Something of a mini-continent, the island of Sicily in Italy ticks most boxes. Adventurer, art lover, beach bum, ruin explorer: this rugged chunk of sun-spun land at the crossroads of the Tyrrhenian, Ionian and Mediterranean seas has enticed ancient and modern peoples with its charms since time immemorial. The result: one of Europe's richest and most extraordinary histories, with an unmatched booty of artistic and drop-dead-gorgeous natural treasures. The food and drink's not bad either.
Turquoise cove to ridgetop temple. Byzantine mosaics to chubby-cheeked baroque putti (cherubs). Windswept olive and lemon groves and dry, parched gardens planted with pomegranate, fig and carob trees. Traveling around Sicily might feel like sensory overload on steroids, but it exudes Sicilian dolce far niente (sweet nothing) in buckets.
July and August are the busiest months, but every month has its own beauty. The very real temptation of simply eating and drinking your way around Sicily aside, here are nine top things to see and do on the island.
Scantily-clad Olympians, African animals, lepers, deities, mythical monsters, Adam and Eve: the wild stories told by Sicily's Herculean cache of Roman, Byzantine and Arab-Norman mosaics will have you hooked for days. Begin your mosaic mini-tour in the glittering gold cathedral crowning the hilltop Monreale, built for William II in 1184 to upstage grandfather Roger II's magnificent building accomplishments in Cefalù (Duomo di Cefalù) and Palermo (Cappella Palatina). Continue the mosaic fest in Villa Romana del Casale, a Roman patrician's palatial country pad a couple of hours' drive inland.
Hiking or mountain biking up the emblematic slopes of massive brooding Mount Etna is a classic. But if you're into a fire-spitting volcano with a primordial village vibe and post-hike pizza with fireworks, hit the less-sung Stromboli – legend says that wind god Aeolus and other mythological deities had a hand in this island's marvelous creation. But a guided trek at sunset from the whitewashed village up charred slopes shows the harsh reality of living next to a volcano, a tempestuous environment ruled by Mother Nature alone. From the smaller volcano's Sciara del Fucco viewpoint at 400m, only accessible with a guide, watch red-hot rocks roll down the lava-charred mountainside into the sea, and then hike back down by torchlight for dinner alfresco at Ristorante Osservatorio Stromboli.
On Sicily's southern Mediterranean coast, Agrigento's Valley of the Temples makes an impression like no other ruins on the island. Strung out along a long rocky promontory where the ancient Greeks built sacred temples as holy beacons for sailors 2500 years ago, the vast archaeological site is prized by UNESCO
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Road warriors have a new reason to celebrate for the weekend. National Rental Car recently launched a new promotion where members of their Emerald Club loyalty program can earn double credits on all weekend rentals from April 4 to June 9. The promotion provides the credits for rentals that are picked up on a Thursday, Friday, or Saturday and returned on a Sunday. Membership into the Emerald Club program is free, and helps travelers earn credits toward future car rentals.
Mobile is one of our Best Places to Go in the North America for 2024, part of our global guide to the Best Places to Go in 2024—find more travel inspiration here.
Bigger than the US state of Rhode Island and large enough to influence the weather, Grand Canyon National Park can be overwhelming for first-time visitors.
Spring break was approaching, and the plan was to head to Mumbai to see my husband’s family with our two daughters, Meenakshi, 16, and Amrita, 11. We hadn’t all visited together since before the pandemic and were long overdue to meet Mahir’s 86 year-old mother, who lived alone and was more like a mother to me than any “in-law,” and his recently widowed sister, along with her 16 year-old son.
Yosemite, established in 1864, is a superstar of the National Park System for good reason. A visit, whether you stay in well-connected Yosemite Valley or head out into the vast wilderness, is a humbling experience.
For those looking to visit Sicily and experience it in a new way, a good place to start is the Villa Igiea in Palermo. A cherished landmark, the villa is testament to a great Italian dynasty, theFlorios, who were widely chronicled in Europe for both their business acumen and social prowess, as the Astors and Vanderbilts were in the U.S., during the Belle Epoque. Designed in neo-Gothic and Art Nouveau styles, Villa Igiea was purchased by the Florios to be used as a health retreat for an ailing daughter. Instead they turned it into a hotel, which would come to be known for a glittering guest list that included kings and emperors and film-world royalty like Roberto Rossellini and Sophia Loren. In 2019, Rocco Forte Hotels purchased the historic property and initiated a multi-year refurbishment overseen by Olga Polizzi, director of design and deputy chairman of RFH.
The business concept of a new travel company called WeatherPromise is simple, if not a little outlandish. Book a trip with them, purchase a WeatherPromise, and you'll get a refund if it rains a certain number of days during your vacation.
We're already busy booking summer trips here at TPG. In fact, some of us have even begun booking trips for the fall, winter holidays and even early 2025.
Delta Air Lines flyers have an excellent reason to visit Starbucks this week. Registered users can get 500 bonus Delta miles after visiting Starbucks three times this week. Here is how to easily earn these extra miles for future travel.
From the outside, it may seem like the northern lights dance across Iceland’s skies each night. On Icelandair ads, planes fly across shimmering curtains in the sky. On social media, travelers gaze at the green bands above them. The lights are even on some recycling bins in Reykjavík, the capital: “Keep Iceland Clean.”