Sicily: Italy at Its Deepest

There's a temptation, looking at the map, to treat Sicily as one more Italian region to be ticked off in a long weekend. Don't. Sicily is a world — Greek and Roman and Arab and Norman and Spanish, all at once — with its own food, its own light, and a volcano for a heartbeat. It is the most rewarding and the most overwhelming place in Italy, and the only way to enjoy it is to give up the idea of seeing it all.

So pick a half.

The east

The east is the classic loop, and the one most first-timers should choose. Taormina is the postcard — a cliff-top town with a Greek theatre framing Mount Etna — beautiful and busy, best early and late. South of it lies the baroque southeast: golden towns like Noto, Modica (of the famous chocolate), and Ragusa, rebuilt in extravagant style after a 17th-century earthquake. And at Syracuse, the old town of Ortigia sits on its own little island — a sandstone maze of markets, sea, and the best evening passeggiata in Sicily.

The west

The west is wilder, poorer, and far less touristed — which is exactly its appeal. Palermo is glorious chaos: Arab-Norman churches, a baroque heart, and street markets (Ballarò, Vucciria) where the food is loud and cheap and extraordinary. Inland and south, the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento holds some of the best-preserved Greek temples anywhere — better than most of Greece. West again are the salt pans and tuna towns of Trapani and the hill-town of Erice.

Etna

And over all of it, Etna — Europe's largest active volcano, snow-capped in winter, smoking year-round, its lower slopes terraced with some of Italy's most exciting vineyards. You can take a cable car and a guide toward the summit craters, walk the lava fields and lower trails on your own, or simply drink the volcanic wine and watch it glow at dusk. It is the thing you'll remember.

The food

It would be a mistake to come to Sicily and treat food as a sideline. This is granita and a warm brioche for breakfast; arancini and panelle and sfincione from a Palermo street stall; pasta alla Norma and swordfish and the sweetest tomatoes; and cannoli filled to order, never before. Eat where it's busy and Sicilian, and budget for it the way you'd budget for the sights.

How to do it slowly

Give Sicily a week, and give that week to one half of the island. Fly into Catania for the east, Palermo for the west, rent a car, and resist the urge to drive across — the interior is slow and the coast is where you want to be. Come in May, June, or September: spring and early autumn are warm, green or golden, and far calmer than the August furnace.

Still choosing your corner of the Mediterranean? Take the quiz. For more of Italy slowly, see Positano on the Amalfi Coast and wild Sardinia.