Sicily: Taormina & Syracuse
Alone

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Why Eastern Sicily

Most people who have not been to Sicily picture one thing: Taormina’s terrace over the sea, the postcard view with Etna behind it. That view is real, and it is only a sliver of the coast. Ortigia’s old streets, Syracuse’s Greek theater, Catania’s black-stone churches and fish market, Noto’s honey-colored Baroque and the Hyblaean hill roads toward Modica and Ragusa all need more time than a day trip allows.

This guide covers the eastern third of Sicily: the stretch that runs from Catania’s airport north to Taormina and south past Syracuse to Noto, with the inland detour to Modica and Ragusa and the day trip up Etna. It does not cover Palermo, Cefalù, the Aeolian Islands, Agrigento’s Valley of the Temples or the rest of the west, which have their own character (more Arab-Norman, more chaotic, a different coast entirely) and, for Palermo, their own guide in this series. If Palermo is on your list too, treat the two as separate trips; trying to do both in one visit means rushing both.

A free excerpt from Sicily: Taormina & Syracuse Alone.