Sicily news and features

"Оптимизм - это доктрина, утверждающая, что все прекрасно, включая безобразное, все хорошо, особенно плохое, и все правильно, в том числе неправильное… Доктрина эта передается по наследству, однако, к счастью, не заразна." Амброз Бирс

When Goethe wrote that Sicily was the key to Italy, he could just have easily written that it was the key to ancient Greece. Visit this lush and once prosperous island, the largest in the Mediterranean Sea, and marvel at the finest surviving Doric temples and theatres from the ancient Greek world – the setting for much of Homer’s Odyssey. As well as being known for its excellent food, the smoking craters of Mount Etna, gently faded baroque palaces and dramatically located cliff-top villages, Sicily has endless stretches of relatively undiscovered, beautifully wild beaches with crystal-clear waters. It’s an immense, open-air museum at the crossroads between Europe and Africa.

Best time to go: The shoulder season of April-June and September-October avoids the summer crowds and has slightly cooler, more comfortable temperatures.


The weather in Sicily: Sicily has a mild climate all year round, with average daily highs of 16°C in winter and 30°C in summer.


How to get there: There are two main international airports, Palermo and Catania-Fontanarossa Airport.


What’s the currency? Euros.


Best ways to get around: Sicily’s bus and train networks offer direct services on main intercity routes, but are not as efficient as their Italian mainland counterparts. If you want to cover proper ground, a car is essential – and the best way to see the many pretty towns and villages dotted around its rugged hills.


Recommended films set in Sicily: Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather trilogy, Academy-Award winning Il Postino, partially shot in the beautiful Aeolian island of Salina, Giuseppe Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso.


Recommended books set in Sicily: The Leopard, by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, The Godfather‘s literary sequel The Sicilian by Mario Puzo.



"Когда ты родился, ты плакал, а мир улыбался. Так проживи жизнь так, чтобы умирая, ты улыбался, а мир плакал… Тупак Шакур"

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