Journeys Italy 2025: A Grand Tour Through Palermo’s Palazzi and the Enchantment of Villa Tasca

Micaela Giacobbe
6 days ago
3 min read

This November, Palermo opens its doors to the world’s most curious and discerning travel professionals, as Journeys Italy 2025 sets the stage for three days of deep cultural immersion, luxurious discovery, and timeless elegance. While the programme is rich with networking, gastronomy, and Sicilian hospitality, it is the palazzi experiences—and the unforgettable night at Villa Tasca—that elevate this journey into a true Sicilian reverie.

Palazzo Asmundo: Where History Greets Business

On Wednesday morning, the ornate 18th-century Palazzo Asmundo becomes the unlikely - but perfect - setting for a round of one-to-one Fam-Meetings. Overlooking Palermo’s majestic Cathedral, this Baroque palace is more than a venue; it's a time capsule. Delegates cross threshold into a space adorned with frescoes, antiques, and echoes of Sicilian aristocracy. Business and beauty intermingle effortlessly in the palazzo’s richly detailed salons, where private conversations feel like privileged exchanges whispered between centuries.

The short walk to and from the Grand Hotel et Des Palmes sets the tone: Palermo is a city best experienced slowly, one historic step at a time.

Palazzo Gangi & the Palermo Palazzi Tour: A Ride into Grandeur

By Wednesday afternoon, guests trade formal meetings for something far more romantic—a vintage ape calessino tour through Palermo’s noble heart, curated by Sicilian Journeys. The crown jewel of this palatial trail? The legendary Palazzo Gangi, forever immortalised in Luchino Visconti’s The Leopard.

Entering Palazzo Gangi is like walking onto the film set of a dream. The chandeliers, velvet drapes, and ornate mirrors conjure the world of Prince Salina—a world of fading nobility and lasting beauty. Other stops along the route reveal further layers of Palermo’s aristocratic legacy, each palazzo whispering its own secrets, each room a silent witness to centuries of Sicilian life.

Villa Tasca: A Gattopardo-Inspired Farewell

The final crescendo comes on Wednesday night, with a Gattopardo-style gala dinner at the storybook Villa Tasca. Nestled in lush, romantic gardens on the outskirts of Palermo, this private residence is still home to the noble Tasca family—who have graciously opened its doors for a night of magic.

Guests are welcomed with a poetic storytelling session by Giuseppe Tasca, whose passion for the villa’s heritage paints a vivid prelude to the night. What follows is not merely a dinner, but a celebration: of tradition, elegance, and the enduring spirit of The Leopard.

Set within the Scuderia—a space that blends rustic grandeur with aristocratic charm—the farewell gala channels the essence of Sicilian nobility. From the refined menu to the candlelit ambience, every detail evokes the Gattopardo spirit: the bittersweet beauty of transformation, the grace of tradition, and the power of place.

Final Thoughts: A Palazzo State of Mind

Journeys Italy 2025 is more than an event—it is an invitation to experience Palermo through the eyes of its history, to meet within walls that have seen revolutions and romances, and to say goodbye under the stars of a villa that feels suspended in time.

In a world of fast-paced travel and fleeting encounters, Palermo’s palazzi remind us to slow down, look up, and listen—to stories etched in stone and whispered through painted ceilings.

As delegates return to their homes across the world, they carry more than business cards and contacts. They carry the memory of footsteps on marble, laughter under chandeliers, and a Sicilian farewell as grand as a ballroom waltz.