was graded a little low on difficulty of cycling as v hilly in parts, also walk in Anapo valley quite challenging
The restaurant recommended by you in Syracuse was excellent. We found a lovely specialist cheese and salami cafe in Ragusa Ibla which provided fantastic platters of local produce called Sapori Di Sicilia. The food at Sacre Pietra was really wonderfully rustic and homemade. My husband is of Sicilian descent and it was very true to traditional cuisine, go for the local red wine. Buy padded shorts and gloves before you go, they were invaluable. It was a great experience, so glad we hired electric bikes as the rides are long and often hilly.
We have done quite a few cycling holidays and enjoyed most but this one was definitely the best. The cycling route was mainly on quiet roads, the scenery was spectacular and the accommodation was good.
Our stay on the farm was definitely the highlight of the tour.