Sicily is surprisingly astonishing. For some of us, it has become our regular destination. A place we choose to go, year after year. For others remains still undiscovered.
A huge island where you can spend weeks or even months without being able to see it all. A destination that will openly welcome you and make you feel special.
Val di Noto is an astounding area. A Unesco Heritage Monument. A valley that comes full of historical towns, eye-catching architecture, majestic nature, and exquisite cuisine.
Taormina is magical and needless to say that it is a destination that has been welcoming travelers for hundreds of years.
The South East Coast of Sicily is unbelievably beautiful. Full of ancient history, ancient sites, Sicilian Baroque Architecture, amazing beaches, and the best food ever.
Sicily’s Splendor: An 11-Day Itinerary for History, Art, and Architecture Aficionados
You can surely get a taste of the vibes from the short series “Inspector Montalbano“.
The wider area of Syracuse, Taormina, and, of course, the scattered villages on the slopes of Etna are among our favorite areas in Sicily for a relaxing stay.
And we have favorite properties in every location that we cannot recommend highly enough.
Of course, through the years we stayed all over the place. From Palermo to Catania and from Messina to Agrigento.
In hotels of all classifications, Bed, and Breakfasts or B and Bs as the locals call them, AirBnBs where we said never again, and of course villas.
Where to go in Sicily and what to see… at least during your first visit!
Some were amongst the greatest tourist traps we have come across to this day. Especially a Bed and Breakfast that is located in Piazza Duomo in Ortigia.
What an unpleasant and strange experience we had… Others were OK as they would be in any other destination and some made us feel that hospitality is indeed a thing in Sicily.
Based on our experiences there are two ways you can go when the time comes to choose where to stay.
The first and most traditional option is to book accommodation through platforms such as booking.com, especially if you are doing a tour with multiple stops along the way.
Check the reviews when you start your search and when you start finding the properties you like. Particularly those that are descriptive.
Remember that not all reviews on this platform are genuine.
Hoteliers, you see, make sure to get some reviews by inviting friends to book a stay and then be able to write a review.
So keep an eye out for these and don’t fall into their trap.
Hotel chains are tolerable. Particularly the international ones.
Not all of them are acceptable, but the top ones are, and a few among them are even exceptional.
Bed and Breakfasts, on the other hand, are usually a sad story. The majority of them are basic and offer no real services.
You can find Bed and Breakfasts that include breakfast in the price, but the breakfast is just a coffee and a croissant served at a nearby cafe.
That though is something you will discover only when the time to enjoy breakfast arrives.
And AirBnBs are by definition a disaster.
I guess, with Airbnb allowing everyone to add a property on their platform without even checking if that property exists or if it is already listed, it makes it a nightmare.
In a good scenario, you will find the property you booked but unless you speak Italian you will be unable to communicate with the owners or whoever manages the said property.
Again here services are inexistent.
So make sure to get to know your whereabouts including the exact location, nearest supermarket, pharmacy, and the lot.
Basic amenities like toilet paper might be missing… As for cleaning well…
Villas, on the other hand, and I mean real villas as opposed to what the Italians refer to as villas, can be an exceptional choice.
Finding them though can be an issue. Surely there are companies offering a few or many but…
Be cautious. Sometimes, the images used to showcase the villas are far from true and that goes both ways.
In a few cases do not really do justice to the property and in other cases, they present an experience that bears no resemblance to reality.
You see, properties are staged during photoshoots and that does not automatically mean that what you see will be what you get.
In conclusion, going to a destination where not so many people speak English for the first time can be complicated.