Ionian Coast
Book ahead for a table at what is Santa Maria la Scala's best seafood restaurant. As you enter you'll find the fish counter, where your order is picked out and weighed before going in the pot. Your work done, feast in the tiny dining room (atmospherically set in the body of a cave) or, in the summer, at a table overlooking the harbour.
Tip: specialities include the insalata di mare (seafood salad), a mouth-watering medley of prawns, calamari and octopus, and the sensational grilled fish.
17.41 MILES
Taormina's premier sight is this perfect horseshoe-shaped theatre, suspended between sea and sky, with Mt Etna looming on the southern horizon. Built in…
9.11 MILES
Completed in 1890 and made for homegrown composer Vincenzo Bellini, Catania's opera house is suitably lavish, from the stucco-and-marble extravagance of…
9.34 MILES
Catania's raucous fish market, which takes over the streets behind Piazza del Duomo every workday morning, is pure street theatre. Tables groan under the…
9.31 MILES
The Monastero delle Benedettine covers two adjacent sites: a Benedictine convent and the Chiesa di San Benedetto. Top billing goes to the church, built…
9.29 MILES
A Unesco World Heritage Site, Catania's central piazza is a set piece of contrasting lava and limestone, surrounded by buildings in the unique local…
11.12 MILES
Funivia dell'Etna runs a cable car from Rifugio Sapienza (1920m) up the mountain to 2500m. Once out of the cable car you can attempt the long walk (3½ to…
Monastero dei Benedettini di San Nicolò l'Arena
9.4 MILES
This is one of Europe's largest monasteries and an example of the wealth enjoyed by the Benedictine order. Built in 1703 and now part of the city…
17.27 MILES
Taormina's chief delight is wandering this pedestrian-friendly, boutique-lined thoroughfare. Start at the tourist office in Palazzo Corvaja, which dates…
0.08 MILES
There are two reasons to make the 2km downhill walk to this minute fishing village. One is the walk itself, which, once you've crossed the main road, is a…
2. Basilica Cattedrale di Maria Santissima Annunziata
0.55 MILES
Flanking the western side of Piazza Duomo is Acireale's barrel-vaulted cathedral. Built in the early 1600s, it's topped by towering, conical-capped towers…
3. Basilica dei Santi Pietro e Paolo
0.56 MILES
Next to the cathedral, the Basilica dei Santi Pietro e Paolo sports a wonderfully light, 18th-century facade. To the right of it, the Palazzo Municipale…
0.64 MILES
The Basilica di San Sebastiano is one of Acireale's finest baroque buildings. Guarded by statues of Old Testament characters, the basilica lifts the…
5. Teatro-Museo dell'Opera dei Pupi
2.6 MILES
Acireale has a long tradition of puppet theatre, and you can learn all about it here. One-hour guided tours of the museum are available in English, albeit…
4.62 MILES
Built in the 13th century, this dark, brooding Norman castle sits over an earlier Arab fortification. It's in surprisingly good shape considering its age,…
8.48 MILES
Le Ciminiere is a modern museum complex housed in a converted sulphur refinery. The most interesting of its museums is the Museo Storico dello Sbarco in…
8.49 MILES
Located at Le Ciminiere – a converted sulphur refinery – the Museo del Cinema explores the evolution of movie making. Exhibition translations are poor,…