From historic markets and island hopping, to saintly sweets and ruin exploration, here at Urban List, we believe Sicily packs a punch when it comes to keeping tourists busy and in complete awe.
When you're not busy sunning yourself at the best beaches, here are the rest of the best things to in Sicily.
Go On A No Mafia Tour
When you think Sicily, the mafia often comes to mind too, so why not educate yourself on the complex subject in-between spritzes? Palermo-based charity Addiopizzo (meaning goodbye extortion money) was formed in 2004 by a group of fresh-faced and fed-up university students who decided to stand up to the bullish mobster tactics running rampant in their city.
Today, those same faces (and new ones) work to three pillars; the top one being to stop the flow of money ending up in mobster pockets, be it through pizzo paid by the business owners themselves, and the citizens and tourists who purchase from them. These mafia-free (or non pizzo paying) businesses are marked with an orange sticker in their front window and are listed online.
On this walking tour through Palermo, you’ll learn more about this movement, visit the court where mobster trials are heard, and meet no-mafia business owners. And you’ll find out just how accurate The Godfather films are (spoiler: they’re not).
Go To The Theatre
Image credit: Siret K
Teatro Massimo, the world’s third largest opera house, sits in the heart of Palermo and is a glorious sight, inside and out. Opening its doors in 1897, the theatre has appeared in many films, most notably, that very staircase where Mary Corleone was assassinated. Not to mention, in the second series of The White Lotus, Quentin and friends take Tanya to the opera to see Madama Butterfly. And we all know what happened next.
Tours of the theatre take place daily, and there’s a cute garden cafe at the front, but why not make like Tanya and take in a show—this grand dame is famous worldwide for its perfect acoustics which are thanks to its horseshoe shape.
Have A Drink At The White Lotus Hotel
Image credit: San Dominco Palace
The San Domenico Palace in Taormina will forever be known as “The White Lotus Hotel,” thanks to the second season of the HBO Max show shot in Sicily. It’s a Four Seasons Hotel, with all the bells and whistles you’d expect (previous guests here include Oscar Wilde, King Edward VIII, and Elizabeth Taylor), so stay, wine, and dine, or simply take a bougee pivot at aperitivo time (around 20€ a drink).
You’ll get to tour the gardens, receive the same level of customer service as a guest, and at sunset, head to the terrace for breathtaking views and spritz in hand—meraviglioso.
Eat All The Street Food
Palermo is known for its cibo di strada so much so, that in 2012 Forbes ranked it fifth in The World's Top 10 Cities for Street Food, but every city on the island has its own hero cibo di strada. In Palermo, offal is king and comes in all forms, the most common being pani câ meusa (boiled veal lung and spleen inside a soft sesame seed bun).
In Catania it’s all about the arancini or stuffed rice balls. Order more than one (arancini) to save yourself entering a debate about whether one rice ball is an arancino (in Catania) or arancina (in Palermo).
For those with a sweet tooth, try a granita which is like an Italian slurpee made with fruit puree (any vendor selling gelato will have granita, too), while a brioche con gelato is as it sounds—a soft brioche bun stuffed with gelato and usually eaten at breakfast.
Cannoli is the most famous Italian street food (and the messiest). Created in Palermo, you might find them a little different to the ones in Australia. Here, the filling is ricotta and is often topped at the end with chocolate chips, candied orange peel, candied cherry, or crushed pistachios. There is no wrong/right rule except don’t purchase them pre-filled – a vendor should fill the pastry tube in front of you while you pick your toppings.
And to wash this all down, grab a takeaway spritz—but make it a Sicilian one, made with limoncello. While the Aperol spritz rules most drink menus across the country, practically every region has their own aperitif, it just hasn’t been “discovered” by tourists yet and Sicily’s contribution is just as delicious as its northern counterpart.
Go Ruin And Temple-Hopping
If you fancy yourself a modern Indie, look no further than Sicily—there’s a reason why Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is set here. The list is long, but the top spot is the 1300-hectare Valley of the Temples in Agrigento.
Two hours south of Palermo, the UNESCO-listed complex is the best-preserved example of ancient Greek architecture anywhere, including Greece. There are seven temples; the Temple of Concordia is the most recognisable.
Number two is Taormina’s ancient Greek theatre (Teatro Antico di Taormina). With killer views of the sea and Mount Etna, Taormina is pretty perfect the way it is, but this 3rd-century BC Greek treasure takes ruin exploration to a whole new level.
It was rebuilt by the Romans in the 2nd-century but how it looks today is how it looked back then. Amazingly, it hosts live Italian opera events; this year’s programme includes Andrea Bocelli and Robert Plant.
Shop At The Bazaars In Palermo
Image credit: Tomas Anton Escobar
Each quarter has its own market, but as a visitor, there are three you should see. Ballarò, the largest, dates back to the 14th century and is best visited first thing. It’s a fresh food market predominately, but you’ll see stalls hawking odds and ends, too. A walk through the market is entertaining: vendors yell out the day’s specials in Sicilian, while housewives (who will occasionally do their own yelling) pick up the ingredients they’ll need for lunch and dinner.
It is very much a local’s market: don’t dress up, don’t touch the fruit or veggies unless you’re planning on purchasing, easy on the photos, bring cash and watch your belongings. After the assault on your senses is complete, head to one of the bars to grab an espresso and breakfast arancini and continue the people watching.
Capo market is just up the road from Ballarò, and dates back to when the Arabs ruled Palermo. Like Ballarò, there are fresh produce stalls and rows and rows of seafood vendors. The alleyways are perhaps more interesting to stroll through than Ballarò but scooters zoom through so hold your belongings tightly.
In the evening, head to Vucciria, for a cheap aperitivo or seafood dinner cooked in front of your eyes while you sit on plastic chairs – whatever was caught that day makes up the dinner menu. The open-air market turns makeshift nightclub late into the night with loud music, cheap drinks, and fried food on sticks (if you’re a light sleeper, don’t pick an Airbnb anywhere near the market).
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Explore The Islands
Image credit: Giuseppe Gallo
You could easily turn your Italian holiday into one big, dreamy island-hopping venture to the next if you wanted to, and you could do the same down south. There are six islands that make up the Aeolian Islands, a UNESCO-protected archipelago off the coast north-eastern Sicily.
Each island has their own characteristics and worth a visit, but most notably, Stromboli is the largest and most well-known because of its active volcano of the same name and Salina is probably the most upmarket with sandy beaches, boutique hotels and some of Il Postino was filmed here.
Eat Sweets Made At A Convent
Located inside Santa Caterina convent in the heart of Palermo, the in-house bakery named I Segreti del Chiostro (The Secrets of the Cloister) bakes on-site and sells traditional Sicilian sweets like biscuits, cannoli (filled when you order), cassata, and more.
I Segreti del Chiostro started as a project to safeguard secret recipes of convent bakeries from all over Sicily. It’s still a convent; the bakery is just a simple set up, with a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sign to a door where you’ll have to wait your turn to enter and order. Once you have your sweet, sit outside in the garden and enjoy what is known as the best cannolo in Sicily.
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Image credit: Henrique Ferreira
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