I’ve never been out pastried like I have in Sicily.

Catania

This was our first stop, and after going to Ortigia, San Vito Lo Capo, and Palermo it was striking to reflect on how the streets in Catania so significantly more trash, and the buildings were in much higher disrepair. Regardless, we had a great time!

Activities

• Chiesa Di Santa Maria Dell’Aiuto
  • In true European fashion, we went into any Catholic church available.
• Catania Fish Market
  • Classic Sicilian fish market, although I can’t say I noticed much of a difference from other fish markets besides the fact that horse meat was sold.
• Basilica Cattedrale di Sant’Agata
  • More than I enjoyed the cathedral’s interior was the exterior. They have a great courtyard and big palm trees. It’s in the classic square Piazza Del Duomo area, so your path will inevitably cross this place.
• Piazza Università
  • I really liked this plaza! Also some cool historical/museum-like elements here that we didn’t explore much.
• Roman Amphitheater of Catania & Resti anfiteatro romano, III sec a.C.
  • Totally awesome! This Roman Amphitheater is so much bigger than it looks from the street. You can walk through the tunnels, read some plaques about how it was used as a shelter in WW2, and explore what feels a bit like a maze. It can be a bit eerie at times in the dark with the sound of dripping water. The entry was less than $4 and really worth it.
• Monastero dei Benedettini di San Nicolò l’Arena:
  • I loved this place — incredible architecture; it feels so grand with the marble inside and the paintings. The grounds are so beautiful!! The Monastery doubled as a university, a surprising turn of events, so there were a lot of students out and about. We also didn’t have to pay to enter, which was great!
• Be Art Bottega Artigiana
  • The art shop and the street that the art shop was on were so charming. Would be a cool spot to wander around further.
• Villa Bellini
  • LOVE THIS PLACE! It’s a great park with a good view of Etna, very large too!
• Teatro Massimo Bellini:
  • One of the highlights for me from Catania. They had a night where the orchestra was playing Bellini pieces, and it was soooo beautiful. Plus, only €7 per person. We lined up and bought tickets 20 minutes before the show.
• Mt. Etna
  • This beautiful volcano gracing the skyline is well worth the visit. We went in May, and there were still patches of snow. If you go in the winter, you can snowboard down it! Getting there is a bit of a journey. To condense the process: get to AST Viaggi Per L’Etna by 6:50 am — the ticket window closes at 7:15 am, and the bus driver is strict about timing and won’t let you buy the $6 tickets with credit card if you’re late. Walk across the street to the bus stop (there are a ton of buses; look for the one with a white plaque with the volcano on it). The bus takes about an hour and a half to reach Mt. Etna. There’s a rest stop on the way where we discovered my FAVORITE pastry in all of Sicily. We went ATVing there, and little did I know, we’d be going downhill for our ATV route, not up… sad.

Eats

• La Caffetteria Del Fortino
  • Immaculate granita e brioche, and fantastic cappuccino. We went here every day in Catania. They had a good lemon granita; the chocolate granita was a bit too heavy for breakfast, imo. They had a good cornetto with very strong notes of what we thought was amaretto, and then a ham-filled pastry that was pretty good.
• Caffetteria Prampolini & Libreria Prampolini
  • The cutest café x bookstore, with more children’s books about food than I’ve ever seen.
• Castorina Urban Barbecue
  • Horsemeat that was covered in oil and vinegar (did not like) + a horsemeat burger that had onions and peppers folded into the meat. Quite good!
• Modus Cafe
  • We got their Catania flavor, tasted like custard. 6/10.
• A Putia dell’Ostello
  • THE COOLEST place we went to dinner! The restaurant is built on top of a grotto, and you can dine below in the grotto and enjoy a cool breeze, the sound of the water, and feel fancy!! Their Aperol spritz + Hugo spritz, burrata (excellent!), we got their pasta, and the fish meat was SO NOT GOOD — SO TUNA-Y.
• Al Vicolo Pizza & Vino
  • Touristy spot, really fun charcuterie board, first encounter with smoked burrata — I prefer my burrata not smoked, apparently. Great sheep’s cheese, great dried tomatoes, we love MORTADELLA. Their ice cream is REALLY good too — the mango!!
• Pasticceria Savia
  • This is a tourist trap, too expensive, and I got the babà (so bad — WHY DO YOU SOAK A PASTRY IN VODKA) and a rococò (chocolates soaked in alcohol with a cherry soaked in the center, horrid).
• Bar Bonanno
  • THE BEST PASTRY IN ALL OF SICILY!!!! I’m saying that as an unbiased individual who doesn’t think chocolate = everything. 10/10.
• Crateri Silvestri
  • This is a café on Mt. Etna. I got an arancino and it wasn’t that good. I didn’t like it too much, and the meat inside was soaked in marinara — sounds like it should be good, but it’s not.
• Pizzeria Del Plebiscito
  • Cute dinner spot. We got their fried potato with ham and cheese inside — not that good. Carbonara was TOO salty. TIRAMISU WAS PERFECT.
• Panificio Buttò Gaetano
  • STANDOUT PERFECT PLACE. We got this unassuming square item with cheese and ham inside, and it was so GOOOOOOOD. I walked in just wanting to try two things, picked two items that were only €0.70 each, and the card minimum was $2, so I got a random pastry and it was the perfect thing.
• Bar Trombetta
  • Good breakfast spot — granita and brioche not as good as La Caffetteria Del Fortino.

Note

• Stayed at one of the most embarrassing spots, “Villaggio Turistico Europeo,” but it was right on the beach. The apartments were super bare-bones, and the grounds felt like the setting of a summer horror film, but it did what it needed to do. They also have a cafeteria on the property, which was convenient and had a surprisingly good array of food.

Syracuse

Activities

• Piazzetta Giuseppe Ferro – Lovely park with some beautiful flowers

Eats

• CaféIna
  • This was the most surprising delight of a spot. We got their caprese salad — first caprese I’ve had that had lettuce; the burrata and prosciutto were sooo good. The chef brought us out this fried fish that was so good, and then, as a gift, they also gave us this amazing bread that looks like a chocolate loaf but is actually an orange!
• II Cucchiaino Cake & Ice Cream
  • THE BEST GELATO IN ALL OF SICILY! We went here 3 times in 36 hours!!

Ortigia

Such a vibe. Baroque architecture everywhere you look in with beige and peach colors. Very uniform, The streets were incredibly clean.

Activities

• Syracuse Cathedral
  • BEAUTIFUL cathedral
• Maniace Castle
  • We didn’t go in here, but seeing the castle from the shore was sooo nice
• Ortigia Market
  • Cute market!
• Beach
  • There’s a great little slice of Ortigia to walk on that has a beach. To find it, go to Area M and walk behind the restaurant to the little island.

Eats

• La Cuccagna al Duomo
  • Great location right next to Syracuse Cathedral. We went there for the vibes, and the food was just okay. Seafood platter — prawn, squid, fish — dry, not great. Pasta was okay.
• Caseificio Borderi
  • One of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. It was truly something else. I really enjoyed the bread, and the one that I got was the “trust us” sandwich, which had a great sauce on it.

San Vito Lo Capo

Eats

• U Sfizziusu
  • Just okay. I got some black squid ink arancino and burrata.
• La Sirenetta Gelateria Artigianale
  • Gelato with a marshmallow and chocolate cookie on top, covered in Nutella. Good, but not worth the $9 we paid for it.
• Voglia Matta Gelateria Pasticceria
  • We made the mistake of getting the refrigerated ice cream cones, which were super mid and soggy.
• Ittico – Osteria di Mare
  • TRULY IMMACULATE VIBES. Great view of the ocean, Rosalie liked the wine. Really good octopus, fish, capers.
• Pasticceria Capriccio
  • Life-changing experience where I had my first gelato e brioche… still not quite sure if I liked it.
• Pasticceria Capriccio 2
  • Unlike its OG location, no gelato, but really good chocolate cake with CHOCOLATE INSIDE! Have I mentioned I love chocolate? We succumbed to getting some of their coconut and almond desserts, but I must say the Italians love sweet things, and the powdered sugar and maraschino cherries are not sought out by yours truly. We also tried a freshly filled cannolo, and it was… okay, not for me.

Activities

• THE BEACH!!!
  • So cute, cold but cute.
• Spiaggia di Seno dell’Arena
  • Great picnic spot!
• Belvedere Macari Bue Marino “Vista Monte Cofano”
  • Cute little lookout spot.
• Doric Temple of Segesta Parco Archeologico di Segesta Tenute Castello Inici
  • The most magical vineyard winery I’ve ever been to. The road getting there is a bit treacherous, but the vibes are immaculate. The website says you need to book online and that it costs $50 per person, but we just showed up, and they were so hospitable — gave us a table, wine, and snacks for $25 TOTAL!! WOOOOHOO

Palermo

Eats

• Timilia
  • Mortadella pistachio pizza, fire. But not as good as margherita pizza.
• Foro Italico
  • Truly such a nice view. Lots of cruise ships coming in and out.
• Fúnnaco PizzaLab
  • This place was actually fire, and one of the few places I got Sicilian pizza at. The pizza had… their panburrata was so good. We also got their tiramisu, pretty good. I got the Zaera organic yellow tomato sauce, Parma cup, toasted almonds, and Sicilian black bee citrus honey on the perciasacchi traditional crust.
• Pasticceria Porta Sant’Agata di Trentacoste Cristian
  • SO CUTE! They have really good donuts & a vending machine where you can get coffee!
• Cappadonia Gelati
  • Feels very modern, but the granita and ice cream were great.

Activities

• Palermo Cathedral
  • Free to walk in, paid to go on the roof. Worth going on the roof. Beautiful courtyard & grounds.
• Lombardia Castle
  • Stopped at a castle on our drive back to Catania!