Etna summit + lunch at a winery
A jeep up onto Etna's lava fields with a vulcanologist, then down to a Carricante producer for lunch in the vineyard.
Southern Italy
Sicily Villas
Greek temples in wildflower fields, baroque towns gone honey at sunset, and Etna keeping watch above.
A whole world on one island. Greek temples on wildflower plains, baroque towns turned honey at sunset, Etna keeping watch in the distance, and a coastline that rewards every direction you point a boat in.
Stay in a villa in the east near Taormina and Etna, or in the southeast among the baroque towns of Noto and Modica, or in the west near Palermo and the Greek-and-Arab west coast. Each side is a different Sicily.
Best Villas
Best villas in Sicily
Sicily
Villa Aieri
3 Beds·3 Baths·6 Guests
From €4,950 / week
Sicily
Villa Deolinda
3 Beds·2 Baths·6 Guests
From €3,625 / week
Sicily
Villa Delphina
4 Beds·4 Baths·8 Guests
From €6,100 / week
Sicily
Villa Maude
4 Beds·4 Baths·8 Guests
From €6,100 / week
Sicily
Villa Dione
6 Beds·6 Baths·12 Guests
From €11,430 / week
Sicily
Villa Diffusa
8 Beds·9 Baths·16 Guests
From €22,630 / week
Sicily
Villa Tangeri
10 Beds·10 Baths·20 Guests
From €32,660 / week
Sicily
Villa Cornelia
12 Beds·17 Baths·24 Guests
From €24,000 / week
Private experiences
Book a private experience
Expert-led private tours with Context Travel, priced per group, so the cost per person drops the more of you there are. Book direct, with no markup.
From$350 per person
Palermo in a Day with Monreale Cathedral
A long focused day on Palermo's centre plus a drive up to Monreale for the Norman-Byzantine cathedral with the largest mosaic-covered interior in Europe. The Palermo most travellers wish they'd had time for.
Private, priced per group: $1,342 for 2, about $350 per person for 6.
Book this experience
From$126 per person
Introduction to Palermo
A morning walk through Palermo's historic core with a Sicilian historian — the Quattro Canti, the Cappella Palatina with its Norman-Arab-Byzantine mosaics, the Ballarò market, and an espresso in a piazza you'd otherwise miss.
Private, priced per group: $652 for 2, about $126 per person for 12.
Book this experience
From$153 per person
Palermo Food Tour
Arancini, panelle, sfincione, cannoli, plus the Sicilian wine that everyone now knows about. A market-and-trattoria walk through Ballarò and Vucciria with a chef-historian.
Private, priced per group: $760 for 2, about $153 per person for 12.
Book this experience
From$142 per person
Introduction to Taormina
The cliff town that's been a resort since the Greeks — the theatre, the corso, the gardens, the view down to Isola Bella. The Romans, the Normans, the British White Lotus set, and now you.
Private, priced per group: $700 for 2, about $142 per person for 12.
Book this experience
From$220 per person
Mount Etna Half-Day Tour
Up Etna in the afternoon by 4x4, a walk around a recent lava flow, the cable car to the upper craters when conditions allow. The shorter Etna day, for travellers basing in Taormina or Catania.
Private, priced per group: $1,043 for 2, about $220 per person for 8.
Book this experience
From$460 per person
Mount Etna Full-Day with Sicilian Wine
A full day on Etna: morning hike on the volcanic slopes, an afternoon tasting at one of the new-wave Etna wineries (the volcanic soils make a wine unlike anywhere else in Italy), lunch at the cantina.
Private, priced per group: $1,607 for 2, about $460 per person for 8.
Book this experienceDisclosure: experiences are delivered by Context Travel. Bookings made through these links may earn Doorways a referral commission, at no additional cost to you. Doorways does not mark up Context Travel pricing.
Experiences
Activities & experiences
A private boat from Taormina
A captained boat day from Mazzarò past Isola Bella, Grotta Azzurra, and Capo Sant'Andrea. Lunch at sea, swim stops at every cove.
A Noto-Modica-Ragusa baroque day
The three honey-stone hilltowns at golden hour. Modica's chocolate factories, Ragusa Ibla's cathedral, dinner at Crocifisso in Noto or Il Duomo in Ragusa.
The Valle dei Templi at dawn
The Greek temples at Agrigento before the day visitors. Two hours of empty Doric columns at first light, breakfast in the archaeological park.
A Palermo street-food morning
The Vucciria, Ballarò, or Capo market with a guide. Arancini, sfincione, panelle, pane ca' meusa, granita.
A day at the Marsala wine country
West coast wineries — Donnafugata, Pellegrino, Florio — and lunch at the fishing port of Trapani.
Travel Advisor
Let our specialists plan your trip
From the right villa to private chefs, boat charters, and bespoke experiences, we take care of every detail.
Beyond the Villa
Day trips
Etna
Half-day or full-day depending on the season. Most stays in the east are within an hour of the volcano.
Valle dei Templi (Agrigento)
Two hours from Taormina, an hour from southeast Sicily. The best-preserved Greek temples outside Greece.
Noto, Modica, Ragusa
The southeastern baroque triangle — three towns in a day if you start early.
Palermo & Monreale
A full day from the east — better as an overnight. The Norman mosaics at Monreale, the Cappella Palatina, the markets.
Syracuse & Ortigia
Ortigia is the historic island; Syracuse itself has the Greek archaeological park (the theatre, the Ear of Dionysius).
The Aeolian Islands
A boat day from Milazzo. Stromboli, Lipari, Salina. Best as a full-day or overnight in summer.
Climate
Average monthly highs
| January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 56°F | 56°F | 60°F | 64°F | 72°F | 80°F | 86°F | 86°F | 80°F | 73°F | 64°F | 58°F |
Source: long-term monthly averages for the region. Sea temperatures stay comfortable for swimming May through October.
Where it is
Sicily on the map
Travelers Ask
Frequently asked questions
Sicily is geographically Italy but culturally something older and stranger and richer — a layering of Greek, Roman, Arab, Norman, Byzantine, Spanish, and Bourbon, each leaving its temples, its mosaics, its baroque, its dialect, its food.
The east, dominated by Etna, holds Taormina (the Greek theatre with Etna across the bay), Catania (baroque, raucous, fish-market raucous, with the best granita on the island), Syracuse (Ortigia island, Greek temple ruins, Caravaggios), and the baroque triangle of Noto, Modica, and Ragusa (UNESCO sites, all rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake in coordinated honey-stone).
The west is older Sicily — Palermo with its Norman cathedral, the Cappella Palatina mosaics, the Vucciria and Ballarò street markets, Monreale just above. The Valle dei Templi at Agrigento (the Greek temples). The medieval hilltown of Erice. The fishing port of Trapani and Marsala wine country.
The food is its own justification. Pasta alla Norma, arancini, cannoli, swordfish in caponata, pasta con le sarde, pesce stocco, granita with brioche for breakfast, marzipan, cassata, and Etna and Nero d'Avola wines that have only got better in the last twenty years. Restaurants worth a flight: Crocifisso in Noto, Accursio in Modica, Il Duomo in Ragusa Ibla, Gagini in Palermo, Cuvée du Jour at Verdura Resort, A Putia delle Cose Buone in Catania.
May, June, September, and October are our favourite months. Late April is beautiful in the southeast (wildflowers at the Valle dei Templi). July and August are hot (mid-80s°F) and busy, especially Taormina; book early. September and early October are still warm, the sea is warmest, and prices and crowds drop. Winter is mild and great for cultural travel.
Sicily has a hot Mediterranean climate — mild winters (mid-50s to low 60s°F), hot dry summers (mid-80s°F). The island is large; the eastern side near Etna can be cooler at altitude, the western coast warmer. Sea temperatures support swimming May through October.
It depends on the trip. The east (Taormina, Etna, Syracuse, the southeast baroque triangle) is the most-visited and the most varied — vulcanology, beaches, Greek archaeology, baroque, and Caravaggio in one base. The west (Palermo, Trapani, Erice, Marsala, the Aegadian Islands) is older, less touristy, more 'real' Sicily. Most of our first-time bookings choose the east; many of our return guests choose the west.
Pasta alla Norma, arancini, cannoli, granita with brioche for breakfast, swordfish involtini, pasta con le sarde, caponata, panelle, pane ca' meusa (a Palermo offal sandwich, for the brave). Restaurants we book: Crocifisso in Noto, Accursio in Modica (two stars), Il Duomo in Ragusa Ibla, Gagini in Palermo, A Putia in Catania.
Etna jeep tours and wine tastings on the volcano's slopes, boat days along the Taormina coast, the baroque triangle of Noto-Modica-Ragusa, Palermo's street-food markets with a guide, the Marsala wine country in the west, the Aeolian Islands in summer (Stromboli, Lipari, Salina).
From the east: Etna, Taormina, Syracuse, the baroque triangle, and possibly Palermo as an overnight. From the west: Palermo, Monreale, Erice, the Marsala wineries, the Aegadian Islands.
Yes. Sicily is large (around 25,000 km²) and the things worth seeing are spread out. A car is essential, though for the east we often recommend a small rental + private driver for the longer day trips (Palermo, Agrigento). For the west, your own car works well.
Explore
Other destinations
Each region is hand-picked, walked, and slept in by us first. See which one is calling.
