MOTORCYCLIC SICILIA via Naples-Pompeii with overnight transportation Vienna-Livorno-Palermo included

The event begins and ends in the vicinity of Vienna's Central Station, so participants' arrival from Poland and return has been defined as unorganized and on their own. From the practice of trips in this formula, the participants' passage takes the organizational formula in groups, often accompanied by a pilot who also travels from/to Poland.

We arrive in Livorno in the morning, unload the motorcycles and before 10:00 am we set off towards sunny Sicily. We will devote today to a transit ride along the roads of Tuscany, Lazio and Campania in the vicinity of Naples, with an Italian welcome dinner combined with an inclusive evening on the agenda.

We set off right after breakfast, no later than 8:00 we will be on our way. Although we have less than 200 kilometers ahead of us, on the way we will enter Vesuvius with a short walk that will consume some time, and after that at least 2, maybe 3 hours in Pompeii, the plan also includes the most beautiful part of the Amalfitan Coast with Sorrento. The day will be long and quite intense, we will be in a hurry, bearing in mind the transit nature of the route and our main goal - Sicily.

Overnight planned in the vicinity of Salerno, or Agropoli.

Only 400 km to the Strait of Messina and we land in Sicily today. Ferries to Messina for Sicily run every 40 minutes.

The first point we'll visit for a coffee stop and a delicious lemon granita will be the vine-covered Bar Vitelli in Savoca (on the list of Italy's most beautiful towns since 2008). This is where the scene was filmed in which Michael Corleone asks the father of Apolloni, his future wife, for permission to see his daughter. The interior of the bar, whose building dates back to the 18th century, resembles a veritable museum full of memorabilia related to Coppola's work. Also interesting in the decor of the establishment are the ubiquitous photos of scenes from the film and its characters, as well as newspaper clippings. There is also a family tree of the Corleone family displayed here. A vivid memory of the scenes filmed here in 1972 is the bar's long-standing owner, Signora María, who still serves delicious lemon granita and fondly recalls the Hollywood film crew.

We will end the day in the Taormina area.

Today we are not moving - we are staying in the area. We will spend the day mostly without motorcycles - partly in Taormina and partly in the Etna Park, where we will take the group with a local guide/operator to get as close as possible to Europe's most dangerous active volcano - ETNA.

We set off after breakfast, no later than 8:30 a.m. - by Alcantara River Parkand then from the north, west and south around the Etna National Park admiring Etna from afar, we will arrive and stop for the night in Syracuse. The city of Syracuse with its old town on the island of Ortygia, which has been connected to Sicily for more than 2,500 years by a small and inconspicuous bridge. Syracuse is the fourth largest city in Sicily. Its fame and glory go way back to ancient times, when Syracuse was the most important city in Sicily and Greater Greece. It was here that Archimedes, Epicharm and Theocritus lived and worked. Plato, Aeschylus and Pindar were frequent visitors to the city. It is for this reason that the people of Syracuse are so proud of their city.

We set off, as usual after breakfast, no later than 8:30 a.m. The first attraction of the day will be the Cavagrande del Cassibile Canyon and Natural Reserve, established in 1990. The protected area covers about 10 km of the Casibile fiume, which is one of the main rivers of southeastern Sicily. The depth of the canyon reaches 500 meters in places, and its walls are overgrown with dense vegetation. Getting to the bottom of the canyon is only for the willing - it will take about 2 hours to walk, stay at the bottom and return. However, the effort is worth what you will experience there.

The next point will be Pantalica - the former capital of ancient Hybla (13th century BC), and today it is the largest necropolis in Sicily. There are more than 5,000 Bronze Age graves carved by the Sioux, the former inhabitants of the area, in the rocks at the confluence of the Bottigliegia and Anapo rivers. A bit of challenging trekking along paths among the rocks awaits us, be sure to bring hiking boots, headgear and a bottle of water to drink.

There is one more point on today's itinerary - Villa Romana del Casale - a luxurious summer villa dating back to the Roman Empire (it was built around 300 AD, while its glory years were in the 4th and 5th centuries AD; in XII, the earth from a nearby hillside slid onto Villa Romana del Casale and the building was definitely abandoned). In 1997, it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as an architectural masterpiece.

Villa Romana del Casale has about 50 rooms, gymnasiums, studios and bedrooms. They are distributed around an inner courtyard. The property's first owner was probably a Roman senator or member of the imperial family. The most valuable parts of the villa are the mosaic floors, covering an area of more than 3,500 square meters and depicting colorful paintings, primarily scenes of daily life, scenes of hunting African wild animals for the games and scenes taken from mythology.

We will end the day by stopping for the night in the area.

We set off, as usual 8:30 a.m. Morning tour of Valle dei Templi.

Before the rise and development of the Roman Republic (later the Roman Empire), it was the Greek colonies that were the most important centers in the southern part of present-day Italy. Today all of them are counted as part of Greater Greece (Magna Graecia), but it is worth remembering that they were independent of each other and of the Greek cities.

The Valley of the Temples is located about three kilometers from the modern center of Agrigento and was inscribed in 1997 on the UNESCO's list of world cultural heritage sites.

Near the town of Porto Empedocle, a limestone monolith called the Scala dei Turchi (Italian: Stairs of the Turks) emerges from the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Their name comes from the cascading rock formations by which Turkish pirates conquered the Sicilian coast centuries ago. Here we will choose one of the beaches nearby and indulge in relaxation without a plan. An overnight stay in the area does not oblige us to do anything. Free time until late.

We drive to a place where the waters of two seas - the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Mediterranean Sea - mix, flowing around a promontory on three sides, whose shape resembles a sickle. It was here, in ancient times, that the Phoenician city of Drepanon was founded, today known as the Trapani.

Right next door, on a hill, Erice - a small medieval town, made entirely of stone, so it retains a unique atmosphere. In ancient times there was a temple to the goddess Venus here. After it was dismantled, the hill was used for defense purposes, until it eventually became home to the notables of western Sicily when Trapani was just a city port. Today Erice is also famous for its excellent baked goods, of which the local delicacy: genovese stands out.

We will spend the night in or around the port and atmospheric Trapani.

A day of beachcombing, actually visiting the most beautiful (supposedly) beaches in Sicily.

The first San Vito lo Capo, located just 40 km from Trapani, at the very tip of the promontory. We will spend 3-4 hours on it, or in the town, later heading to picturesque Cefalu. The small Cefalu is called the pearl of the Sicilian coast. It lies about 50 km east of Palermo, at the foot of the giant rocky Rocca mountain. Tourists are attracted by the local sandy beach and the clear, azure sea. Characteristic of Cefalù are the white houses, similar to those found in many towns in Greece. Between the houses run narrow streets and alleys, where it is pleasant to stroll in the evenings. There are many great restaurants in the city. These are just some of the reasons why Cefalu is called the most beautiful resort in Sicily. Here, too, we will spend the night in the town itself or the surrounding area.

The first morning point on today's itinerary is Monreale Cathedral - an absolute masterpiece of Norman art. In 2015 it was added to the UNESCO list. The interior of the outwardly simple building is entirely decorated with mosaics that shimmer with all shades of gold. Norman art, of which it is perhaps the greatest masterpiece, is an interesting creation. It originated in Sicily, but is closely associated with the rule of the northern Normans, who developed a culture that was a combination of Byzantine, Arab and Northern European. Monreale sits on a hill above Sicily's capital Palermo, just a few kilometers from the city center.

We will enter Palermo and the most important point - a somewhat macabre tourist attraction - the Catacombs of the Capuchins. Originally, only dead monks were buried there, but over time the place became a status symbol and wealthy families vied for the burial of their loved ones. There are about 8,000 mummies in the catacombs. The last person buried there in 1920 was two-year-old Rosalia Lombardo, whose body was remarkably well preserved thanks to special treatments.

A medieval chapel in Palermo's Norman Palace, known for its intricate Byzantine mosaics and paintings. Like Monreale, it is a masterpiece of Norman architecture. The chapel is, of course, much smaller than the cathedral, but the accumulation of such wealth in a small space makes it all the more impressive. Drop in if only for a short while.

We will also wander the streets of Palermo in search of the ghost and even traces of the Sicilian Mafia. We will spend the night in or around Palermo.

An overnight ferry will allow us to make our way efficiently back to Livorno. We will enjoy dinner, breakfast and an early lunch on the ferry for about 20 hours together. Scheduled arrival in port 2pm, on the 13th of our trip.

Depending on the actual time of arrival at the port and unloading from the ferry, we will fill the time in Livorno until the following day and the late-afternoon loading time of our motorcycles for local rides (this is Tuscany, after all), a little shopping and some atmospheric pub for an organized dinner to close our event. 

A day to be used according to your preference until the afternoon hours. We will assemble at Livorno's main train station at around 4:00 pm, load up, settle in and make our last leg together by overnight train to Vienna. 

Take an overnight train ride from Livorno to Vienna. The train departs at around 7:00 p.m.; we will be in Vienna the following morning, around 8:30 a.m.

Relatively rested, in the morning hours of the next day, immediately after unloading the motorcycles, we set off on our way back to Poland, parting with the participants at various stages of the rather unorganized ride.