Sunday 14 – Sunday 21 March 2027
Explore all corners of the Italian island in search of Sicily’s Jewish story
For more than 1,500 years Jews lived in Sicily, until they were expelled during the Inquisition on the orders of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella. During this week-long tour, we will be based in a luxury hotel on the coast near Catania, with day trips to Messina, Syracuse and Agrigento. We'll discover how Jewish history is entangled with Roman, Byzantine and North African culture, explore archaeological remains and, of course, dine on wonderful food.
Over the weekend, we'll stay in an 18th-century mansion in Palermo, which, in Medieval times, was a cosmopolitan city where there was a cultural exchange between Jews, Muslims and Christians. The Jewish quarter, known as Harat al Yahud, which was a place of study, now contains the municipal historical archives and is where a new modern synagogue – the first in Palermo since the 1492 Expulsion – is about to open. We will spend Shabbat here, enjoying historical walking tours and typical Sicilian Jewish food.
Tour highlights
Day trip to the medieval villages of Erice and Trapani;
Tour of the Valley of the Temples, Agrigento's magnificent Greek ruins;
Visit to the city of Acradina, site of the earliest Jewish settlement on the island;
Trips to the Greek theatre and Jewish quarter of Taormina, a village located on the coast of the lonian Sea;
Shabbat in Palermo's historic Jewish district;
Fine Sicilian dining and wine tasting.
This tour is arranged in association with Travel Counsellors and is for Jewish Renaissance subscribers only. Not currently a subscriber? Click here to subscribe.
REFUNDS DISCLAIMER
Please note that due to the multiple bookings involved in organising a JR tour, we are unable to offer refunds, except in the event that the tour does not go ahead. We recommend that you arrange your own travel insurance to cover any individual circumstances. There is a possibility, but no guarantee, that we might be able to refund you if there is a waiting list for the trip and we can fill your space.
Pictured: Valle Dei Templi, Agrigento, Sicily © Luca Cignoni
Tour info
Destination: Sicily
Dates: Sunday 14 – Sunday 21 March 2027
Cost*: £3,265pp (sharing double/twin room), £3,990pp (inc single supplement)
Flights**: £360pp British Airways return from Heathrow. Flight times below. The cost of the flights must be paid with the deposit.
Deposit required: £950pp (+ £360pp flights if booking full package) by 14 September 2026
Final Payment: 14 November 2026
Booking: To reserve your place, please click the relevant button above and complete the form.
*Price includes:
Comfortable, well-equipped and well-located accommodation;
Group transport within Sicily to the various venues during the trip. Please note that your return travel to and from Sicily is not included and is your own responsibility;
All entrance tickets to museums;
Entry fees and guided walking tours;
Additional expert lectures contextualising our explorations;
A JR-style private musical Friday night service, Shabbat study and havdalah. (No instruments, to allow those who are Shabbat observant to participate. Prayer books will be provided);
All applicable taxes and tips;
All breakfasts, plus three dinners and three lunches (not inclusive of alcohol), including Friday night dinner and Shabbat lunch. All food provided will be vegetarian or pescatarian (no seafood/non-kosher fish);
All single travellers will be given sole occupancy of a double room.
**Flight package:
JR’s partners, Travel Counsellors, will be happy to book UK to Sicily travel on your behalf – these will be British Airways flights from Heathrow. The baggage allowance for each flight is one bag for check-in (max 23kg), one cabin bag (56 x 45 x 25cm) and one handbag OR backpack (40 x 30 x 15cm) per person. If you book your flight package with us, it will be ATOL protected and, should anything go wrong, our travel agents will arrange alternative transport and adjust the land-based itinerary appropriately. If you are a member of the BA Executive Club, you can claim your Avios points so long as you provide us with your Executive Club membership number on the booking form.
Outbound - Sunday 14 March 2027 departs Heathrow (Terminal 3) - 07:55. Arrive Palermo 12:00 (local time).
Return - Sunday 21 March 2027, departs Palermo 13:05. Arrive Heathrow (Terminal 3) 15:20 (local time).
Please note that although Jewish Renaissance is arranging this trip, the travel company you are contracting with is Travel Counsellors, who is making all the bookings within the above package and providing your package protection (IATA and PTS registered and bonded) – this covers all elements of the tour as described above, but does not include individual circumstances or issues caused by flights if you choose to book flights separately from our package flights above.
It is also highly important that you also arrange your own individual travel insurance.
This is a high-end tour, in both comfort and quality, however Jewish Renaissance has partially subsidised the single supplement to help lower the cost and overall has set the price as low as possible, so that cost isn’t a barrier. If you would like to support this tour or JR’s work with a voluntary contribution, please donate here.
This tour involves a substantial amount of walking. If you have mobility or accessibility issues, please contact us via tours@jewishrenaissance.org.uk before booking.
ARE YOU A SUBSCRIBER?
JR Tours are open to subscribers only. Subscriptions start at £33/a and can be purchased at subscribe.jewishrenaissance.org.uk.
RESERVE YOUR PLACE
Please complete the form below to reserve a place on this tour. If you require assistance completing the form, please contact the JR office on +44 (0) 7340 137 450 (calls, texts or WhatsApp welcome) or tours@jewishrenaissance.org.uk. Once your form is received and your JR subscription confirmed, you will be contacted regarding payment for your deposit.
HOTELS
Sicilia Residence Art & Spa Hotel (14-18 Mar)
Located in the coastal town of Aci Trezza, this four-star spa hotel provides stunning views of the Mediterranean and Mount Etna. On site is a pizzeria, wine bar, roof terrace and Finnish sauna. A continental breakfast is served daily.
Palazzo Brunaccini (18-21 Mar)
This 18th-century mansion in Palermo Old Town was once owned by Princess Lucrezia Brunaccini and was heavily damaged by air raids during World War II. It has since been painstakingly restored and is now home to the four-star Palazzo Brunaccini hotel. On site you’ll find the much-loved Da Carlo Restaurant, where the complimentary continental breakfast is served.
Itinerary
Aci Trezza © Bellamira/Flickr
DAY 1 – Arrival and transfer to Aci Trezza
The coach will collect us from Palermo airport and drive us to Aci Trezza. We estimate arriving at our hotel around 4pm. There will be time to rest, enjoy the hotel facilities (which include a spa) or have a walk along the coast before we reconvene for a group dinner, followed by an introductory talk over dessert.
Catania © Benjamin Smith
DAY 2 – Taormina and Catania
After a relaxed breakfast we will travel to Taormina for a guided tour that includes the Greek Theatre. In 1787, the writer JW Goethe described Taormina as a “patch of paradise”. Settled on a hill of the Monte Tauro, Taormina dominates two grand, sweeping bays below and, on the southern side, the top of Mount Etna. Here we will start our explorations by thinking about the relationship between Jewish history and the classical civilizations, particularly the creative tensions between Greek and Jewish culture.
We will have free time for an independent lunch in Taormina; the town offers a wide choice of restaurants, trattorias and pizzerias.
In the afternoon we will head to Catania. Historically, the early Jewish quarter in this city dates back to the 4th century. The community became more substantial in the 15th century, comprising 200 families. Numerous documents provide evidence that the Jews of Catania were experts in silk making and fabric dyeing, as well as being pawn merchants. There were two synagogues and a Jewish cemetery, but the city, and the entire Jewish area with it, was buried in lava when Mount Etna erupted in 1669, and completely destroyed by the subsequent earthquake in 1693. However, in 2025, a new synagogue was opened – the first in 500 years and the result of decades of grassroots efforts by Jews in Catania, including descendants of the original Jewish population, to find each other. We hope to meet the rabbi and hear the story of the community.
We will have free time for an independent dinner in Catania before the coach returns us to the hotel.
Catacombs of San Giovanni © Diego Delso
DAY 3 – Syracuse
Defined by Cicerone as “the most beautiful city in Magna Graecia”, Syracuse became a destination city for those who invaded in every era: Romans and Byzantines, Arabs and Normans, Swabians and Aragonese. The Jews of Syracuse were very affluent and were obliged to contribute an ounce of gold daily toward the expenses of the royal table. Many of them owned luxurious homes. Their professions ranged from doctors and tradesmen to cloth merchants and goldsmiths.
Our first stop in Syracuse will be Acradina, the site of the earliest Jewish settlement. We will visit the Catacombs of San Giovanni, as well as the Crypt of San Marciano who, according to the legend, was killed by the Jews of the city.
Then we will transfer to Ortygia Island and pause for some free time to get an independent lunch at one of the restaurants, trattorias or bars with a view over the lagoon. After lunch, we’ll walk in the narrow streets of the Giudecca (ancient Jewish quarter) and see the site of the synagogue and mikvah – thought to be the oldest in Europe. We’ll finish today’s tour in the Bellomo Gallery, where some of the tombstones from the Jewish medieval cemetery are displayed.
We will return to the hotel, where in the evening we will have a group dinner with a short talk over dessert.
Temple of Heracles, Valley of the Temples, Agrigento © Trolvag
DAY 4 – Agrigento
We’ll spend today in Agrigento, one of the most beautiful medieval cities in Sicily, which rises on a plain above the sea.
In the heart of ancient Agrigento stood the noble residences of the Hellenistic and Roman eras, decorated with colonnades and elegant mosaics. Known as the Valley of the Temples, this district covers an area of about one hectare and was organised on an orthogonal scheme planned by the greatest urbanist of antiquity, Ippodamo da Mileto.
Letters found in the Cairo Genizah mention a Jewish presence in Agrigento in the 11th century and a recently discovered tomb attests to a Jewish presence here since antiquity. Among the most prominent Jewish figures was Faraj da Agrigento, one of the main translators of Charles of Anjou, and there was clearly a Jewish scholarly presence here before the Inquisition. In 2016, a Garden of the Righteous was inaugurated in Agrigento, in the heart of the Valley of the Temples.
From the more modern Viale della Vittoria (literally, Victory Boulevard), it is possible to see a wonderful view over the valley while relaxing at one of the bars shaded by ficus trees, where we will pause for a group lunch.
The coach will return us to the hotel in the late afternoon for free time to relax, have an independent dinner and pack, as the next day we will move to our Palermo hotel.
Messina © Mstyslav Chernov
DAY 5 – Messina and transfer to Palermo
After checking out of the hotel, we will load our luggage into the coach for our transfer to Palermo.
En route, we will spend the morning in Messina for a guided tour of the ancient Jewish quarter. We also spend some time in the Norman Cathedral, discussing the context and impact of its Latin inscription against the Jewish community of the city. We’ll also visit the Regional Archaeological Museum, which, among its collection, has an interesting Hebrew synagogal inscription.
After a group lunch and some free time to explore independently, we will reboard the coach and continue on to Palermo. Once we’ve checked in, we will have a free evening to get our bearings in Palermo and have an independent dinner.
Trapani © Norbert Reimer
DAY 6 – Erice and Trapani
We will spend the morning on a walking tour through the ancient streets of Erice, which has a three-thousand-year history, rich in art, culture and myth. The community was home to many Jewish artisans, but suffered severe damage and forced conversion threats during anti-Jewish riots in 1392, before eventual expulsion a century later. We will explore the old Giudecca area and visit the Civic Museum to see the conserved Jewish tombstone and a fragment of a Roman oil lamp with an early depiction of the menorah. Then we will have some free time to get an independent lunch and visit some of the famous shops serving homemade pastries, world-famous for marzipan candies and other sweets made with almond and pistachio.
In the early afternoon we will move on to Trapani, which once hosted a flourishing medieval Jewish community that made up a significant portion of the city's population. Jews worked prominently in coral crafting, silk weaving and maritime trade until the 1492 Alhambra Decree mandated their expulsion from Sicily. We will have a guided walk in its lovely historic centre, including Palazzo Ciambra, also known as Palazzo ‘Giudecca’, and the Pepoli Museum, which contains three tombstones in Hebrew and Judeo-Arabic, discovered in 1887 during construction of the fish market. The Biblioteca Fardelliana contains some of the most important documents of the 14th century, and we hope to be able to view an original manuscript by Abulafia.
We will return to Palermo with plenty of time to rest and change before attending one of JR’s special Friday night services, followed by a group Shabbat dinner.
Palermo © Gnuckx
DAY 7 – Palermo
We will have a free morning for people to relax or explore. There is a new synagogue due to open in Palermo in 2027 and, all being well, those who wish to attend services may be able to join the locals. If this isn’t possible, a relaxed study-style service will be provided by our JR team for those participants who would like to observe Shabbat.
We will have a group Shabbat lunch followed by a walking tour through Palermo’s ancient Giudecca quarter, where one of Sicily’s largest Jewish communities thrived from the 9th to the 15th century. We’ll discover hidden synagogues, mikvahs, stone mason carvings and narrow streets alive with stories of coexistence, trade, medicine and cultural fusion.
Shabbat ends at 7pm, so we’ll do a short, evocative JR-style musical Havdalah and then have free time for an independent dinner.
DAY 8 – Palermo plus airport transfer
After breakfast, we will get together for a final talk to wrap up our time in Sicily and consider Sicilian Jewish history then and now, before we head to the airport for our transport home.
