The Place
It's more than an island! Discover Sicily and discover the world. The world's first multicultural society, Sicily is Italy's (and Europe's) most historically cosmopolitan region, having been ruled by Asians, Africans and Europeans. Sicily is black and white and a million shades of gray. There's no other place on Earth like Sicily. Our island is a unique place full of art, archeology, history, folklore and breathtaking scenery. And, of course, great food. Sicily is almost a nation unto itself. The enchanting land where Archimedes taught and Saint Paul preached was a Greek colony, a Roman province, an Arab emirate and a Norman kingdom. The Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Swabians, Angevins and Aragonese made Sicily their own, leaving behind an eclectic history that you can still touch today. And Sicily will touch you. Sicily is Europe, Africa and Asia on one island. Greek tyrants, Arab emirs, Norman knights, Byzantine bishops and Holy Roman Emperors made Sicily the place it is. Experience their legacy in Phoenician settlements, Punic cities, Greek temples, Roman amphitheatres, Norman Arab castles and Aragonese churches. Thirty centuries of history expressed in the Classical, the Romanesque, the Gothic, the Baroque...

Sikania to its most ancient peoples, Sicily was Sikelia, Plato's utopian society, to the ancient Greeks. Later, the sonnet was created at the Court of Frederick II, and Sicily found her place in the literature of Dante and Boccaccio. Sunny Sicily is Punic Palermo, towering Taormina, ancient Agrigento, splendid Siracusa, and medieval Monreale and Cefalù.

And God created Sicily. The place where the mountains meet the sea. Sicilia, the island in the sun, is home to Heavenly beaches, majestic mountains and Europe's greatest natural wonder, Mount Etna. Sicily's coasts are gold with orange and lemon orchards. In northeastern Sicily you'll find lush forests. In the central regions you'll encounter rugged land and rolling hills. Dignified vineyards, ancient olive groves, hardy almond orchards and endless wheat fields complete the picture. Summer is amber land under a sky of blue. Winter finds palm trees dusted with snow in a surreal symphony. Spring is a rainbow of wild flowers set against greenest fields...

Planning your trip...
Tours of Sicily for every taste. Shore excursions too.
Hotels, Flights, Cars reserved online. Useful links too.
Restaurants around Sicily reviewed.
Travel Faqs Real, up-to-date information for every visitor.
Arriving in Sicily. Getting here by air, land or sea.
Airlines servicing Palermo and Catania airports.
Travel Ideas for your visit to our island.
Map of Sicily indicating roads and cities.
Weather Forecast for Palermo, Catania, Messina.
Travel Services in Sicily for transportation, tours, events.
Palermo. An entire website dedicated to discovering Sicily's largest city plus Monreale, Cefalù, Segesta and Erice.
Guest Farms. Country estates (agriturismo) around Sicily.
Travel Guide Books reviewed. Online ordering with Amazon.

The Discovery
Welcome to the world's favorite Sicilian website, online since 1999! The Sicily you never knew existed. Sicily's definitive (and largest) online destination guide is full of information and easy to use. Sights, scenery, cities, shopping, history, culture, nature, beaches, hotels, restaurants, travel planning, arts, fashion, food and wine, and an online magazine with real information you won't find on any other site, written for thinking people. All uniquely indexed and easy to find. If you have even a general idea of what you're looking for, you'll find it in Best of Sicily. Featuring descriptions of places you'll want to visit, indexed by both city and things to see, along with some useful travel tips, a history of Sicily (with sections on customs, culture, the Sicilian language, life in Sicily, genealogy and more), and even a good book page, Best of Sicily offers timely, useful information, provided by a qualified staff based in Sicily --not just travel writers or tour guides but archeologists and historians who really know Sicily and Sicilians, presenting facts and details you won't find anyplace else. Viewed eight thousand times each day, our pages offer varied (even controversial) points of view. The real Sicily, not the generic "tourism" version presented by other sites. Most online destination guides list their descriptions by locality. With Best of Sicily, you can search by locality but also by the kind of sight to see.

A world unto itself, Sicily, in all its complexities, is a land like no other. We're not just about travel and vacations (holidays). Best of Sicily is all things Sicilian, with timely information on dozens of subjects described in articles written here in Sicily by dozens of Sicilian authors. It's for the person who wants to really know Sicily, and also for the visitor who needs to find specific travel information quickly. We're not a travel agency, but you can find a flight, book your hotel and reserve a car through Best of Sicily. Plan your entire visit (with Sicily's greatest links page), or just find out more about Sicily. There's something here for almost everybody interested in something Sicilian. Every day, Best of Sicily is Sicily's international point of reference for thousands of the Web's most discerning readers: Travelers, teachers, students, journalists, food and wine aficionados, culture vultures and virtual tourists. Informed readers, not just "visitors."

If you could choose just one place to visit where you could witness everything from the culture of Hellenic antiquity to the glories of the Middle Ages and the wonders of the Renaissance, shaped by a dozen civilizations, Sicily would be that place.

Yes, our island is Italian. And French and Spanish and Greek, with a few German and Arab nuances in the cultural mix. Sicily is the world's island. A place where time and tradition have been forged by peoples and faiths from the north and south, from the east and west. Timeless beauty in eclectic diversity: Europe, Africa and Asia in one magical moment...

The People
Archimedes, Arethusa, Persephone, Demeter, Frederick II, Antonello da Messina, Alessandro Scarlatti, Vincenzo Bellini, Giovanni Verga, Fulco di Verdura, Leonardo Sciascia, Eleonora Abbagnato, Marella Ferrera, Giuseppe Tornatore, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Giovanni Falcone and the Beati Paoli are just a few of the Sicilians you'll meet in Best of Sicily Online Magazine. Featuring original articles about people, places, art, theatre, dance, cuisine and culture (and even a goddess or two), Best of Sicily Magazine is the first Sicilian online magazine published entirely in Sicily in English. Every month, insightful, original articles by Sicily's best authors on the life and soul of the place called Sicily. And articles on a few "honorary" Sicilians like Aeschylus, Idrisi, Goethe, Wagner, D.H. Lawrence, Emilio Segré and Danilo Dolci. Uncensored, unbiased and uninhibited, it's the real Sicily and real Sicilians: Artists, musicians, writers, performers, athletes... Sicily is alive! Let our living island reveal herself to your curiosity.

With more "foreign" (non-Italian) readers around the world than any Sicilian newspaper or hard-copy magazine (over two million last year), the Magazine has a little of everything. Hundreds of articles about people, trends, wildlife, nature, art, out of the way places, esoteric history. And vital social issues dealing with life in today's Sicily --things like education, the women's movement, the workplace and environmental conservation. The undiscovered, living Sicily, a place full of complex issues and real people. Best of Sicily is the most widely read English-language non-fiction publication about Sicily. And, of course, it's free. (The only Sicilian publication to have enjoyed more readers internationally is Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's bestselling novel, The Leopard.) The truest colours of Sicily, polished but never varnished, in a multicultural mosaic beyond "Sicilian tourism." We thank you, the Web's most sophisticated readers, for making Best of Sicily the world's favorite Sicilian website!

Sicily in Your Pocket! Take Sicily with you with Best of Sicily Mobile, Sicily's first online travel guide for cell phones and PDAs. It's like having our entire island in your pocket and at your fingertips. Designed for easy visibility on even the smallest phone screen, as well as your Blackberry, Palm or iPhone, our mobile 'mini-site' is useful for anybody visiting Sicily. Get connected to http://mobile.bestofsicily.com