Sicily — Baroque Towns, Volcanoes & the Mediterranean's Greatest Island 🍊
Greek temples, smoking Etna, baroque hill towns and some of the best food in Italy. Hand-picked stays and must-book experiences — every link takes you straight to Trip.com to check live prices and book.
🏨 Where to Stay
- San Domenico Palace, Taormina, A Four Seasons Hotel ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — the island's most famous address: a 14th-century clifftop convent turned Four Seasons, with an infinity pool that meets the horizon, Michelin-starred dining and views straight to Etna and the Ionian Sea. The setting for season two of The White Lotus.
- Grand Hotel Timeo, A Belmond Hotel ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — the first hotel ever built in Taormina, opened in 1873 and standing right beside the ancient Greek Theatre in six acres of terraced gardens. Belmond glamour, the Michelin-starred Otto Geleng restaurant and a piano-bar terrace made for sunset.
- Villa Igiea, a Rocco Forte Hotel ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — Palermo's Belle Époque grande dame, a Liberty-style palazzo on the Gulf with tiered gardens running down to the sea. The ideal base for the west of the island: bustling markets, baroque palaces and the golden mosaics of Monreale.
- Verdura Resort, a Rocco Forte Hotel ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — Rocco Forte's flagship resort on the quiet southwest coast near Sciacca: 230 hectares of Mediterranean coastline, two championship golf courses, a vast spa and nearly two kilometres of private beach. A true unwind, and less than an hour from the temples of Agrigento.
- Hotel Villa Carlotta ⭐⭐⭐⭐ — attainable pick — a 23-room clifftop boutique built in 1860 for a local aristocratic family, a short walk from the heart of Taormina, with sea and Etna views, a garden pool and Byzantine catacombs on the grounds — genuine romance well below Four Seasons prices.
✈️ Flights
🎟️ Experiences
- Mount Etna — Tickets & Tours — Europe's highest active volcano and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, smoking above the east coast at 3,329m. Ride the Funivia cable car up from Rifugio Sapienza, then take a 4x4 and guide higher toward the summit craters. Easiest booked as a tour with hotel pick-up from Taormina or Catania.
- Valley of the Temples, Agrigento — one of the great archaeological sites of the world: a ridge of Doric temples from the 5th–6th century BC, crowned by the near-perfect Temple of Concordia. Some of the best-preserved Greek architecture anywhere, and utterly magical at sunset.
- Ancient Theatre of Taormina — the No. 1 sight in Taormina and one of the most beautifully sited theatres on earth: a 3rd-century-BC Greek amphitheatre carved into the hillside, framing the sea and the smoking cone of Etna beyond the stage. Still hosts summer concerts and opera.
🚗 Car Hire & Transfers
Taormina
Palermo