Sicily

Explore

The plan

Calendar

Calendar

June 2024

Month

Today

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Flight to Istanbul @ 7:25pm

Land in Istanbul @ 6:45pm

Stay at Regina Hotel - Sorrento

Flight to Naples @ 7:05am

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Cities of Interest

Syracuse

Not meal specific

DiVino Mare

which is near the market and serves grilled, wonderfully fresh fish at unusually reasonable prices.

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Boats⁠

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Cocktail Bar overlooking the temple Apollo

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Ortigia Market⁠

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Open 7am - 1:45pm

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Cortile Verga⁠

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Cocktail Bar

Lunch

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Burgio⁠

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One of the best meals we had on our trip was at Burgio, a sort of upscale open-air grocery store and restaurant in one corner of Ortigia’s appealing market. Burgio focuses on local produce — cheeses, sausages and salamis.

Caseificio Borderi

The star of my Syracuse eating tour,

Caseificio Borderi⁠

and its huge, generous sandwiches. I walked in and ordered one of their

signature submarine-style creations⁠

that featured, among other things, thinly sliced beef, fresh mozzarella, peppers, tomatoes, olives, capers and oranges for a bit of acidity and sweetness.

Dinner

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Sicilia in Tavola⁠

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which has a terrific selection of seafood dishes — and pasta Bolognese for the girls! — and where I had pasta with sea urchin, pasta ai ricci, a dish with which I am obsessed and order every chance I get.

Recommended Hotels:

Algilà Ortigia Charme Hotel, Via Vittorio Veneto 93, Syracuse; 39-093-146-5186;

algila.it⁠

; double rooms from $364.

Hotel des Étrangers, Passeggio Adorno, 10-12, Syracuse; 39-093-131-9100;

desetrangers.com⁠

; double rooms from $244.

Landmarks:

Chiesa di Santa Lucia alla Badia

Piazza del Duomo

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Parco Archeologico della Neapolis⁠

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Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi⁠

Shopping:

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Il Piacere della Pelle⁠

- leather shop

Chiodo

In a tiny courtyard near Ortygia’s Piazza Duomo, where you’ll find the church that houses Caravaggio’s “Burial of Saint Lucy,” this boutique and sometimes exhibition space is dedicated to the work of Italian designers and craftspeople. Chiodo means “nail,” and the shop’s ethos is further reflected in its exposed beams and rough-hewn wooden slats. There’s a wide-ranging edit of bohemian staples: buttery leather clutches, leaf-print silk dresses, elegant straw hats, statement jewelry made of brass and round-frame sunglasses from the 1980s.

chiodoshowroom.wordpress.com⁠

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Ortigia

Started in 2006 by the British-born

Sue Townsend⁠

, a founder of Crabtree & Evelyn who now lives in Florence, this independent, all-natural soap and scent company is named for the southeast Sicilian island, even if the palm tree and leopard graphics on its packaging are taken from a Byzantine mosaic in Palermo’s Palazzo dei Normanni. At the Ortygia location on the island thruway of Via Roma, the shelves are lined with candles and body products infused with jasmine, amber or pomegranate (as well as silk scarves and candy-colored glass plates). The blends were developed in collaboration with the noted Florentine perfumer Lorenzo Villoresi, who has also worked for Armani and Gucci.

ortigiasicilia.com⁠

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Smaller Towns that

Cefalù

Where to stay - La Plumeria Hotel

Noto

wildly Baroque town where every cornice and window sill appears to vie for the greatest complexity of decoration, and where a balcony might be upheld by mermaids, griffins or galloping horses carved from stone.

Noto, a small city that was just a 3.80-euro train ride (about 30 minutes) from Syracuse. I’d decided to travel to Noto in part because of its beauty, including its stately cathedral and beautiful Church of San Domenico, both of which I visited. But I was really there because of Corrado Assenza, an acclaimed gelato, cake and pastry magician who was

recently profiled on Netflix’s “Chef’s Table: Pastry.⁠

”

Try also this other gelato spot - Caffè Costanzo

Manna Noto

Caffè Sicilia

Modica

Modica was nearly obliterated after a 1693 earthquake and consists of upper and lower areas, joined together by steep, narrow roads and staircases. The town is slightly sleepier than Syracuse, but specializes in a delicious trade: chocolate making.

Ragusa

Castelbuono

Nangalarruni, a much-loved restaurant that specializes in dishes prepared with local mushrooms. The menu includes a marvelous sort of gratin made with potatoes and mushrooms, a medallion of pork encrusted with honey, pistachios and almonds, and pastas with a variety of delectable mushroom sauces.

Ancient Temples or Relics

Segesta

“Perhaps my favorite moment of the entire trip occurred at Segesta, where there is an unfinished but nonetheless grand Doric temple and an amphitheater (dating from the third century B.C.) on a hill above the temple. The structures are themselves magnificent, but their beauty is greatly enhanced by the setting: a semideserted, out-of-the-way (about 40 minutes from Palermo) and wholly rural mountaintop from which you can see far across the bucolic countryside and, beyond it, the sea.”

Reading and Inspiration

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Sicily Overall⁠

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Palermo⁠

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Syracuse⁠

Cefalù

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