Sicily

Palermo’s palm-filled squares, a volcano, and a beach called San Vito Lo Capo.

Save to your sun list

Sicily has had Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans and Spaniards, and all of them left buildings and recipes. Palermo is the loudest, most delicious city in Italy; Etna smokes above Catania; Syracuse has a Greek theatre still in use. The palms are everywhere, from the cathedral square to the seafront of Mondello, and the beach at San Vito Lo Capo is the whitest in the country.

The palm: European fan palm

Chamaerops humilis, the dwarf fan palm, is Sicily’s own: it grows wild on the coast at Zingaro and San Vito. Palermo added the giants in the 19th century, and the Orto Botanico and Villa Giulia hold huge ficus, cycads and one of the oldest palm collections in Europe.

When to go

Typical daytime highs, rainy days per month (one drop is about four days) and sea temperature. Green bars are comfortable months, amber bars are hot or wet or cool, and the darker bars mark the best time to go.

Sights

Palermo markets and palaces

Ballarò and Capo markets, the Norman Palace with its golden chapel, and Monreale cathedral above the city.

Mount Etna

Europe’s tallest active volcano: cable car from Rifugio Sapienza, then jeeps to 2,900 metres.

Syracuse and Ortigia

The island old town, the Greek theatre and a fish market that sings.

Valley of the Temples

Greek temples above Agrigento, best at sunset when the stone turns to honey.

Beaches

San Vito Lo Capo
Three kilometres of white sand under Monte Monaco, with the Zingaro reserve next door.
Mondello
Palermo’s beach, an Art Nouveau pier and a bay of shallow turquoise water.
Isola Bella, Taormina
A pebble beach and a tiny island below the town, reached by cable car.

Events

Sep
Cous Cous Fest
San Vito Lo Capo hosts an international couscous competition every September.
Jul
Festa di Santa Rosalia
Palermo’s patron saint parades on 14 July with fireworks over the harbour.
May
Infiorata di Noto
The Baroque town lays a carpet of flowers down Via Nicolaci on the third weekend of May.

For remote workers

Internet4/5

A comfortable month: about €1,500

Palermo and Catania are among the cheapest big cities in western Europe with good fibre. Catania has a growing startup scene under the volcano and cheap flights; Palermo has the food, the markets and the sea. Both have coworking, and the towns of the south east, Noto and Ragusa, are Baroque and quiet.

Compare as a base

For families

Calm water4/5

Shade2/5

Medical care4/5

San Vito Lo Capo and Mondello have shallow, sheltered sand. Etna is the day out children remember: a cable car, a jeep and a walk on warm black lava. Cannoli and granita do the rest of the persuasion.

Rank for your family

Three things to know

Fly into Palermo for the west and San Vito, into Catania for Etna, Taormina and Syracuse.
Eat street food in Palermo: panelle, arancine and sfincione from the market stalls, then cannoli from a pasticceria.
Book Etna and Zingaro for early mornings; the coast is best at five in the afternoon.