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Gay Travel Company Starts White Lotus Sicily Tours
Quiiky Tours – the first Italian LGBTQ+ tour provider has announced a new White Lotus tour that takes guests to many of the real-life settings from the award-winning comedy's Season 2, set in Sicily. The 9-day tour starts with a two-night stay at the Four Season’s San Domenico Palace in Taormina – the resort where much of the drama of Season 2 was filmed. The tour then visits other prominent locations from the show, including Noto, Cefalù and Palermo.
Watch the White Lotus Season 2 trailer below:
The White Lotus Season 2 | Official Trailer | HBOExperience all that #TheWhiteLotus Sicily has to offer. Season 2 premieres October 30 on @HBOMax. And it's just getting started.
Earlier this year, Quiiky’s White Lotus tour sold out in an exclusive offer to the gay-owned company's VIP clients, but now it has opened the tour to everyone and is taking bookings for upcoming tours (beginning mid-January.)
“The second season of White Lotus, set in Sicily, has supercharged interest in Italy," noted Alessio Virgili, in a written statement to the press. Virgili cofounded and runs Sonders & Beach, Quiiky Tour’s parent company. "Taormina is leading the charge, with web searches up over 50 percent following the series’ record-breaking finale.”
Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 20 major regions of Italy. Mount Etna, one of Europe’s highest active volcanoes, towers over the island, but it is also known for its beautiful beaches, and its rich history, like the Valley of the Temples (ruins of seven Greek temples) and in the Byzantine mosaics at the Cappella Palatina, in the capital city of Palermo.
Virgili explained the joys of following in White Lotus characters' footprints, saying, "Among the highlights, the tour provides guests with a once-in-a-lifetime experience of spending two nights at the San Domenico Palace and enjoying first-hand the luxury and sophistication of this 14th century former convent. While the resort’s sumptuous accommodations, beautiful gardens and courtyards are enchanting in themselves, there is also the realization that you’re walking through the very rooms as did renowned actors such as Jennifer Coolidge, Theo James and the fabulous F. Murray Abraham.”
In addition to experiencing the luxury accommodations at the Four Seasons, Quiiky’s White Lotus tour explores the center of Taormina and the nearby beach resort town of Giardini Naxos, the location of the series’ fictional La Cambusa beach club. Giardini Naxos, which lies in the shadow of the Mt. Etna volcano, is known for its beaches and nightlife, as well as museum and ancient excavations nearby. Travelers will also take a boat to Isola Bella Beach, on a tiny island known as “ the Pearl of the Ionian Sea’’. There guests can swim in its crystal-clear waters. Later they will enjoy dinner at one of the restaurants along the coast of Taormina.
The White Lotus tour then takes guests to Noto, a town with 18th century architecture considered among the finest examples of Sicilian baroque. On the series, Meghann Fahy and Audrey Plaza’ take a girl trip to Noto (but the actual Villa Tasca, where they stay, is in Palermo).
On the way to Noto, the tour visits the vineyard of Planeta Feudo di Mezzo which hosted Aubrey Plaza, Will Sharpe, Theo James, and Meghann Fahy in the series. After wine tasting, the travelers settle in for a two-night stay at a luxury hotel in Noto, and being treated to tradition cassata sponge cake at the Caffè Sicilia, frequently called the best café in Italy.
The White Lotus tour then navigates the winding roads and picturesque rural villages of the Sicilian countryside and passes the ancient port town of Catania, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with late-baroque architecture. The town is considered one of the most LGBTQ+ friendly in Sicily, on par with Palermo. The opening scenes of White Lotus Season 2 were filmed along these beaches and stunning azure waters.
Following a two-night stay in, and tours of, Cefalù, guests will then travel to Palermo, where they will enjoy an additional two-nights’ luxury accommodations and guided tours. A lavish farewell dinner ends the tour.
“In The White Lotus, Tom Hollander’s character Quentin says, ‘Sicily can be very seductive,'" noted Virgili. “Our tour will show you why.”
Quiiky Tours is an Italy-based LBGTQ+ company, with an extensive network of gay-friendly vendors, hotels, and community organizations throughout Italy; which guarantee an inclusive and welcoming environment.
Prices for the White Lotus tour start at $10,177 per person, based on double occupancy and departure date. That includes luxury accommodations and breakfast, as well as all guided tours, private transportation between locations, and activities per the itinerary. Individual tours are also available upon request.
