20 reasons to holiday on Europe’s most talked-about island now - The Times

A Greek temple here, a Norman castle there. Roman mosaics underfoot, baroque flourishes overhead. Moorish baths, Byzantine mosaics; Swabian castles, Spanish rituals. Sicily has been batted between the big beasts of Europe for millennia and today the Mediterranean’s biggest island is a giant gumbo of the cultures that have passed through.

That’s what I love about Sicily — its history. This is an island that has shapeshifted: the breadbasket of Rome, the strategic outpost of Spain and now a hot travel destination that half the world only noticed after The White Lotus showcased its dazzling coastline.

Of course, the coast is dazzling — all 900-plus miles of it if you include the minor islands. But for me, the real Sicily is in the entroterra, the mountainous hinterland whose rippling hills and crag-topping medieval towns combine all the beauty of the Bel Paese with a distinctly Sicilian friendliness (after all, they’ve been welcoming strangers for over 2,000 years). Drop the sniffiness about the often parlous state of the roads — just leave time to navigate potholes — and a journey into the entroterra will be the highlight of your holiday. It was for me — one trip bewitched me so much that I moved there.

As summer bows out, it takes with it the scorching summer heat and devastating wildfires that plagued the island this year. It leaves clear skies, T-shirt weather and still swimmable waters (for mad foreigners, not Sicilians). The crowds dissipate as the seasonal flights peter out (though most seaside towns will stay lively and restaurants open through October) and Sicily shapeshifts back to its mesmerising, slow-living self. Here are some of my favourite places to go.

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Sicily’s capital is a palimpsest of the cultures that have rolled through: Moorish, Norman, Byzantine, Spanish and — finally — Italian. Go for the blockbuster history: the Palazzo dei Normanni, Europe’s oldest royal residence, with its mesmerising Arabic woodwork in the Palatine Chapel (£17; federicosecondo.org); the Martorana Church with its Byzantine mosaics; the forest of carved Norman columns and glittering Byzantine mosaics in the Cathedral of Monreale in the hills (£7; duomomonreale.com). Stay for the city centre oratories and churches, which are baroque and brilliantly OTT. I love the Chiesa di Santa Maria di Valverde, where volunteers talk you through the lashings of marble and stucco. Recharge with a cannolo from the Dolceria di Santa Caterina, which bakes desserts from the recipe books of Sicilian convents (£3.50; monasterosantacaterina.com). Stay at Dimora Tomasi, a micro-B&B of two smart rooms within Palazzo Tomasi Lampedusa, a historic palace rebuilt after Second World War destruction.B&B doubles from £116 (dimoratomasi.it). Fly to Palermo

Tourists love Etna for her antics (as long as her emissions don’t get in the way of their flights, as happened this summer), but Sicilians love what they call “Idda” (“her”) for the wealth she brings them — uber-fertile soil that supercharges anything from fruit trees to vines. The northern flank is gastronomic heaven, packed with restaurants, wine bars and gelaterie. My favourites: Cave Ox Pizza Bar, a trendy wine bar in Solicchiata (mains from £7; caveox.it); Dai Pennisi, a gastro-butcher that cooks on-the-spot lunches in Linguaglossa (mains from £10; daipennisi.it); and Gelateria Santo Musumeci in Randazzo, recently named Italy’s best gelateria by the food bible Gambero Rosso (from £2; santomusumeci.it). For a tasting of the famous Etna Rosso wine you need Cottanera, a wonderful family-owned winery outside Randazzo, with a dreamy hotel amid the vines across the road (tastings from £34pp; cottanera.it).B&B doubles from £215 (dimoracottanera.com). Fly to Catania

The ancient Greeks were the first foreigners to colonise Sicily and more than 2,500 years on their theatres, cities and spectacular temples remain. Of the temples, my favourite is Segesta, between Palermo and Trapani, but Agrigento, where the citizens of Akagras built a holy area on a bluff overlooking the Med, is also mind-blowing. Meander through the temples — the Tempio della Concordia is the best preserved but the tumbled-down temple of Zeus is the most atmospheric (£12; lavalledeitempli.it). Add in trips to the nearby Scala dei Turchi — a Colgate-white cliff rippling wavelike towards the sea — and the birthplace of the playwright Luigi Pirandello, who is buried on the clifftop (£4; casamuseopirandelloit.com). Inside the archaeological park, Villa Athena is a hotel that overlooks the temples.B&B doubles from £215 (hotelvillaathena.it). Fly to Palermo

Syracuse, founded by the Greeks in the 8th century BC, is Sicily’s most beautiful city. Ortigia, the old town, floats on an islet welded to the elegant “new” town by bridges. It’s a dreamland of alleyways, Greek remains (a ruined temple here, Doric columns folded into the cathedral there) and tantalising below-ground time capsules including ancient Jewish ritual baths and Greek tunnels repurposed as Second World War air-raid shelters. The new town is home to Caravaggio’s masterpiece The Burial of St Lucy, various catacombs and a sprawling Greek city complete with a theatre that still hosts tragedy each summer (2027 tickets from £30; indafondazione.org). You could spend months here and not see it all. Riviera Travel has an seven-night Treasures of Sicily tour taking it in, with guided visits to Syracuse, Ortigia and more.Seven nights’ B&B from £1,999pp, including flights, transfers and 11 guided experiences

Seven islands sprinkled across the Tyrrhenian between Sicily and Calabria, the Aeolians are doused in a mythical air. There’s Stromboli, an active volcano, huffing away. There’s Vulcano, another active volcano, whiffing of sulphur. And Lipari, the main island, whose archaeological museum contains ravishing ancient finds (£5; parchiarcheologici.regione.sicilia.it). Salina, another island, is as pretty today as it was when Il Postino, partly filmed there, was nominated for myriad Oscars in 1996. Lipari makes the best base — hydrofoils to the others depart regularly from here. But nothing beats elemental Stromboli, where you can lie on a black-sand beach and hear the volcano breathe, then hike uphill at dusk to watch him (Etna is a she, but Stromboli is “Iddu” — “he”) breathe fire. KE Adventure offers a guided eight-day Walking the Islands and Volcanoes of Sicily itinerary that includes Stromboli, Vulcano, Lipari and Salina, as well as Etna, Catania and Taormina.Seven nights’ B&B from £1,445pp, including transport, ferries and some extra meals (keadventure.com). Fly to Catania

Towards Sicily’s southwestern tip, you’re closer to Tunisia than to mainland Italy, and the gorgeous fishing town of Mazara del Vallo feels like a liminal space between southern Europe and northern Africa. Forget pasta, here you eat couscous topped with just-netted fish. And unlike the neat urban plan of nearby Trapani, Mazara’s historic centre, the Casbah, is a rabbit warren-like medina. There are Norman ruins and baroque palazzos carved from buttery-yellow stone, but the real draw hails from further back: the Satiro Danzante, or Dancing Satyr, a Greek bronze fished from the bottom of the Med. Housed in a church, he whirls around, head thrust back, eyes rolling skywards in an ecstatic trance (£7; parchiarcheologici.regione.sicilia.it). See it all while based at the relaxing Almar Giardino di Costanza Resort & Spa, bookable as a package with British Airways Holidays.Seven nights’ B&B from £1,429pp, including flights

In 1693 an earthquake hit eastern Sicily. It was devastating for the population but our silver lining today is that they rebuilt their towns in the modern style: flamboyant baroque. Noto, Modica, Scicli and Ragusa Ibla form a circuit of frothy, honey-stoned cities where each palazzo is more wedding-cakey than the next. Noto is the most beautiful — there’s not a stone out of place — though my favourite is Modica, spilling down two sides of a canyon and topped and tailed by two cathedrals. Try the famously grainy chocolate, made by local artisans in the same way since the 1500s. A great villa option is the three-bedroom Villa Angelic, where pale stone walls meet modern white architecture with a long oblong pool, in the countryside outside Modica.Seven nights’ self-catering from £4,214, including flights (splvillas.com)

The entroterra is a magnetic land of sleepy townlets, knockout landscapes and a taste of real Sicilian culture — it is as far from the stereotypes as it is from the tourist trail. The most wondrous landscape is in Caltanissetta province, bang in the middle of the island. Here, toothy crags sprout from billowing hills, towns clinging on for dear life to the rollercoaster landscape. An hour from Agrigento and the coast, and 90 minutes from Palermo, the small town of Mussomeli makes a good base. Spilling down the hillside, it comes alive with events throughout the year. Summer brings nightly concerts, culminating in the Antica Fiera del Castello, a four-day agricultural and foodie show that takes over the medieval castle with show-cooking and tastings of local specialities, mostly based around the area’s tradition of shepherding (think cannoli stuffed with just-churned ricotta).

Caltanissetta, meanwhile, is one of the best places on the island for Easter celebrations. It’s home to a gem of a restaurant called 800A for great pasta and cocktails (mains from £9; @800aosteria on Instagram); a screamingly good pasticceria, Scarfia (Via Redentore 27); and an outrageously well-stocked wine shop, Enoteca Lupica (enotecalupica.it). There’s a lovely winery nearby called Tenute Lombardo, whose tastings in a vine-hugged farmhouse make an ideal rest stop between Agrigento and Catania or Palermo (from £43pp; tenutelombardo.it). Manfredomus is an upmarket B&B with views of Mussomeli castle and into the valley beyond from the front-facing room, and glimpses of Etna from those to the side.B&B doubles from £77 (manfredomus.it). Fly to Palermo

Ninety minutes’ drive southeast of Palermo, you could almost be in Tuscany: it’s all rolling hills studded with cypresses and speckled with wildflowers. These are the foothills of the Madonie mountains, and the gateway to some of the softest landscapes of the entroterra, as well as wild mountain peaks. Petralia Sottana and Petralia Soprana are sibling medieval towns — Soprana, one of the Borghi piu Belli d’Italia (a collection of super cute Italian towns), towers over Sottana at an altitude of 1,000m, while the equally pretty Polizzi Generosa perches on a nearby hilltop. You can hike medieval pilgrimage trails or tackle the 1,979m Pizzo Carbonara peak. But to truly understand the Madonie, book an itinerary through the Heart of Sicily, a collective of locals who have designed active, foodie and cultural itineraries to show their area at its best, from olive oil tasting to hiking (theheartofsicily.it). A great place to stay is Antico Feudo San Giorgio, an 18th-century farm turned family agriturismo. Don’t miss the incredible dinners made with their own produce.B&B doubles from £86 (anticofeudosangiorgio.com). Fly to Palermo

Once a heavenly eyrie perched high on a cliff above the Ionian Sea, Taormina is these days pretty addled by overtourism. Yet denying yourself the chance to step into its famous Greek theatre, with Etna and the sparkling sea as its backdrop, is holiday self-harm. My workaround: stay at the foot of the cliff, in the beach town Mazzaro, and take the cable car (£3) up to the theatre at opening time. Add a ramble through the still-clear streets and you’ll see how it used to be — then swing back down for a day on the sand. Plum on the beach and a few minutes’ walk from the cable car, Mazzaro Sea Palace is a white, frilly-looking hotel with the prettiest poolside, with parasols and monochrome striped loungers right by the sea.B&B doubles from £792 (vretreats.com). Fly to Catania

Cleaving through the entroterra, the 285-mile Sicily Divide cycle route — crossing the island from Trapani to Catania — winds around mountains, ripples along hills and threads through crag-topping towns that plunge you into the simple beauty of inland Sicily. The local creators of the route have curated a collection of trustworthy bike rentals and cyclist-friendly hotels to stay in along the way. You can DIY it or book the full package through Sicily Divide: bikes, accommodation and daily luggage transfers are all arranged, so all you need to do is plunge into the magical landscape.Six nights’ B&B from £980pp, including luggage transfers and one dinner. Bike hire from £86 (sicilydivide.it). Fly to Trapani

In the undulating landscape 18 miles south of Enna, a pretty hilltop university city in the centre of the island, there arises a mirage: a perfectly preserved baroque town, Piazza Armerina, where honeyed buildings squeeze the narrow streets as you ascend to the heavenly cathedral. This is as beautiful as Sicily gets, but few make it up here because they’re all down below in the valley. You can’t blame them — the Villa Romana del Casale, a Roman country estate, is mind-blowing. It’s carpeted with mosaics, and cantilevered walkways lead you over them — crocodiles and tigers here, female athletes wearing incongruous bikinis there (£15; villaromanadelcasale.it). Divert southwest to Caltagirone for some of Sicily’s famous pottery, or due south to the beach at Gela. If you’re going east, call in at its little sibling, the Villa Romana del Tellaro, near Noto. Its barely there ruins are hidden under a farm, but a single section of mosaics, including of the Trojan War and a lively tiger hunt, make the visit worthwhile (£5; parchiarcheologici.regione.sicilia.it). A guided 14-night Sicily In Depth group tour with Explore! focuses on history and archaeology, including visits to Piazza Armerina, Agrigento, Syracuse and Giardini Naxos, with a Sicilian archaeologist as a group guide.Fourteen nights’ B&B from £3,395pp, including excursions and guide. Fly to Catania 

Sicily is masterful at hiding her treasures. Paterno, balancing on Etna’s flank, 30 minutes’ drive northwest of Catania, is a case in point. The Renaissance painter Sofonisba Anguissola, who inspired Caravaggio and Van Dyck, spent six years in the now sleepy town and donated a painting to a local monastery. Rediscovered in 1995, the painting — which seems to show a snowy Etna and Catania behind the Madonna and Child — hangs in the Santissima Annunziata church alongside another, more damaged work by Anguissola and a newly restored Renaissance Madonna and Child. The black-stone Norman castle perched on an outcrop of erupted lava is straight out of The Lord of the Rings, although right now it is closed for repairs. You should stay at the lava-stone Palace Catania Una Esperienze hotel, which sits on Via Etnea, Catania’s chic shopping drag.B&B doubles from £210 (unaitalianhospitality.com). Fly to Catania

Marsala, Sicily’s westernmost city, has a long history entwined with the British, and the dual memories live on in the sweet wine that Nelson bulk-bought for the navy. Today the area is surprisingly varied wine country. The Donnafugata winery’s restoration of its 19th-century baglio (fortified farm) is the swankiest place to try grillo (Sicilian white), signature Etna rosso and a passito di Pantelleria, the nectar-like dessert wine from Pantelleria island (tasting from £47; donnafugata.it). If you can drag yourself off the bottle, underneath lie remains from the ancient city (archeofficina.com), while six miles north is the island of Mozia, littered with Phoenician ruins. A package with British Airways Holidays includes accommodation at the Baglio Oneto dei Principi di San Lorenzo, another luxury wine resort, with an infinity pool and a spa. Seven nights’ B&B from £2,122pp, including flights

Gibellina, Italy’s Capital of Contemporary Art 2026, is a startlingly modernist town, constructed after a 1968 earthquake destroyed the original. The enterprising mayor invited Italy’s finest artists of the 1970s to make it their own, so it’s dotted with public art by Carla Accardi, Mimmo Paladino and Pietro Consagra, whose humongous Teatro building towers over the centre like a spaceship. There are two first-rate museums: the Museo delle Trame Mediterranee (£7; fondazioneorestiadi.it) and the MAC contemporary art museum, which has one of the world’s largest Mario Schifano collections (£6; macgibellina.it). The ruins of the first Gibellina, half an hour’s drive away, were carpeted in concrete and turned into land art by Alberto Burri (walking through the calcified “streets” is surprisingly emotional). Bagheria, near Palermo, is great for modern art too. The Museo Guttuso houses sumptuous works by Renato Guttuso and other Sicilians, including the Oscar-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore’s photography (£5; museoguttuso.com). You could hole up at a three-bedroom modernist self-catering pad through Coolstays. Villa on the Sea has its own rocky cove on the wild coast beyond Bagheria.Seven nights’ self-catering from £2,135 (coolstays.com). Fly to Palermo

Sicily’s coastline is a magical mix of mountains plunging towards the Med, thick sands, pebbly shores and pretty islets. The coast is dotted with nature reserves, where the beaches are as pristine as the crystalline waters. Easily reached from Trapani and Palermo, the Riserva dello Zingaro is perhaps the most beautiful: a bird and plant-filled paradise with heavenly coves dotted along the four-mile coastal footpath (there are beaches within 20 to 30 minutes’ walk from each entrance). Cala Tonnarella dell’Uzzo is the best loved, while the rocky Cala della Disa is relatively empty in the afternoon when the sun disappears behind the mountaintop (£4.30; riservazingaro.it). Original Travel by Voyageurs du Monde has a ten-night self-drive Slow Sicily itinerary that goes from Palermo to Zingaro then on to Trapani, Selinunte, Marsala and more before heading east to Ragusa. Ten nights’ B&B from £3,000pp, including flights, transfers, car hire and private guides (originaltravel.co.uk)

Where can match Sicily’s beaches? Why, the Egadi islands, floating offshore from Trapani in the wild west. Here the waters are so pure in their turquoise and jade that they almost short-circuit your brain. Luckily it is the perfect place for a recovery lie-down. Cala Rossa, on Favignana, is the most famous beach, where a cubist Roman quarry plunges into the waters. The island of Levanzo has the snorkeller’s paradise Cala Fredda en route to the Grotta del Genovese, a precious cave with 10,000-year-old art (from £19; grottadelgenovese.it). Marettimo, meanwhile, has the remains of a Roman garrison. Don’t miss laid-back, lovely Trapani or its sibling Erice, a once Carthaginian mountain stronghold. I’d plump for a stay at the Dimora Cala del Pozzo on Favignana, where excursions can include a boat trip, a cooking class and a donkey trek if booked through Cognoscenti Travel.Six nights’ B&B from £2,190pp, including transfer by hydrofoil, car hire and excursions (cognoscentitravel.com). Fly to Trapani

Erupting along the northern coast between Cefalu and Milazzo, the mountainous Parco dei Nebrodi is Sicily’s largest protected area, a place of peaks (up to 1,847m), ancient villages and the famous Nebrodi black pig, whose meat you’ll spy on the fanciest menus islandwide. San Marco d’Alunzio is a timeline of Sicilian history, with Greek, Norman, byzantine and baroque remains; Troina is one of the “Borghi piu belli d’Italia” (the most beautiful villages in Italy). On the coast, the ancient city of Tindari has Greek and Roman ruins, and nearby Spiaggia di Marinello is a gorgeous pebbly beach, while chocolate-box Cefalu is one of Sicily’s most delectable coastal towns, with its Norman cathedral capped with glittering mosaics, a bijou beach and the fascinating Tempio di Diana, probably a fortress-temple from the 9th century BC. Try the four-bedroom Villa Panarea, in Rodi Milici, with a sea-view saltwater pool, outdoor kitchen and a whirlpool overlooking the coast from the Nebrodi mountains, available through Wish Sicily.Seven nights’ self-catering from £3,597 (wishsicily.com). Fly to Palermo

Beautiful beach towns are two a penny on the Med’s biggest isle, but Sciacca, on the southern coast, is also beautifully laid-back. A baroque town with sweeping views of the water, it’s where Sicilians go for tasteful seaside weekends. Agrigento is an easy drive away, but make time for Selinunte, a Greek city with no fewer than seven temples, 40 minutes’ drive away (£12; parchiarcheologici.regione.sicilia.it). Twenty minutes outside the town, the Verdura Resort, a Rocco Forte hotel, has pools, a spa and golf courses, plus rooms and suites in discreet blocks sprinkled along the seafront.B&B doubles from £344 (roccofortehotels.com). Fly to Palermo

Sicilian cuisine is a broth of the cultures that have moved through the island — the renowned sweet-savoury flavours come from the Arab occupation, as do many desserts, including cannoli. Foodies should make a pilgrimage to one of Italy’s best cooking schools, Anna Tasca Lanza, founded in 1989 by aristocratic Anna, who wanted to preserve traditions, and run by her energetic daughter Fabrizia. Here, in the middle of the rolling wheatfields of central Sicily, you can choose from a days-long immersion course or a half-day “lunch lesson”, where you’ll eat your morning’s efforts (from £215pp; annatascalanza.com). In the afternoon you might taste the efforts of Fabrizia’s relatives, the highly regarded Tasca D’Almerita wine dynasty, at the nearby Tenuta Regaleali, where you can stay (tastings from £52pp; tascadalmerita.it).Half-board doubles from £469 (tascadalmerita.it). Fly to Palermo