Sicily Itinerary

4 Days in Sicily (September 2022)

What an island. I can now say, Sicily is my number one travel spot.

I believe it is the most incredible place that I've ever seen in my whole life. I hope I will have the chance to explore the other side of the island one day.

Where to begin with.

I decided to make Catania as my main hub.

I only stayed in Catania, and travel around daily.

First, I landed on Catania Airport which is nearly in the middle of the city.

Only 15 minutes to the city center.

If you rented a car, I guess it would be better. But driving is not that easy in Sicily.

There are so many ZLT - traffic limited zones, that you are going to have to park your car outside of the villages.

If you didn’t rent a car, no problem, there are lots of daily buses to most of the villages.

So let’s begin.

Ortigia / Syracuse

I had the opening with Syracuse and Ortigia, they are side by side.

Syracuse

As I was really hungry, I directly went to the Fratelli Burcio which is a panini land for me actually. You will not believe your eyes; the varieties will drive you crazy. You can also buy some salamis or cheese from here to go.

Fratelli Burgio

Then I head to explore the Ortigia Street Market, it is not a flea market but more a street food market.

From there it is time to check out the Tempio di Apollo, Museo Archimede e Leonardo, and the famous Piazza Archimede, where there is Fontana di Diana.

If you are interested in antiques, don’t miss the Antico Mercato di Ortigia.

Fontana di Diana

Chiesa di Santa Lucia alla Badia is very near, you can stop by there.

Afterwards I walked all the way down to the south to see the Castello Maniace.

You can relax here, there is a small bar that you can enjoy a small breeze with a cocktail.

If it is afternoon, you can consider having a drink during sunset in Mikatu or in Sunset Ortigia.

You should walk from these streets, there are a lot of cute boutiques,

· Via Roma

· Corso Giacomo Matteotti

· Piazza Duomo

Have a granita in Gelateria Gusto and have a delicious chocolate from Sabadi Cioccolato.

For dinner, I had Pasta alla Norma in a small and local restaurant called A Putia. I can recommend it. With a glass of Nero D'Avola red wine. Nero D'Avola is the name of the grape that is very popular in Sicily. So give it a try.

In addition to these, there are also boutiques that you may be interested in that are unique;

• Ciatu

• Ebano

A Putia

From Ortigia, I head back to Catania, which is not too far, only 1.5 hours drive.

Catania

Catania is the base of the island. So it is much more crowded when it is compared to the small villages.

I didn’t spend a whole day here, but I wandered around for a while. These are the things that you should do,

· Check out Piazza Duomo and Piazza Universita as they are lively squares.

· Walk around the Catania Fish Market, it may smell a bit funny, but it is a very particular thing that you can experience.

· You can see the Saint Agatha Cathedral after the fish market.

· Visit the Teatro Romano while enjoying the view of Mount Etna

· Visit the Castello Ursino

· See Fontana dell’Elefante

· Walk in the Via Etnea which is the shopping district

· Enjoy the gardens of Villa Bellini

· Have a look at the local food market which is called Mercato di Piazza Carlo Alberto

The food and restaurants you may try are,

· Pasticceria Savia, one of the oldest pastry shop

· Paninis of the La Salumeria Fratelli Zappala

· Vuciata (Sicilian dishes)

· Razmataz (wine bar) highly recommended

· Trattoria U Fucularu (small Sicilian restaurant, very cozy)

· BarnAut (pub)

· Prestipino Café (a tourist place however you can try the cannoli here one morning)

Next on

Taormina

Probably my favorite village in the whole island.

But first you should park outside the village because it is a ZLT (zone limited traffic) location.

I can advise you to park at Parcheggio Lumbi that has free shuttle from parking place to the center.

After that you can have a breakfast in the famous Bambar Café, the granita here is the best.

Don’t forget to add cream and brioche on your order.

From there you must visit the Teatro Greco, there may be a line however you shouldn’t miss this.

While you are going to walk to the Teatro Antico di Taormina, you will encounter with so many interesting stores, feel free to check them out. The name of the street is Via Teatro Greco.

You can buy the famous pistachio cream liqueur, the local almond cookies and very interesting marzipan from these stores.

From there, walk all the way of Corso Umberto and Piazza XI Aprile.

Check out the Duomo Taormina and the narrowest street called Vicolo Stretto.

Visit the Villa Comunale Gardens, and Chiesa Madonna della Rocca.

The restaurants to consider are;

· Da Cristina

· Pizzeria Villa Zuccaro

· Stritfud

The unique boutiques;

· Di Blasi Ceramiche

· Don Corleone Objects

· I Saraceni

Outside Taormina, you can also visit Isola Bella a very beautiful island close to Taormina. Another village you can visit is Castelmola.

Also, you can join the Godfather day tours, if you are into it.

RAGUSA & MODICA

You can see both villages in a day, they are very close to each other and they are very small, so here we go.

Again, try to park in a secure parking lot, I parked here.

As the village is on a hill, you are going to climb a lot so this parking lot will do the favor.

Let's start climbing the hill 😊

I directly head to Duomo di San Giorgio which is a popular square.

Try the gelato of Gelati Divini's while you are exploring around.

From there I walked to Giardino Ibleo, where I relaxed a little bit. There are small churches inside the garden that you can visit.

You should check the Portale San Giorgio Vecchio, the door of a destroyed cathedral.

After Ragusa Ibla, you can go to Ragusa Superiore, not so far from the Ragusa Ibla, however you may need to take your car again.

Here you can eat at Panificio Giummarra and buy some famous cheese from Casa del Formaggio.

From Ragusa, I went to Modica, 20 min drive. Where I spent the other half of the day.

Modica is a flat city, so you can walk easily here.

You can park on the street but don’t forget to buy the appropriate parking ticket.

First, I walked all the way down in Corso Umberto, small stores and beautiful churches you can explore.

Duomo di San Giorgio

Visit the Duomo di San Giorgio. After that you can go to Castello dei Conti and visit the Chocolate Museum of Modica.

From there I went to Antica Dolceria Bonajuto and bought a lot of chocolate. This place is the oldest chocolate shop in whole Sicily.

Also there is Café Adamo, stop by for a very delicious gelato. The ricotta flavor is recommended by me.

For a quick bite, I advise you to eat some arancini in Cantunera Modica.

Cantunera Modica

and the final destination;

Noto

Another beautiful small village.

This place is famous with it's gelato. I tried the gelato in its own local cafe called Caffe Sicilia.

There are also very delicious pastries too.

Caffe Sicilia

Afterwards,

I started walking around. Beginning from Porto Reale o Ferdinandea, walk all the way long through Corso Vittorio Emanuele.

Very beautiful avenue with the spots you can visit that are Noto Cathedral, some churches and Palazzo Ducezio.

Shops and small boutiques for souvenirs.

Don’t miss the Chiesa di San Carlo al Corso, Fontana d’Ercole and Palazzo Castelluccio.

Before heading back to the airport, I ate my last lunch in Anche Gli Angeli, a little fancy restaurant with a historic atmosphere.

Instead of this, you can try Panificio Maidda for a quick bite. I think that's all for now.

This was my experience in beautiful Sicily, hope this will be helpful for you too. Have a great journey.....