Sicilia: What We Have Learned

I’ve been waiting my whole life for my Nonno & Nonna to take me back home to Sicily where they are from, but as they got older I started to realize that trip I had always envisioned was never going to happen.

I think they don’t like flying, and over the years things changed for them. They’re comfortable where they are; Canada is home for them now. My Nonno had a very tough time growing up in Sicily, but life was good to him in the west. He left everything he knew and travelled to a new world with nothing, yet did very well for himself.

I think the couple times he did go back, he was reminded of a time that didn’t treat him so well. They are very proud to be Sicilian and they love the place very much, but I think, like many things, it’s just complicated.

I grew to understand their feelings, but the desire to see the place where I’m from grew too strong to resist any longer. So I looked into flights and planned to take my partner Alex instead. The first time we went in 2023, we started our trip on the amazing island of Malta, as I had been there before and have family there too. From there we took a ferry to and from Sicily.

While my grandparents might no longer feel as though it’s their home… I waited my whole life to see and experience it, and as my partner tells it, “I have never seen you so happy or so at peace as the moment we got off that ferry in Sicily.”

We got engaged on that trip. We were only there for 5 days and felt as though we didn’t get to see anywhere near enough of the island, so we went back for our honeymoon. This time we flew into Catania over the magnificent volcano Mt. Etna, and stayed for 19 days. We love it there and hope to spend much more time on the island in the future.

But for now, after just 24 days in Sicilia (and a lifetime of hearing about it) below are some of the places we travelled and the things we learned.

Note that both times we went, we went in late September-Early October. In August, Italians/ Europeans vacation in Sicily and it is very busy. Some towns have their population go up 5x in size in August so maybe avoid that time and let them enjoy their beach towns during the hot season. By early-mid October many places start closing up their pools for the season.

Language

First and foremost, language. Many people don’t realize that Sicilians actually have their own UN recognized distinct language. Just this year, Google Translate added Sicilian as its own language! But even within that, the folks in Palermo would speak a different dialect of Sicilian than those in the south. For example, my grandparents speak an old dialect they call “Pachinese” (pack-in-ezze) which I can’t even find anything about online.

That all being said, many Sicilians do however also understand and speak “standard” Italian, but many do not speak English, neinte inglese. Using the Google Translate app will come in handy if you do not speak Italian. Learning some basic Italian phrases would come in handy.

The island is a place with so much history, it has been conquered by so many over time that the architecture, the food, the language is all like a cultural kaleidoscope: The Greeks brought the olives, The Romans brought the water, The Arabs brought the citrus, The Normans… built some crazy structures that still stand today.

This is a big part of why hand gestures are so important in southern Italy. Be careful though, it’s not like in Spain where your gestures are just an extension of your passion, in Sicily, hand gestures actually mean something!

Food

Of course, one of the main reasons people travel to Sicily is for the food! Sicily is basically known for its fruit, both on land and of the sea. Sicilians call seafood “frutti di mare” which translates to fruit of the sea. So if you like olives, oranges, lemons, tomatoes, prickly pears, eggplant and seafood, you’ll be quite happy in Sicily. The pasta… the pizza?! Molto bene! *chefs kiss*

My partner and I are both vegan however, so we had a bit more research to do to find the food we wanted to experience. I found this website linked in a facebook group, and it was quite helpful. Happy Cow also has quite a few good spots mentioned. I will list some of the favourite vegan restaurants we discovered below.

There are some great traditional Sicilian foods that happen to be vegan, like panelli (chickpea fritters), pasta al pomodoro (pasta with tomato sauce), vegan aranchini (stuffed rice ball) and granita and gelato (vegan ice cream like dessert).

Sicilians take food very seriously. We went on a vegan food tour in Ortigia, and the tour guide told us that as she asked more and more shops if they had vegan options, more and more of them started quickly carrying options for her. This almost never happens in North America, but I just pictured a bunch of Italian Nonna and Nonno shopkeepers realizing they can’t feed someone?! No way!

Transportation

Unfortunately I cannot comment on public transit in Sicily as I haven’t yet used it. There are good trains that will take you between each main city, but my understanding is that other public transit like buses can be unreliable. If you want to see the remote corners of Sicily, and you are a comfortable driver, I would recommend you hire a car (rent a car), but be prepared to likely be given a manual vehicle. There are not many automatic cars for rent on the island, and the ones that are available are probably larger vehicles than you will want.

The first time we arrived in Sicily, we arrived by boat from Malta. We used Virtu Ferries, and through them we were able to hire a car (rent a car) for the duration of our trip and then drop it off when we were heading back on the boat.

Because we were arriving on the island on the southern tip, away from the two main cities on the island, we decided to go this route as it would give us the freedom to see everything and everyone we wanted to see in just 5 days. We got a perfect little fiat panda that helped us blend in with the locals.
The second time we arrived in Sicily, we flew into Catania and hired a car from Hertz, but there are lots of options to choose from. As we had friends coming to join us at the very end of our trip, we didn’t rent another Fiat Panda, although my partner missed it our entire second trip. The Panda was too small for luggage for four people so we rented a small SUV. But even a small SUV in Sicily is a pretty huge car. There were a couple times where we almost did not fit down the streets.

The other main airport on Sicily is in Palermo, where you can also hire a car from many known rental companies.

Some tips if you plan on driving in Sicily:

1. Keep in mind you will likely be given a manual vehicle; there are not many automatic vehicles on the island.

2. Follow the flow of the road. Stay out of the left lane unless you are passing, they take this rule quite seriously. It makes for enjoyable drives actually.

3. There are some areas in Sicily where the roads are pedestrian only and not for driving. These areas are identifiable by signs that read ZTL (Zona a Traffico Limitato). Sometimes these zones are permanently closed for driving and sometimes, there is a digital sign that will indicate if the zone is currently active or not. If the zone is active, you cannot drive through it at that time. Pay attention to these zones as it can be stressful or even dangerous to drive through them, you can also get a fine. Many of the main city centres are ZTL. This makes for such an enjoyable experience once you are on foot. The cities are very walkable.

4. Rent as small a car as possible! Some of the old streets that were made for horses and buggies that somehow still allow cars are so freaking tight that on our second trip the SUV we rented, literally almost didn’t fit through the street.

5. The toll roads are quite cheap and nice, but aren’t required to get places (the regular highways are beautiful too) Ideally have change ready as some of the toll booths have staff that will make change for you, others don’t. Also the Sicilians behind you will get IMPATIENT if you make them wait at these booths, so the more change you have ready the better!

Sicily is a relatively small island, yet because of it’s mountainous landscape, each town was quite isolated from each other until more recently in history, giving them each their own distinct cultural identity. Today, with trains and the beautiful new highways that go right through the mountains, it only takes about 4 hours at the longest to get from one end of the island to the other.

The three largest cities on Sicily are Palermo, which is also the 5th largest city in all of Italy, Catania, and Syracusa (or Syracuse in English).

Below are the places we have been in Sicily and what we can tell you about them, starting from the north west tip and working our way south east and down the island:

Palermo/ Mondello Beach

Palermo is the largest city on the island of Sicily, and to be honest, my partner and I have so much more exploring to do here. We only spent 2 and a half days in Palermo, but it is such a vibrant interesting place and we want to go back.
We stayed in the historic city centre, which is a cycling ZTL, so during the day for a period, you can drive in, but at night, the centre is for pedestrians only. There are larger parking areas around these zones, park there and walk in. Keep this in mind when you book your hotel, we had to roll our bags down some long cobblestone streets as we arrived when we couldn’t drive in. After that one slight annoyance, it was so nice to be able to walk around the city at night with no cars around. There are a small handfull of roads that stay open at night, eventually you get to know which ones those are.

We visited the archaeology museum, which had a neat VR experience, and we went inside the Capuchin Catacombs, which has the largest collection of mummified remains in the EU. If you go to the Catacombs, please respect the local historical society’s wishes and don’t photograph the dead. This was a somber experience, but a meaningful one for me.

In our short time in Palermo, we did go check out the infamous Mondello Beach and I cannot recommend it enough, it is probably the most beautiful white sand beaches I have ever been to! The mountainous landscape on either side is just amazing. What a place.

One of the things we noticed about Palermo, is that there were no lines on the roads, and many of the stop lights weren’t working. It felt a bit more chaotic driving in Palermo than it did the rest of the island, but the thing about Palermo is that there are so many day trips available from there, so if you want to experience it all without driving, it can absolutely be done. We spoke to many people who booked day trips into Cefalu from Palermo, which we can’t recommend enough.

Top Three Must do/see in Palermo: Mondello Beach, Palermo Cathedral, Walk through the Historic Centre at Night (*Boat tour to Cefalu if you’re not planning to stay there, at least see it!)

Favourite Restaurants: Al Quds (Palestinan restaurant, best falafel we have ever had), aTipico (vegan restaurant)

Cefalu (che-fa-lu)

We didn’t just do a day trip though, we drove ourselves to Cefalu and stayed there for 4 days. I think Cefalu is probably my favourite place in the world, and not just because I got engaged there. From the moment I first laid eyes on the Rocca De Cefalu, the magnificent geological feature that the town is built around.. I got chills. I don’t know what it is about the place, but I feel like my ancestors must have done something crazy there… or something.

The town hasn’t changed in a long, long while, and in its modern form is a truly magnificent advert for Christianity. At night, atop the massive rock, a cross lights up the sky. The buildings were not allowed to be built any taller than the steps of the church. I find the design, scale and sight lines of the city just incredible. Underneath the Christian temples, and atop the rock, there has been archaeological evidence of even more ancient sacred pagan sites underneath. I suspect these sights are the true source of my draw to the place.

Cefalu was featured in the HBO show “White Lotus” but they disguised it as part of Taormina. In reality, Cefalu and Taormina are quite different and located hours apart, with a massive volcano between them.
We stayed at Le Calette, which is to date the most beautiful, well thought out resort I have ever stayed at, it was also one of the most expensive… but worth every penny. The sights, sounds and even smells of this resort are unmatched in my memory. Along the walking paths, they had a variety of the most fragrant flowering plants, that had been curated to perfection. The resort is located on the other side of the Rocca de Cefalu from the town, and so we would go on a lovely walk around the rock and its lighthouse, along the sea, right into the pedestrian friendly zone for dinner.
I loved this place and its magic so much.

Top Three Must do/see in Cefalu: Climb the Rocca de Cefalu, See the Lavatoio Medievale, Go for a walk along the Molo di Cefalú
Favourite Restaurant: Le Chat Noir, Bastione & Costanza (Incredibly Beautiful and Delicious Restaurant)

Catania

Catania is the second largest city on the island and sits at the base of Europe’s largest active volcano, Mt. Etna. Sicilians love and revere this volcano, crediting her with the creation of their home. This is why many call the volcano “Mama Etna”.

Our first trip, we were frankly ill prepared to go up the volcano. We didn’t think to bring warm enough clothes to Sicily, but it is usually at least 10C degrees colder up the volcano than in Catania. On the day we had planned to go up, the conditions were much too windy. So much so that the cable cars were shut down for the day and were rapidly swinging back and forth. I wore baggy pants, and even just at the basecamp which is about halfway up at 6500ft, I almost blew away.
Thank goodness the others in our tour group were okay with skipping going the rest of the way up, and instead we did an amazing food tour. All the food and wine we tried was grown on the volcano, incredible.
The second time we went to Sicily, we were much more prepared to go the rest of the way up the volcano. I brought warm tights and a windbreaker. Hiking boots are recommended too. Hot tip: I would also suggest bringing masks for your face just in case. When we went up, the volcano was emitting large clouds of sulfur dioxide, which is especially dangerous for those with asthma. It doesn’t always do this, but it is also quite hard to predict.
Sicilians don’t prioritize technology, and so it’s quite tough to actually get information on what is currently happening up at the top of the volcano. There are live feeds online, but even still, they don’t always tell you how fast the wind is blowing up there, how cold it is, etc. I haven’t yet been able to find any central source of information with live updates.
The first time we went up, we went up the south east side with a tour guide, and many of the tour guides talk and are in relatively constant communication with each other. So if you are with a tour guide, you won’t need to worry about any of those logistics.

The second time we went up Etna, we made it all the way up, or at least, as high as they let you go. We knew where the southeast basecamp is, so we just typed in Crateri Silvestri and headed for the Rifugio Sapienza (the basecamp). From there, at 6500ft you can pay to take the cable cars, or a large military bus up the rest of the way towards the newer and larger south east crater. There is also a way up to the North East crater, which the locals say there are better views from, but there is no cable car that gets you there.

Top Three Must do/see in Catania: Climb Mount Etna, Explore the Nightlife, Explore the Historic Fish Market
Favourite Restaurants: Plant Lab, FUD, the restaurant above Grotta dell’Amenano (Underground lava caves)

Taormina / Naxos

Taormina is a beautiful old town built on and around a stunning rocky cliff. As I mentioned before, this was the location of the HBO show White Lotus, Season 2.

We stayed outside of Taormina in Naxos for a couple reasons. The main reason is that we found a veg friendly hotel online that seemed absolutely gorgeous, and it was in Naxos. We decided to stay here for a few days rather than staying right in Taormina because we had heard it can be expensive and busy with tourists. While both were true, it was a really beautiful and unique place and someday I would like to stay in town for a few days. The town is almost divided in two, part of it is down near the shore, and the rest of the town is up a cliff. You can get to the higher part of town where the greek amphitheatre is by driving up, or by gondola.
We did some research before driving into Taormina because many of the streets up the cliff are ZTL. We had rented an electric vehicle, which did not turn out to be cheaper than a gas or diesel vehicle, but in someways it was convenient when planned well. There are dedicated parking spaces for electric vehicles, which in some tourist areas where parking was always full, was very convenient because the reserved spaces for electric vehicles were often open and available. So before driving into places like Taormina, we would look for an electric vehicle charger on google maps on the outskirts of a town, and then park there, charge and walk in. We did have some difficulty at first getting the enelX app working, but once our BnB host said we could use her address as the address on the app, we were able to get it working.
There is so much to see in Taormina, and we only scratched the surface. We did make it to Isola Bella (also featured in White Lotus), which is such an extraordinary place. The show depicts it as a place shrouded in darkness and mystery, as two of the main characters disappear there to have an affair… but while the place does have many nooks and crannies to explore, what the show doesn’t mention is that the lower structure on the island is one of the first examples of bio-architecture in the last century. It was truly one of the most unique human-made places I have ever been in my life.

Top Three Must do/see in Taormina/Naxos: Alcantara Gorge, Isola Bella, Explore the Historic City Center of Taormina up near Teatro Antico di Taormina.

Syracuse / Ortigia

Many people don’t realize that when they think of Ancient Greece, they are technically also thinking of Sicily. Archimedes’ Eureka moment actually happened in a bathhouse in Ortigia!
Syracuse was an ancient Greek settlement, and it is full of wonders. At one time it was a powerful city state that rivalled the size of Athens.

We did a boat tour around the small island of Ortigia, and then did a vegan food walking tour, all in one day. Our favourite vegan restaurant, maybe of all time, is located in Ortigia. It is an immensely popular place, not just for vegans, the food was absolutely incredible, so if you plan on eating at MOON (Move out of Normality) make sure to make a reservation!
The Ear of Dionysus sits just outside of the city centre, and is worth seeing! The stunning Greek amphitheatre that is part of the same park is truly inspiring. The views from all their ancient theatres were just insane.
We recommend not driving onto the island of Ortigia, much of it is ZTL, Google maps doesn’t know this, and we got quite a few tickets blindly following google’s lead. Our tickets ranged from 40euro-80euro

Top Three Must do/see in Syracuse/Ortigia: Ear of Dionysus, Tour of the Island of Ortigia, explore the Historic City Centre

Favourite Restaurant: MOON

Modica

Modica is a magical place known best for its ancient and famous chocolate making technique. During the time of Spanish Rule, a technique was brought to Modica likely originating from the Aztecs, but in Modica they added sugar, which would not have been available to the Aztecs. The technique produces a delicious and unique chocolate product that doesn’t contain milk. Because they don’t melt the chocolate all the way, the sugar doesn’t melt, giving it a wonderfully sweet grain to it.
Not only is there amazing vegan chocolate everywhere, the town itself is quite stunning. Built into a valley, the entire town is a UNESCO world heritage site and its main thoroughfare seems to prioritize art galleries and small theatres. We only spent the morning of my 33rd birthday there, but I would like to go back. My great grandfather is from Modica, and even though I had never been, it did somehow feel like home.

Noto

Noto is famous for the splendour of its golden hour.

Similar to Modica, Noto is a stunning small town in the south of Sicily, and also a UNESCO world heritage site in its entirety. My other great grandfather is from here. All city centers in Sicily come alive at night (make sure you save some energy for checking out the cities at night!) but Noto has a special quality at sun down, the entire main square glows with a rose gold shine that is worth seeing.

Pachino / Granelli

For the majority of our second trip to Sicily, we stayed down on the southern tip of the island in the little beach neighbourhood, Granelli. We have very gracious family friends there who offered for us to stay in the villa my Great-Grandfather built, which stands 200m from the Mediterranean Sea. We will never be able to thank them enough for such a special opportunity.

Granelli boasts almost 12kms of stunning Mediterranean beach, but there isn’t a whole lot else around. The reason for being here is: beach.
Pachino is the closest town to the neighbourhood of Granelli, and is famous for farming the world’s best tomatoes, particularly, cherry tomatoes. We went to check it out to visit family who still live there. All over Sicily, when I mentioned my family is from Pachino, they all replied, “Oh you’re from where the tomatoes are from!” This always made me smile because even in Canada, my Nonno grows the best tomatoes, and when he can’t grow them here in the winter, he would drive down and grow them in Florida.

Fun fact: If you look at Pachino on a map, it has a grid layout unlike any other place on the island, this is because it was originally a Maltese settlement.

Agrigento / Valley of the Temples

Agrigento in general is a little bit out of the way, but being home to the Valley of the Temples, we decided to stop over on this side of the island for a day, and we are so glad we did. Because of the mountains and highways, it’s not as easy to get to, but if you wanna see some pretty magnificent Greek ruins, this is the place for you!

We stayed outside of Agrigento in San Leone in a lovely hotel & spa that even had a really neat small archeological collection of their own displayed in the lobby and bar. Access to the spa after spending a long day in the sun walking around the ruins was so wonderful.

If you google “Sicily,” interestingly the photos that come up are often ones of the ruins in Agrigento, so while it is out of the way, we thought it was worth seeing!

There is so much more to see and explore. We have yet to go to Trapani or Messina, we merely drove through Comiso… We can’t wait to go back, and are already thinking about when we will go next.

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