Italy: Sicily Through the Ages
Syracuse • Mount Etna • Noto | 7–8 Day Featured Program
Explore Sicily Through History, Food & Adventure
Designed for middle school students, this immersive program brings Sicily’s history and culture to life through ancient sites, local food, dramatic landscapes, and hands-on experiences.
Explore Greek ruins, cook Sicilian food, visit a working olive farm, hike the slopes of Mount Etna, and experience the colorful towns and coastlines of southern Italy. Along the way, students discover how thousands of years of history and cultural exchange continue to shape life in Sicily today.
What Students Explore
ANCIENT WORLDS | Walk through Greek theaters, temples, archaeological sites, and historic streets while discovering the civilizations that shaped Sicily.
FOOD & AGRICULTURE | Cook with regional ingredients, visit a working farm, and discover how Sicily’s landscape and history influence its food.
CULTURE & TRADITIONS | Explore traditional architecture, neighborhoods, customs, and everyday life across Sicily.
VOLCANOES & LANDSCAPES | Hike Mount Etna and explore coastlines, canyons, and Mediterranean environments.
CULTURAL CONNECTIONS | Discover how people, cultures, and ideas from across the Mediterranean have influenced Sicily over thousands of years.
8-Day Itinerary
This itinerary takes students across two very different regions of Peru, combining ancient history with contemporary culture and meaningful interactions with local communities.
Students learn by exploring, tasting, asking questions, working together, and experiencing places firsthand. Your school can customize the program length, activities, learning themes, and pacing to align with your students and travel goals.
Activities listed below are examples and subject to availability and confirmation.
A Program, Built to Be Customized
Day 1 | Welcome to Sicily: First Impressions of Island Life
Arrive in Sicily and travel to Syracuse, your home base for the program.
Meet your EdOdyssey Program Leader, get oriented, and head into historic Ortigia for a welcome dinner and your first introduction to Sicilian food and culture.
Sample Experiences:
Arrival in Catania • Transfer to Syracuse • Program orientation • Ortigia • Welcome dinner
Day 2 | Sicily Through the Ages: Exploring Syracuse & Ortigia
Explore the winding streets of Syracuse and Ortigia and discover how Greek, Roman, and Baroque history is reflected in the city around you.
Connect Sicily’s past with its architecture, traditions, food, and everyday life today.
Sample Experiences:
Ortigia walking tour • Greek & Roman history • Baroque architecture • Local exploration • Pizza dinner
Day 3 | Ancient Landscapes & Local Farms: Exploring Sicily Beyond the City
Venture into the Sicilian countryside to explore the limestone canyons and prehistoric sites of Pantalica, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Then visit a traditional olive oil farm to learn how olives are grown and processed before sharing a countryside lunch.
Sample Experiences:
Pantalica • Prehistoric Sicily • Nature exploration • Olive oil farm • Traditional lunch
Day 4 | Taste of Sicily: Food, Culture & Cooking
Discover Sicily through its food and the cultures that have shaped its traditions.
Visit the ancient Temple of Apollo, then roll up your sleeves for a hands-on cooking experience using regional ingredients. Finish by enjoying the meal you’ve prepared together.
Sample Experiences:
Temple of Apollo • Sicilian food traditions • Cultural exchange • Cooking class • Shared dinner
Day 5 | Step into ancient syracuse: Greek History Comes to Life
Visit the Archaeological Park of Neapolis and explore the remains of ancient Syracuse, including its impressive Greek Theatre.
Discover how ancient history, architecture, and traditions remain connected to modern Syracuse before ending the day with a sunset boat ride along the Sicilian coast.
Sample Experiences:
Archaeological Park of Neapolis • Greek Theatre • Ancient Syracuse • Local traditions • Sunset boat tour
Day 6 | Life on a Volcano: Adventure to Mount Etna
Travel to Mount Etna, one of Europe’s most active volcanoes.
Hike across volcanic landscapes with a local guide while learning how eruptions shape the land, ecosystems, farms, and communities around the mountain.
Finish with a traditional meal at a countryside agriturismo.
Sample Experiences:
Mount Etna hike • Volcanoes & geology • Changing landscapes • Local ecosystems • Countryside dinner
Day 7 | Noto & the Mediterranean Coast: Architecture, Coastlines & Celebration
Explore the Baroque city of Noto before heading to the Ionian coast for an afternoon by the Mediterranean.
Return to Ortigia for a farewell dinner and celebrate a week of exploration, learning, and adventure together.
Sample Experiences:
Noto • Baroque architecture • Ionian coast • Beach afternoon • Farewell dinner
Day 8 | Arrivederci, Sicilia
Travel to Catania Airport for the journey home.
Students leave Sicily with new perspectives on its history, culture, food, and landscapes, along with the experience of exploring a new place with their classmates.
Sample Experiences:
Breakfast • Program reflection • Airport transfer • Departure
Make this program your own
Start Here. Then Shape Around Your Course.
This itinerary is a starting point. Customize the program length, activities, locations, pacing, learning focus, and cultural experiences to align with your students, curriculum, group interests, age range, and travel goals.
Ancient History & Archaeology
Ancient Greece • Archaeological sites • Greek Theatre • Temples
Food & Culture
Cooking • Olive oil • Regional foods • Sicilian traditions
Nature & Adventure
Mount Etna • Mediterranean coast • Pantalica • Hiking
Art & Architecture
Ancient architecture • Sicilian Baroque • Historic towns • Cultural heritage
Could this work for your students?
Use this program as your starting point or tell us what you'd change. We'll work with you to align the itinerary with your students, school, preferred dates, group size, and budget.
Have a different academic focus in mind?