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Sicily in September

Rebecca T

Our reflections and recommendations from our Sicily trip in 2019 - overall an amazing trip that we highly recommend!

Map

Sections

Taormina

Salina

Syracuse Region

Taormina

Taormina is a very touristy town / small city, where we really didn't enjoy the "main attraction" (walking up and down the Courso Umberto). That said, we did enjoy having it as a base for exploring Mt. Etna and having a nice beach day, and we had a f...

Our hotel was a nice, reasonably priced 4-star property - definitely missing 5-star amenities, but the views were incredible and everything was very comfortable. We also liked being "above" the town vs. in it, although it did mean we were shuttling b...

Hotel Villa Ducale Taormina

Al Saraceno is a pizzeria a 5 min walk from Villa Ducale (and the only non-hotel restaurant within walking distance) - we loved it's simple, delicious menu and great views, although we went back a second time without a reservation on a weekend night,...

RISTORANTE PIZZERIA AL SARACENO, Taormina

The food and ambiance at Osteria RossoDiVino (in a small outdoor side street) was fantastic - lobster pasta was insane! Get there early (7ish) because the catches of the day / specials are on a first come / first serve basis.

OSTERIA ROSSODIVINO, Taormina

We loved our guide for our daytrip to Mt. Etna - great driver and tons of knowledge with a PhD in volcanology (I can share his contact info). We enjoyed combining Etna with a quick trip to the Alcantara Gorges, although the walk down to the gorges is...

Go-Etna - Mount Etna Tours

The morning hike to Castelmoa - at 8AM before the tour buses arrived - was lovely, and while steep, the reward of seeing the small village and the incredible views there was worth it. Definitely do before the tours arrive though.

Castelmola

We really enjoyed our beach day at Tao beach club - while the water was too rocky and rough to swim in, there were great cabanas on the bach and the beach club restaurant was surprisingly good (get the fried seafood platter!).

Lido Tao Beach Club

The amphitheater is must see, but only takes an hour or two.

Teatro Antico di Taormina

Salina

The trip to Salina was surprisingly easy, with clean, on-time ferries and easy driving. I was worried this would be a logistical nightmare, and perhaps it is at other times of the year, but we were pleasantly surprised. Salina is a stunningly gorgeou...

We had the best room at Capofaro (suite 21), and may have been quite spoiled - I would highly recommend booking the room since the time on our private terrace (with 180 degree views of the vineyards, water and distant islands) was the main attraction...

Capofaro - Locanda & Malvasia

Beautiful hike - definitely steep and long-ish but not super difficult if in decent shape; try to go on a clear day!

Monte Fossa delle Felci

Lingua is another cute sleepy town, and the Pan Cunzato and Granitas at Da Alfredo are amazing!!

Da Alfredo

Malfa (one of the two closest towns) is sleepy but lovely, and the Bar Ravesi at a nice 4-star hotel in town had good food and great views. In the future we'd plan on going to dinner in Malfa and/or Santa Maria Salina one or two nights so as not to e...

Bar Ravesi

Syracuse Region

We loved the Syracuse area and this is probably the most “must see” spot on our list. The travel from Salina to Syracuse was significant (2.5 hours in the car, not including time to rent the car), and I'd only recommend doing that leg if you don't mi...< 1 hour) and the combination of nice accommodations, nice beaches, beautiful towns, and historic cities. Although if you can add in a helicopter or private flight to the Aeolian islands (cutting out the drive and ferry), that might be an amazing ...

When we arrived at Donna Coraly, one of us was a bit disappointed, given that the town immediately outside is extremely rundown, and the property itself can look to be in a bit of disrepair at first. On closer inspection, though, it's an extremely ch...

Donna Coraly Boutique Hotel

Marzamemi was one of the most picturesque towns we visited all trip (the square is so authentic and beautiful), and the beach had powdery sand and crystal clear water! The beach clubs are enormous and lower-end, though, so definitely only worth going...

Marzamemi

We added in a last minute trip to Noto, which has lovely baroque architecture in its center, and the best cannoli and gelato we've ever had at Caffe Sicilia (featured on Chef's Table, the Netflix show). I don't think you need more than a few hours in...

Noto

We had the best cannoli and gelato we've ever had at Caffe Sicilia (featured on Chef's Table, the Netflix show).

Caffè Sicilia

We didn't end up going but looked great from our research and walking around

Ristorante Retroscena - Siracusa