Sicily Travel Guide

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Sicily

Lipari © Italian Tourist Board

Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, may be just a short hop from the Italian mainland, across the narrow strait of Messina, but it is a world apart in atmosphere and attitude. Everything Italian seems a little more appetising here, not only the food but the history and culture as well.

For a long time Sicily was ignored as a holiday destination, largely because of the Mafia stranglehold and because of the poverty of the people. Today, however, the island is experiencing a tourism boom and a surge in development as the destructive influences of the Mafia wane. Visitors discover that the Sicilian people are gracious, noble and welcoming and that the island itself offers natural and historic attractions of great beauty and enormous interest.

The main cities of Palermo and Catania feature some of the most exquisite architecture in the world, a legacy of the many great civilisations that have vied for control of this strategically situated island over the centuries, from the Greeks and Romans, Arabs and Normans to more recently the French, Spanish and Italians. There are massive Romanesque cathedrals, the best-preserved Greek temples in the world, Roman amphitheatres and magnificent Baroque palaces. The continuous blue skies and temperate climate, lush vegetation and rich marine life all add to the island's appeal. Nature has given Sicily Mount Etna, Europe's tallest active volcano, a dramatic coastline and a fertile soil that gives forth much of the bounty on which the island's unique and delicious cuisine is based.

Resorts

See our separate guides to the following Sicily holiday resorts: Palermo, Syracuse, Lipari and Taormina

Attractions

Capuchin Catacombs

The subterranean catacombs that contain the mummified remains of about 8,000 ancient inhabitants of Palermo may be macabre, but are fascinating to visit. The Capuchin friars began mummifying and embalming the bodies of the city's nobles back in 1533, and the tradition continued for... see full details

Galleria Regionale

Palermo's largest art museum, devoted to medieval works, is housed in the Gothic Palazzo Abbatellis, built in 1488. The collection includes several particularly interesting works. The Bust of Eleanor of Aragon by Francesco Laurana, for example, dates from 1471 and is considered to be... see full details

Marionette Museum

One of Palermo’s most unique attractions is the engaging Museo delle Marionette, a museum dedicated to the art of puppetry, which is an age-old traditional Sicilian entertainment. Free shows are often put on in summer, but the museum collection itself, the greatest of its... see full details

Monreale Cathedral

Of all the many architecturally beautiful and fascinating places of worship in Palermo, probably the most renowned is the 12th-century cathedral in the suburb of Monreale, high on the mountain slope about five miles (eight km) from the city centre. The dazzling cathedral is... see full details

Ortygia

The Ponte Nuova ('New Bridge') connects the mainland city of Syracuse to the island of Ortygia, where most of the worthy sights are located. The remains of the Temple of Apollo are sited in the Piazza Pancali; this is the oldest Greek temple... see full details

Palazzo Mirto

The excessive opulence of Baroque is nowhere better demonstrated than in the magnificent Palazzo Mirto, one of the few aristocratic homes of Palermo that is open to the public, offering visitors a glimpse into the lifestyle of Sicily's noble 19th-century families. The Palace was... see full details

Paolo Orsi Regional Archaeological Museum

Syracuse's archaeological museum is one of the most extensive in all of Italy, preserving relics and remains from the Greek, Roman and early Christian eras of Sicily's history. The museum building itself is ultra-modern, consisting of glass and steel exhibition halls connected in a... see full details

Parco Archeologico della Neapolis

The archaeological park on the western edge of the city of Syracuse contains the celebrated rock-hewn Greek amphitheatre, capable of holding about 15,000 people, where Euripides and Aeschylus' works were performed in antiquity. Today Greek dramas are still played here on occasion. Inside a... see full details

Regional Archaeological Museum

Some of Europe's greatest archaeological treasures are tucked away in Palermo's somewhat musty museum, which is well worth visiting even though it is rather shabby. The collection is housed in several old convent buildings, dating back to the 13th century, and includes artefacts from... see full details

Excursions

Catania

The second-largest city in Sicily, Catania sits in the shadow of Europe's highest volcano, Mount Etna, on the east of Sicily between Syracuse and Taormina. Ugly, decayed and crime-ridden today, it was once called the 'city of black and white' because of the... see full details

Mount Etna

Sicily's greatest natural attraction is the very active volcano, Mount Etna, which has been spewing lava and shaking the earth for centuries, most recently in 2002. About 20 miles (32km) from Catania the craters below the summit can be reached from the town of... see full details

Solunto

The Roman ruins at Solunto are 10 miles (16km) east of Palermo overlooking the coast near Santa Flavia, on the slopes of Mount Catalfamo. The site was originally a Phoenician village that was expanded by the Greeks who conquered it in 396 BC.... see full details

Ustica

An underwater city and a landscape of petrified black lava are the characteristics of the unusual little island of Ustica in the Tyrrhenian Sea just a short ferry ride 36 miles (57km) north west of Palermo. The ancient volcanic island was originally inhabited... see full details