Holidays in Sicily

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Sicily offers the most local genuine hospitality and feeling like at home is truly natural! It’s a lovely destination to explore from spring to late autumn and offers different itineraries accordingly to the time you have. Explore the South East or the North West in a week. Tour the island if you have a minimum of two weeks. Fly to one of the island's four airports: Palermo in the North, Trapani in the west, Catania in the east and Comiso in the south.

In summer it's ideal to choose a location close to the beach and the best option for families is to rent a private villa for one or two weeks. Lovely beaches are on the North coast between Palermo and Messina. Beautiful rocky coves are set in the dramatic scenery of the nature reserve 'riserva dello Zingaro'. Long stretches of sandy beaches are on the western coast between Menfi and Marsala. Porto Palo beach, near Menfi, was awarded blue-flag. The chic Taormina, on the Eastern Coast, has also its beautiful beach. In the south, there are Santa Maria del Focallo and the four wonderful, blue-flag beaches at Pozzallo and in the Natural Park of Vendicari. Beautiful is also the beach near Marzamemi, which is a lively village in the summer.

Worth to visit Sicily offers  5 UNESCO World Heritage archaeological sites to visit. The Greek Valle dei Templi (the Valley of the Temples) in Agrigento,  the Baroque towns of the Val di Noto, (the Noto Valley) and the Greek remains at Syracuse are the key ones. Do not miss the beautiful old center of Palermo and the mosaics of Piazza Armerina in Enna. Beautiful is also Taormina, a picturesque village with breathtaking views over the sea and Mount Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe.

What to eat  Sicilians take food very seriously. The island has plenty of fresh vegetables, fish and seafood which are exported in the rest of Italy. Here is the village of Pachino which gives the name to the 'Pachino' sweet cherry tomato. The aubergine is the king of the kitchen and found in many of the island’s flagship dishes like 'Pasta alla Siciliana' or 'Pasta alla Norma', with tomato, aubergine, mozzarella and basilic;  'Caponata', with fried aubergine, peppers,  black olives and capers in a sweet a sour sauce; 'Parmigiana di melanzane', a sort of lasagna with layers of fried aubergines. . Wash it down with the local Nero d’Avola red wine. The king and the queen of the desserts are the 'Cannolo alla siciliana'  and 'Cassata alla siciliana', both made with fresh ricotta and drops of chocolate that go perfectly with a glass of Marsala, their dessert sweet wine. Have a good start in the morning with a lemon granita and a brioche for breakfast. In addition, the litte village of Modica, in the south east of the island, has a long tradition in chocolate. For a memorable experience, book a chocolate tour at the Antica Dolceria Bonaiuto which is the eldest chocolate factory of Sicily.

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