Cycling Tour in the Centre of Sicily

This is a mildly challenging bike tour from Palermo to Agrigento, going beyond the traditional tourist circuits and testing your endurance with hill and mountain climbs around rural Sicily. You will ride on back roads in the countryside, immersed in very evocative scenes and landscapes. You will discover ancient villages where you can admire historic architecture and meet truly traditional Sicilians, taste local dishes and products of the age-old Sicilian farming tradition (e.g. various types of organic cheeses, vegetables and locally-made olive oil) and sip local wines – in some cases directly from the producers.

Points of Interest

• Monuments from the Norman-Arab era in Palermo and Monreale – recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, including the Monreale Cathedral and Cloister, the cathedral of Palermo, the Norman Palace; the Zisa and the Admiral’s Church
• Piana degli Albanesi (Plain of the Albanians), a small town nestled in the hills surrounding Palermo where a small community of Albanian origin lives
• Forest of Ficuzza and Royal Hunting House of King Ferdinand IV of Bourbon
• Tagliavia Sanctuary
• Corleone, with its old town, its ancient alleys and its important testimonies of the “fight against the mafia” as well as the spectacular “Cascate delle Due Rocche” (Waterfalls of the Two Fortresses)
• Abandoned rural villages
• Palazzo Adriano – film set for the Oscar-winning film “Nuovo Cinema Paradiso” by G. Tornatore
• Teatro Andromeda, built in a scenic area with a circular stage and seating made from stone blocks that are arranged to represent the formation of the stars in the Andromeda Constellation
• Eremo di Santa Rosalia – a mystical place nestled in a forest, where the patron saint of Palermo is believed to have lived in a cave for several years
• Mussomeli and its scenic castle
• Montedoro Zolfara Museum
• Natural Zolfataras (volcanic sources)
• Historic centers of Grotte, Raffadali and Joppolo Giancaxio
• Favara Farm Cultural Park
• Agrigento and the valley of the Greek Temples