Sicily

Overview

Sicily is the biggest island in the Mediterranean, about the size of Massachusetts, and it feels like its own country. Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Spaniards and Bourbons all ruled here, and they left Greek temples better preserved than most in Greece, Arab-Norman churches lined with gold mosaics, and baroque towns rebuilt after a 1693 earthquake. The food is different from the mainland's too: more citrus, almonds, pistachios, raisins, saffron and couscous.

It is a big place, and the most common American mistake is trying to see all of it in five days. Think of the island in two halves. The west has Palermo, Monreale, Cefalù, Segesta, Trapani and Erice, and the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento on the south coast. The east has Catania, Mount Etna, Taormina, Syracuse and Ortigia, and the baroque towns of Noto, Modica and Ragusa. A week covers one half well; ten days to two weeks lets you loop the whole island.

Many Italian Americans trace their families to Sicily. If you are looking for an ancestral town, see Italian-American roots for records and planning.

Getting there

Flights from the US

Sicily's main airports are Palermo Falcone Borsellino (PMO) in the west and Catania Fontanarossa (CTA) in the east; smaller Trapani and Comiso handle mostly European budget flights. In summer 2026, United flew a seasonal Newark–Palermo nonstop three times a week from late May. In August 2026, Italian aviation press reported that United will add Newark service to Catania (and to Olbia in Sardinia) for next summer; check United's schedule before you plan around it.

Most travelers connect through Rome (about 1 hr 10 min to either airport), Milan, or a European hub such as Munich, Frankfurt or Istanbul. Fly into one airport and out of the other to avoid driving back across the island. Catania sits under Etna, and ash from eruptions sometimes closes the airport or parts of its airspace for hours; if your connection is tight, leave margin. See Flights.

Airport to town

From Palermo airport, buses run to the city center and the main train station in about 50 minutes, and a train runs to Palermo Centrale. From Catania airport, the Alibus reaches the center in about 20–30 minutes, and direct buses run to Taormina in about 1 hr 15 min. Taxis are available at both; agree on the fare first.

Ferries and trains from the mainland

The island is a short hop from Calabria. Car ferries cross the Strait of Messina from Villa San Giovanni to Messina around the clock, in about 20–30 minutes, and hydrofoils run from Reggio Calabria. Some Intercity trains from Rome are loaded onto a ferry and continue to Palermo and Syracuse, which is slow but memorable.

Overnight ferries with cabins run from Naples to Palermo (about 10–11 hours), and from Genoa, Civitavecchia (for Rome), Livorno and Salerno to Palermo or Catania, operated by lines including GNV, Tirrenia and Grimaldi. Book a cabin for overnight runs, especially in August. Ferries also connect Pozzallo, on the south coast, to Malta in under 2 hours. See Getting around and Combining Italy with neighbors.

Palermo

Palermo is chaotic, loud, crumbling in places and one of the most exciting cities in Italy. It has improved a lot in the past fifteen years: the old center is now largely pedestrianized around Via Maqueda and the Corso Vittorio Emanuele, and the historic districts are safer and livelier than their old reputation.

Sights

Street food

Palermo has one of the great street food cultures in Europe. Try arancine (fried rice balls; in Palermo the word is feminine, in Catania it is arancini, and people care), panelle (chickpea fritters) in a bun, sfincione (spongy local pizza with onions and breadcrumbs), and, if you are brave, pane ca' meusa, a spleen and lung sandwich. A walking food tour in the markets is one of the best things to book here. See Italian food.

Cefalù

Cefalù, about an hour east of Palermo by regional train, is a medieval fishing town on a sandy beach under a huge rock. Its Norman cathedral has a golden Christ Pantocrator mosaic in the apse that rivals Monreale's. The hike up La Rocca, the rock behind town, takes about an hour each way on a rough path with views and the ruins of a temple of Diana; a small fee is charged at the trailhead. Start early in summer, as there is little shade.

Cefalù works as a beach base for western Sicily, or as a day trip from Palermo. It gets crowded in August; June and September are calmer.

Taormina and the Greek Theatre

Taormina is perched on a cliff 650 feet (200 m) above the Ionian Sea, with Etna on the horizon. It has been a resort since the 19th century and it shows: elegant hotels, designer shops on the Corso Umberto and day-trippers from cruise ships. It is beautiful, and it is touristy. Stay a night or two to see it in the evening after the crowds leave.

The Teatro Antico

The Teatro Antico, the town's ancient theatre, was built by Greeks and rebuilt by Romans, and its view of the coast and Etna framed through the ruined stage is one of the classic sights of Italy. Allow about an hour. Resellers listed the standard adult ticket at about €14 (about $16) from July 2026, with discounts for EU citizens ages 18–25; check the Parco Archeologico Naxos Taormina site for current prices and hours.

In summer the theatre hosts concerts, opera and the Taormina Film Festival, and daytime visiting hours are cut short on show days. Seeing a concert here is unforgettable; tickets go on sale in spring.

Practical

Taormina's center is closed to traffic. Drivers park in the Lumbi or Porta Catania garages and take the shuttle or walk. The train station is at sea level, at Taormina-Giardini, with a bus up the hill. Buses from Catania airport and Catania city are the easiest way in. Also see Castelmola, a village higher up the mountain, for the view, and the Alcantara Gorge inland, a canyon of basalt columns you can wade through in summer.

Mount Etna

Etna is Europe's most active volcano, roughly 10,900 feet (about 3,300 m) high, though its height shifts with each eruption. It erupts often, usually with lava fountains and flows from the summit craters that stay far from the towns, and those eruptions are what draw visitors. The lower slopes are covered in vineyards, pistachio groves and villages.

The rules in 2026

Access to the high slopes is regulated by ordinances from the towns whose territory reaches the summit, such as Belpasso, Nicolosi, Bronte and Linguaglossa, and the rules change with the volcano's alert level. Under the August 2026 ordinances:

• The summit zone covers the craters, the upper Valle del Bove and the slopes roughly above 8,200 feet (2,500 m). Going beyond the ordinary tourist limits requires a certified alpine or volcanological guide, mountain clothing and a helmet.
• Within it, the zone around the active craters is permanently hazardous. In normal conditions, groups there are capped at 10 people per guide, leave at 15-minute intervals, and total no more than 300 people a day. Everyone must stay at least 165 feet (50 m) from the edge of a lava flow.
• When the alert rises to pre-alarm, as it did in mid-August 2026, the crater zone closes to everyone except authorized personnel. At full alarm, everything above 2,500 m closes and anyone there must leave.
• Breaking an ordinance is a criminal matter under the Italian penal code, and rescue on the volcano is not something you want to pay for.

In practice: you cannot simply hike to the summit craters on your own. What you can do depends on the day, so book with a licensed guide or operator who will know the current status, and accept a changed route when activity is high.

Ways to visit

Syracuse and Ortigia

Syracuse was once the largest city of the Greek world, rival to Athens. Today it has two parts to see. Ortigia, the island old town joined by bridges, is one of the loveliest places in Sicily: a baroque cathedral built into a Greek temple of Athena (the Doric columns are still visible inside and out), the Fountain of Arethusa with its papyrus, a morning market, and lanes leading to the sea for swimming off rocks.

On the mainland, the Neapolis Archaeological Park has a Greek theatre cut into the hillside, a Roman amphitheater and the Ear of Dionysius, a tall cave with strange acoustics. From May into early July, the Greek theatre hosts classical drama staged by the INDA foundation; book well ahead.

The baroque southeast

After the 1693 earthquake, the towns of the Val di Noto were rebuilt in honey-colored baroque, now listed by UNESCO. Noto (40 minutes from Syracuse) has the grandest main street and an almond granita at Caffè Sicilia. Modica is known for grainy, cold-processed chocolate, and Ragusa Ibla for its hilltop old town. Nearby, the Vendicari nature reserve has beaches and flamingos, and Marzamemi is a fishing village with a piazza on the sea.

Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples

The Valley of the Temples (Valle dei Templi) is the best collection of Greek temples outside Greece, set along a ridge below the modern city of Agrigento. The Temple of Concordia, from about 440 BC, is nearly intact; the Temple of Juno stands at the high end, and the fallen Temple of Olympian Zeus was among the largest Doric temples ever begun. Walking the whole site takes 2–3 hours, mostly downhill if you start at the upper (Juno) gate and finish at the lower one.

Ticket prices have shifted in recent seasons. In 2026, a combined ticket including the Kolymbethra Garden, a citrus and olive grove in an ancient ravine, sold for about €23 (about $26) for adults, with low prices for EU youth and children; the park ticket alone costs less. Entry is free on the first Sunday of the month, and in summer the park opens some evenings. Check the official park site before you go.

Nearby, the Scala dei Turchi is a dazzling white marl cliff over the sea at Realmonte; access to the cliff itself has been restricted to protect it, so you view it from the beaches beside it. Agrigento is about 2 hours from Palermo by car, and the drive across the interior is a highlight. The Roman mosaics of the Villa Romana del Casale at Piazza Armerina fit on the way to the east.

The west: Trapani, Erice and the islands

• Segesta: a Doric temple alone on a hillside, plus a hilltop theatre, an hour from Palermo.
• Erice: a medieval hill town above Trapani, reached by cable car, known for almond pastries.
• Trapani and the salt pans: windmills and salt flats toward Marsala, best at sunset; try couscous di pesce, a fish couscous inherited from North Africa.
• Marsala: the fortified wine, tasted at historic cellars.
• The Egadi Islands: Favignana by hydrofoil from Trapani, for clear water and bike rides.
• San Vito lo Capo and the Zingaro reserve: a famous beach and a coastal reserve with trails to coves.

Off the north coast, the Aeolian Islands (Lipari, Salina, Vulcano and Stromboli) are reached by hydrofoil from Milazzo; Stromboli's constant eruptions are seen on guided hikes or evening boat trips, again under rules that change with activity.

Getting around

A car is the only practical way to see most of Sicily. Trains are fine between Palermo and Cefalù, and between Catania, Taormina and Syracuse, but slow or missing elsewhere. Intercity buses (AST, Interbus, SAIS and others) fill many gaps and are often faster than the train.

• Bring an International Driving Permit along with your US license; police can ask for it at any traffic stop. See Driving in Italy.
• Buy full insurance with zero deductible. Narrow lanes and tight parking mean scrapes are common.
• Every old town has a ZTL. Park outside and walk.
• Sicilian driving is assertive; expect cars to pass on narrow roads and scooters to filter through traffic.
• Do not leave anything visible in a parked car, especially at beaches and archaeological sites.

Food and drink

Each corner of the island has its dishes. In Catania, pasta alla Norma (tomato, fried eggplant and salted ricotta). In Palermo, pasta con le sarde, with sardines, wild fennel, raisins and pine nuts. Everywhere, caponata, a sweet-and-sour eggplant stew. Pistachios come from Bronte on Etna's slopes, and almonds from the Val di Noto.

The sweets are a reason to come: cannoli filled with sheep's milk ricotta (order them filled to order), cassata, and granita, eaten in summer for breakfast with a soft brioche bun. Wines to try are Nero d'Avola, Etna Rosso and Bianco, Grillo, and Marsala. See Wine.

When to go and where to stay

April through June and mid-September through October are the sweet spots: warm, green in spring, swimmable from June. July and August are hot, often in the 90s°F (32–37°C) and higher inland, and the beaches are packed. Winter is mild on the coast, with highs around 60°F (15°C), good for cities and archaeology, though many beach hotels close. Easter week brings processions across the island. See When to go.

A typical 10-day loop: 3 nights in Palermo (with Monreale and Cefalù), 1 night near Agrigento, 2 nights in Ortigia (with Noto and Modica), and 3 nights in Taormina or on Etna's slopes. Hotels range from simple B&Bs $ to grand Taormina hotels $$$$. Agriturismi on Etna and in the southeast are good value $$. Cities charge a per-night tourist tax at the hotel. See Where to stay and Plan your trip.