Sicily Crossroads: Palermo to Syracuse

Sicily · Italy

Easy9 daysEurope~£1,300 est.

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Overview

Sicily has been Greek, Roman, Arab, Norman and Spanish, often within the same building. In Palermo's Cappella Palatina, Byzantine gold mosaics sit beneath an Arab honeycomb ceiling built for a Norman king — the whole island's story in one room. This nine-day west-to-east journey eats its way from Palermo's Ballarò market (panelle from the fryer, sfincione from a bicycle cart) to Monreale's vast Christ Pantocrator, then south to the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento — best at dusk when the sandstone glows — the Roman hunting-lodge mosaics of Villa Romana del Casale, and finally Ortigia in Syracuse, where the Duomo's baroque facade wraps a 2,500-year-old Doric temple whose columns still stand in the nave. You can do it by train and bus with patience, but a hire car unlocks the interior — Sicilian motorway driving is easier than its reputation. April–June and September–October give warm seas and bearable sightseeing; August is crowded and furnace-hot. Nine days with agriturismo and B&B stays, car hire and a couple of guided visits runs about £1,200–£1,400. Come hungry.