Will be spending 10 days in Sicily. Staying in Taromina, Selinunte, Agrigento, Siracusa, Palermo. I would appreciate any advice especially for restaurants, wine bars/shops.
Worth checking out the Sloweurope travel forum, as there have been some recent visitors as well as those with past experience.
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Just got back from there - copying/pasting a few recs provided to someone else
On Etna
- We spent most of the time on Etna itself either hiking or tasting at wineries, the only proper meal we had was at Ristorante San Giorgio e il Drago. It was delicious and situated very close to both wineries we visited, Terre Nere and Terrazze dell’Etna.
Taormina
- St. George was a Michelin 2-star and fantastic.
- Ristorante Nero d’Avola was great and had one of the most memorable dishes for me with a cream of asparagus base, prawns, and calamari. Wildly good.
- Ristorante Cinque Archi was a great experience especially with a table on the balcony overlooking the square w/ live music. A touch pricey, but worth it.
- We did a cooking class at Bistro Siciliano Ahoy (?? Not sure if that’s the proper name, my gf organized it) that was really enjoyable. Surprised at both how much we had fun, and how great the food turned out. Group met in Taormina, and the restaurant itself was in Giardini-Naxos
- Mazzaro beach was cleaner and less crowded than Isola Bella beach, we much preferred it
General observations for Sicily
- Eat all the caponata, eggplant dishes, and asparagus dishes you can, and you’ll be happy campers.
- Same with the granitas. Lemon is the classic, but a coffee granita is a great way to start the day
- Taxis are insanely priced, especially around Taormina with the cable car out of service. Renting a car will save you a whole lot of money
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In Etna, I Vigneri/Salvo Foti was a great visit. Passopisciaro/Franchetti was disappointing.
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what made it a great visit?
Very personal down to earth visit with the next generation (40ish) winemaker in a very basic but architecturally elegant production facility using traditional Sicilian winemaking methodology. The Press was a sight to see.
The entire family was there working and we had a great conversation about farming in an environment where falling volcanic ash is a standard weather related factor in farming.
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thanks - sounds great. I asked because I’m trying to put together a few winery visits and given it’s a couples trip it can’t be all about “best wines” - so want to find a mix of great views, good tours, good food, good hospitality, good English, etc.
We worked with a group called niche Italy which did a fantastic job arranging outstanding restaurants, winery visits, and outstanding hotels.
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What did they charge for wineries and restaurants? Is it a convenience thing, or is it literally access that otherwise couldn’t be received? Going to Sicily this Fall for first time
Some of the things they offer would be access that probably would be difficult if not impossible to get. We visited small family farms and individuals that had really cool experiences. Maybe you’d be able to contact those people if you knew who they were and spoke fluent Italian, idk. The restaurants I’m sure you could book yourself and the more popular wineries, a lot of them like Gulfi, you could probably book on your own.