A Memorable Sicily Travel Guide

No Sicily travel guide would be complete without a generous sampling of the local cuisine (Sicily is famous for its arancini and cannoli, after all). I highly recommend a street food tour to get a lay of the land and immerse yourself in the region’s local food scene. Reach out to me and I can give you some recommendations for great local companies.

Afterward, make sure to wander around the city. On my trip, we went into several beautiful churches, and visited a monastery that makes Sicilian sweet treats. We also saw the opera house, which was featured in the Godfather III, which I loved.

On our one night here, we had dinner at Buatta, and it was superb.

The big draw in Agrigento is the excellently preserved ancient ruins — the Valley of the Temples. You will need a guide, a hat, sunblock and water, too to explore this archaeological site. Go first thing in the morning, and plan to spend a few hours there. Dolce and Gabbana did a fashion show here in the spring of 2019. The Temple of Concordia is especially impressive: it’s an ancient Greek temple, and a UNESCO site.

If you chose to do this as a day trip from Taormina or other east coast areas, I would recommend setting up a lunch stop on the way back.

I love volcanoes, and Sicily has a great one (a crucial item on any travel guide to Sicily). We stayed at a truly enchanting boutique-chic farm hotel called Monaci delle Terre Nere, on the volcano's slopes. They make their own olive oil and wine (Sicilian wine cannot be matched!). The food, staff and rooms were all wonderful. It also had a great pool.

We did a fun cooking class outside and then enjoyed the fruits of our labor during a long, lazy, beautiful lunch. From there, we spent a day on the volcano: we went into caves, saw lava fields, saw where honey is made and then visited a winery for lunch.

This is a stunning town, and it has some serious hotel game.

There are two Belmond’s here: one by the sea (Villa Sant ‘Andrea) and one in town (Grand Hotel Timeo). We stayed at the one in town so we could easily shop and go to dinner. Our rooms were incredible, with a view of the ocean and Mount Etna, an active volcano. The restaurant here is formal and delicious. Even if you don’t stay at this hotel, their bar, which has a balcony, is a great spot for a drink with a killer view. There is also a great pool, beautiful gardens and a less formal lunch spot on property.

The sister hotel, right on the ocean, has a beach club and a kids club. Here, we spent a day literally submerged in the Ionian Sea. There's a shuttle that takes you back and forth between the hotels.

There are many restaurants and shops in the town. A fun activity is to get sandals made for you at Capri Handmade. You can hire a Sicily travel guide, or wander around yourself. You can easily spend a half day (or more) in this town.

From here you can do day trips to the eastern cities such as Syracuse (1.5 hours), Noto (just under two hours) and Catania (just under an hour). You can also explore Mount Etna.