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from £1,570 or €1,820
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24 June – 1 July
16 – 23 September
Included – All riding, full board accommodation, luggage transfer & airport transfers.
Excluded – Flights, drinks & tips.
Getting There
Arrive Palermo and depart Palermo.
Transfer
Please arrive before 5pm if possible, it’s about a 2-hour transfer to the first night accommodation in an old farmhouse.
All our horse riding holidays hold a price guarantee. We believe in your piece of mind on price when you book one of our horse riding holidays and will refund the difference should you find the same horse riding holiday elsewhere at a lower price.
Discover the real Sicily from the saddle, on this fascinating ride through the Madonie Natural Park, which extends to approximately 40 thousand hectares and is home to more than 70% of the island’s wildlife.
Riding alongside Alex & Lizzie, they will personally guide you through the enchanting landscapes, giving you first hand experience of the culture, staying in local agriturismo hotels, farmhouses and guesthouses along the way and eating some of the most delicious, authentic Sicilian food along the way.
Alexandre Morello & Lizzie Reeves – Partners
Alex is a true expert when it comes to Sicily’s natural wonders, biodiversity, history and culture. Over the years he has explored and organised countless horse-riding trails across Sicily. He’s an insatiable explorer who loves discovering new paths through his beloved Sicily and sharing them with our clients.
Lizzie has ridden many trails around the world but fell in love with the truly unique experience of trail riding in Sicily. She was born and grew up in London and studied French and Italian at Oxford University, before doing a post-graduate diploma in law. She worked for some time as a solicitor and specialised in international arbitration, before settling in Sicily full time to follow her true love of the island, horses and Alex.
Sicily has a good climate for riding almost all year round, amazing natural beauty and varied landscapes. Sicily is also truly unique in terms of its accessibility to riders. The island benefits from a vast network of trails and country lanes and an open countryside approach to land ownership, which means that there is access to almost all of the island on horseback, including its most remote and wildest corners. This also means that road riding during the trail is kept to an absolute minimum.
Over the centuries, Sicily has absorbed the influences of all those who have occupied the island, from the Greeks to the Arabs and the Bourbons. The charm of Sicily’s complex and unique identity is undeniably captured in its people, who could be defined as nothing other than “Sicilian”, and whose character is as intriguing and enchanting as the island’s history. The island’s richness and complexity also shine through in its cuisine, which combines centuries-old different culinary traditions and influences.
Madonie Trail: Horses – Sicilian Local Breed, with some Arab Crosses / 14.2hh – 16hh
Madonie Trail: Level of Riding & Pace – Intermediate to Advanced. You must be able to canter in control in open space and have and independent seat and hands.
Tack – English Style
Madonie Trail: Weight Restriction – 90 kg / 14 stone / 198 lbs.
Madonie Trails: Group Size – Maximum 10.
The accommodation is a mix of Agritourism Hotels, B&B’s & Farmhouses, that have been chosen for their location, warmth and charm.
The food is delicious, every effort is made to offer local, authentic dishes, cooked with love and passion and are simply beautiful to eat.
Horse Riding Holidays at Madonie Trails are part of the Zara’s Planet collection of Horse Riding holidays Italy.
Please Ask About
Day 1: Arrival
You will arrive at Casa “Il Bosco”, a charming, restored nineteenth century country house, immersed in the wild countryside of the Madonie Park, with breath-taking views of the island’s north coast and the Aeolian Islands. You will enjoy a dinner prepared with local produce and spend the night here.
Day 2: Casa “Il Bosco” – Gole di Tiberio (hours of riding: 6)
After breakfast, you will be assigned your horse for the trail, and we will leave Casa “Il Bosco” at around 8.30 in the morning. We will begin the day riding through dense Mediterranean vegetation with beautiful views of the Tyrrhenian Sea. We will reach Castelbuono, the largest town in the Madonie, with around ten thousand inhabitants, and the former seat of the Ventimiglia Barons, who ruled for centuries over the entirety of the territory crossed during this trail. We will have a picnic lunch in the shadow of the town’s famous castle, before enjoying a short visit of the historic centre. In the afternoon we will ride on through olive groves and woodland to reach the wild valley of the river Pollina. We will enjoy a rich dinner and spend the night at the Agricampeggio Gole di Tiberio, perched above the UNESCO Tiberio Gorges and with beautiful views along the valley.
Day 3: Gole di Tiberio – Casalvecchio (hours of riding: 6)
We will have breakfast and set off at around 8.30 in the morning. We will begin the day descending into the river Pollina, with beautiful views towards the high Madonie Mountains. On this day of the trail, we will follow the river Pollina valley, one of the most fascinating, wild, panoramic and least known areas of Sicily, between the territories of Castelbuono, San Mauro Castelverde and Geraci Siculo. We will stop for a picnic lunch and continue along enchanting and forgotten pathways to reach Agriturismo Casalvecchio. Our guests will spend the night here and enjoy a delicious dinner prepared with produce straight from the farm.
Day 4: Casalvecchio – Rifugio Marini (hours of riding: 7)
We will set off at about 8.30 in the morning, riding along an ancient “trazzera” which follows the valley of the rivers Rainò and Calabrò, tributaries of the river Pollina, on the eastern boundary of the Madonie Park. We will then ride along shepherd’s tracks through a wild and unspoilt area to reach the territory of Petralia Soprana, a town of medieval origin and the highest in the province of Palermo, from where we can admire beautiful views across most of Sicily. We will have a picnic lunch in the woods, before continuing to climb into the high Madonie Mountains, reaching Portela Mandarini, an important crossroad between ancient transhumance routes through the mountains. We will ride along paths and lanes through the park to arrive in the afternoon at Piano Battaglia. We will enjoy a rich dinner prepared with local produce and spend the night at Rifugio Marini.
Day 5: Rifugio Marini – Giardino Donna Lavia (hours of riding: 6)
After breakfast, we will set off from Rifugio Marini at around 8.30 in the morning. We will visit the Battaglietta, a depression in the landscape where all of the meltwater gathers and then travels along underground tunnels to Cefalù. We will then ride through the Vallone Madonna degli Angeli to admire the last remaining examples of the Nebrodi fir (abies nebrodensis), the symbol of the park. We will continue to the sanctuary of Madonna dell’Alto (at 1819 metres) – when visibility is good, you can enjoy views of most of the island from here. We will then descend towards the territory of Polizzi Generosa, an important historical town, before continuing on to Giardino Donna Lavia, which dates back to the fourteenth century and historically served as a watch tower, a monastery and a noble residence. Here we will enjoy a sumptuous dinner and spend the night.
Day 6: Giardino Donna Lavia – Casena Mongerrati (hours of riding: 6)
After breakfast, we will set off from Giardino Donna Lavia at around 8.30 in the morning. We will begin the day climbing up through forests of oak into the high Madonie Mountains to reach Portella Colla and Piano Cervi, an area of outstanding beauty where we will often spot wild deer. We will stop for a packed lunch amidst the forests of Monte Cervi before descending through wild and rocky terrain into the territory of Collesano, an ancient village of Arab origin (Qal’at as-sirat). Finally, we will arrive at Casena Mongerrati, equipped with a swimming pool, where we will enjoy a delicious dinner and spend the night.
Day 7: Casena Mongerrati – Casa “Il Bosco” (hours of riding: 7)
We will have breakfast and leave Casena Mongerrati at around 8.30 in the morning, crossing the Mugerrati forest, which is dense with cork, holm oak and durmast trees. We will ride on towards the territory of Isnello and stop for a picnic lunch, before climbing through the woods to reach the famous Sanctuary of Gibilmanna, a church and Franciscan monastery dedicated to the Virgin, the patron and protector of the diocese of Cefalù. We will visit the sanctuary, which contains one of the most beautiful works by Gagini, a famous Renaissance Sicilian sculptor. We will continue through dense mediterranean vegetation, with beautiful views of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Aeolian Islands to return to our base, Casa “Il Bosco”, where we will enjoy a delicious dinner and spend the night.
Day 8: Departure
Breakfast and transfer to the airport.
Zara’s Planet Horse Riding Holidays Guarantee:
All our horse riding holidays hold a price guarantee. We believe in your piece of mind on price when you book one of our horse riding holidays and will refund the difference should you find the same horse riding holiday elsewhere at a lower price.
If you are having trouble finding exactly the right horse riding holiday for you from our horse riding holidays collection, please contact us directly using the form below and tell us in your own words what you would like to do and we will use our extensive knowledge to make sure we find that perfect horse riding holiday.
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