Private guided
Savoca & Bar Vitelli
The village above the coast where The Godfather was filmed. Your guide knows the church, the lanes, and the best almond granita.
Sicily & Malta
The Cinematic South
7 min read6 daysSpring / AutumnPrivate guidedFilm & antiquity
From the journal
Sotirios
Founder, WithBikio
A private-guided expedition through Taormina's Greek theatre, Savoca's film-set village, the white cliffs of Scala dei Turchi — then a short flight to Malta.
Sicily rewards a guide more than almost anywhere in Europe. The layers — Greek, Roman, Arab, Norman — are all there, but they reveal themselves only to someone who knows which door to knock on. This journey is built around a private guide and driver from the first morning.
Start in Taormina, early, before the theatre fills: Etna smoking on one side, the Ionian on the other. Then the short drive up to Savoca, the hill village where Coppola filmed The Godfather, and a granita at Bar Vitelli in the same chairs.
Cross the island to the Scala dei Turchi, the white marl cliffs above the Agrigento coast, and finish with a short flight from Catania or Palermo to Malta — honey-stone Valletta, the Grand Harbour, and a different Mediterranean altogether.
Curated highlights
The three things worth the detour.
Antiquity
The Greek Theatre, Taormina
Arrive at opening with your guide, Etna to the south and the sea below. The most cinematic stage in the Mediterranean.
The crossing
Sicily → Malta by air
A short flight to Valletta. Sunset over the Grand Harbour from the Upper Barrakka Gardens.
Day-by-day blueprint
A rhythm, not a schedule.
A private walk through the Greek theatre and old town before the day-trippers. Dinner on a terrace facing Etna.
Bespoke planning