Sicily’s southeast has always woven earth and art: ancient Syracuse/Ortigia layered Greek temples with Baroque façades; inland, fortified farmhouses, guarded citrus groves and stone lanes; along the coast, papyrus still stirs on the Ciane. Your base in a restored countryside farmhouse is rooted in that heritage - courtyard calm, and days that move at a historical pace: Ortigia echoing ancient trade routes, local artisan studios keeping handcraft alive, and winter village dinners that feel like continuations of the harvest.

The arc carries you from Ortigia’s galleries and ateliers to the Radicepura Garden Festival in Giarre -reached by car or, more gently, by train - where 17 contemporary gardens stage a living debate of “Chaos (and) Order” in a Mediterranean key. It settles back to a countryside walk among the papyrus-lined Ciane and Saline Nature Reserve, with a small orchard or winery tasting to close.