Ancient ruins and Mediterranean flavors
This isn't just sightseeing — it's a journey into the heart of Sicily's rich heritage. Walk through centuries of history, taste authentic flavors passed down through generations, and connect with traditions that have shaped this remarkable destination. Every moment becomes a story to tell.
Sicily is the Mediterranean's largest island, a sun-baked crossroads of civilizations where smoking Mount Etna towers over ancient Greek temples, Norman cathedrals, and Baroque hilltop towns. The Valley of the Temples near Agrigento preserves some of the finest Greek ruins outside Athens, while the ornate Baroque towns of Noto and Ragusa in the southeast gleam with honey-colored limestone. Sicilian cuisine is legendary, from fresh seafood and wild fennel pasta to sweet cannoli and granita, all accompanied by robust local wines from the volcanic slopes of Etna.
7 nights in Sicily — day by day, fact-checked
Collect the hire car at Catania-Fontanarossa, drive to your coastal base near Taormina or Aci Castello, and settle in. Keep the first day light and driving simple.
Collect your hire car at the airport and drive to your coastal base. Taormina and Giardini-Naxos are about 50 to 55 minutes north; Catania, Aci Castello and Acireale are 15 to 30 minutes. Confirm your flight status against Etna activity before you fly, since ash can affect the airport.
The hire car is your transfer. Taormina/Giardini-Naxos is roughly 50-55 min from CTA; Catania/Aci Castello is 15-30 min. These are travel-planner estimates, not official tourism-board times.
Check your arrival time and keep Day 1 to the drive and a nearby dinner. Before you fly, confirm the flight against Etna activity, as airspace can be affected during eruptions.
Long summer light helps whatever time you land. Sunset in Catania around 21 July is roughly 20:17, with about 14 hours 22 minutes of daylight.
Carry euro cash from the start. Eastern Sicily leans more cash-reliant than mainland tourist hubs; the euro is Italy's official currency.
Do not leave luggage in the parked hire car, even in the boot. FCDO reports theft from parked cars is common across Italy.
Carry your UK photocard licence plus the hire agreement and VE103 form. No International Driving Permit is needed to drive in the EU on a UK photocard licence.
A simple Ionian-coast first dinner. Eastern Sicily is more cash-reliant than the mainland, so carry euro for a small trattoria.
Take the old town early before the cruise crowds, then the Teatro Antico with its coast-and-Etna backdrop. Return in the evening if you prefer the light.
Walk the Corso Umberto and the town's terraces early, before cruise and coach day-trippers arrive. Park outside the centre and walk in. The old town clears again in the evening, so early or after about 18:00 are the calm windows in season.
Arrive early. Cruise and coach day-trippers flood the Corso roughly 11:00-16:00 in season, so morning or evening are calmest.
Park outside Taormina's centre and walk in. Streets are narrow and busy, and FCDO notes Italian city traffic can be busy, fast and chaotic.
Do not drive into the historic centre looking for parking. Park on the edge and walk; take nothing of value out of sight in the car.
Taormina's spine of squares and terrace views, quietest before 10:30 and after the cruise window.
The Sicilian breakfast; an early stop before the Corso fills.
The Ancient Theatre frames the coast and Etna. Full ticket is 12 euro, reduced 6 euro; standard opening runs about 09:00 to 19:00 (to ~19:15 in high summer). On selected 2026 dates it opens late, continuous 09:00-24:00 with last entry 23:00, so you can see it after the daytime crowds clear.
Teatro Antico: full ticket 12 euro, reduced 6 euro (official Parco Archeologico di Naxos e Taormina).
Standard hours are roughly 09:00 to 19:00 (to about 19:15 in high summer), with last entry about an hour before closing. On selected 2026 dates the site opens continuously 09:00 to 24:00 with last entry 23:00, including 13 July.
If your dates fall on an evening-opening night, use it: the theatre after the daytime coach crowds is far quieter.
Do not turn up mid-afternoon expecting quiet. That is peak day-tripper time; go morning or evening.
The town's headline sight, a Greek-Roman theatre with the coast and Etna as its stage backdrop.
Your package Etna tour up the south side from Rifugio Sapienza. Cable car, 4x4 and a certified guide to the summit area. Weather and volcano status govern the day.
Drive up to Rifugio Sapienza, about an hour to an hour and a quarter from either base, and join the included guided route. The summit craters can be entered only on foot with a certified guide, who supplies the compulsory helmet. Confirm the tour is running against volcano and weather status the day before.
The summit is guided-only by law. Access to the Permanent Danger Zone is permitted only with qualified Alpine and Volcanological guides, groups capped at 10, with compulsory helmet supplied by the guide.
The Tour 3000 (cable car, 4x4, guide, ~2.5 hours) runs daily 08:30-15:15 with last cable-car descent 17:15, subject to weather or technical requirements.
Volcano status governs the day. FCDO: airspace can be affected during eruptions; confirm the Etna tour before travelling on any day of heightened activity, and check INGV Osservatorio Etneo.
Park at Rifugio Sapienza and take nothing of value from the car. FCDO reports theft from parked cars is common across Italy.
Do not try to walk to the summit craters alone. Unguided ascent is not permitted and is enforced; the certified-guide route is the only legal way up.
Dress for altitude: it is cold and windy at 3,000m even in peak summer. The guide provides the safety helmet.
The cable car plus 4x4 bus and Alpine/volcanological guide to the roughly 3,000m summit area, about 2.5 hours; the guide is compulsory for the summit-crater leg.
The lava-stone baroque of Catania: the Duomo square and the morning fish market. Park outside the historic centre and walk in, because the centre is restricted to non-permitted cars.
The fish market is loudest and best in the morning. From there walk to Piazza del Duomo and the Cattedrale di Sant'Agata. Park outside the historic centre and walk in; do not drive a non-permitted hire car into the restricted core. Cover shoulders and knees to enter the cathedral.
Do not drive a non-permitted hire car into Catania's historic centre. Park outside the core and walk in.
Church dress code applies at the cathedral: cover shoulders and knees. This is a general Italian norm enforced at duomos; treat it as informational, not from a fetched cathedral page.
Go to the fish market in the morning and carry euro cash for stalls; eastern Sicily is more cash-reliant than mainland hubs.
Do not follow satnav straight into the old centre. Non-permitted cars in the restricted zone risk automatic fines; park outside and walk.
Cards are widely accepted in Catania, and ATMs (Bancomat) are common, but carry euro for small stalls and street food. Cash detail here is general knowledge, not an official money page.
Catania's morning fish market by the Duomo square; best before it winds down around midday. Carry euro cash for market stalls.
The cathedral on Piazza del Duomo; clearly trading and central. Dress to cover shoulders and knees for entry.
A slower day at Isola Bella below Taormina and the Ionian coast. Small nature reserve, clear water, and time on the beach. Cash for small vendors near the shore.
Isola Bella sits at the foot of Taormina near Mazzaro, a small islet-reserve reachable on foot at low water. Full ticket is 5 euro, reduced 2.50 euro. Go earlier before the beach fills, and keep valuables with you rather than in the car.
Isola Bella nature reserve: full ticket 5 euro, reduced 2.50 euro (official Naxos-Taormina ticket list).
Go earlier in the day before the beach below Taormina fills. Carry euro for beach kiosks and small vendors.
Do not leave bags or valuables in the car at the beach car park. Theft from parked cars is common across Italy per FCDO.
Long light helps a beach day; sunset in Catania around 21 July is roughly 20:17, so afternoons run late.
A small nature reserve and islet below Taormina, part of the same archaeological park.
A short-hop day on the coast around your base: the Naxos archaeological museum and coastal Ionian towns. All short drives, no long legs.
Giardini-Naxos sits below Taormina on the coast. The Naxos archaeological museum covers the first Greek colony in Sicily; full ticket is 5 euro, reduced 2.50 euro. Pair it with a coastal-town lunch. Everything today is a short hop from your base.
Museo Archeologico di Naxos: full ticket 5 euro, reduced 2.50 euro (same archaeological park as Taormina).
No national reservation platform is required. Popular Taormina terrace tables in peak summer do warrant a phone or WhatsApp booking; many trattorias are walk-in. Booking-norm detail is general knowledge, not an official page.
Kitchens run in two sittings, roughly lunch 12:30-15:00 and dinner from about 19:30-20:00. Dinner before 20:00 is early by local norm; this is cultural general knowledge.
Do not expect a per-person coperto cover charge on the bill to be a scam; it is legal and normal in Italy. Treat this as informational, not an official money claim.
The archaeological museum at Giardini-Naxos, in the package's coastal base area, under the same park.
A coastal lunch near the base; many good trattorias are phone-only or walk-in, so booking is optional.
A committed inland drive to the UNESCO Roman mosaics at Piazza Armerina, or an easier coastal day if you would rather not do the long legs. Watch wildfire risk on inland roads.
The UNESCO villa's Roman floor mosaics are a full-day inland self-drive, over two hours each way from the Ionian coast, not a short hop. Combined ticket is 17 euro full, 10 euro reduced; open daily 09:00-19:00 with the ticket office closing 18:00. If you skip it, keep to the coast instead.
Villa Romana del Casale: combined ticket 17 euro full, 10 euro reduced (villa plus current temporary exhibition); evening ticket 10 euro.
Open daily 09:00-19:00 with the ticket office closing 18:00, plus evening access roughly 20:00-23:00 (last entry ~22:30) around 10 May to 21 Sep.
Budget a full day: it is over two hours each way inland from the Ionian coast base, a committed self-drive rather than a detour.
Start early to be back before dark and to sit out the midday heat inside the covered mosaic walkways.
Do not underestimate the inland drive or the summer fire risk. FCDO warns of high wildfire risk in the Italian summer as temperatures soar; keep to main roads and check conditions.
A UNESCO Roman villa with some of the best-preserved floor mosaics anywhere; a committed inland day, not a short hop.
Return the hire car at Catania-Fontanarossa and fly home. Count back from your departure to allow for the drive, fuel and drop-off, and confirm your flight against Etna status.
Count back from your departure time to allow for the drive from your base, refuelling and the car drop-off, plus extra time for EES biometric checks at the border. Confirm your flight against Etna activity before setting off, since ash can still close the airport at short notice.
Count back from your departure time. Allow for the drive to CTA (about 50-55 min from Taormina, 15-30 min from Catania), refuelling and car drop-off. Drive times are travel-planner estimates.
Allow extra time at the border. The EU Entry/Exit System has been operational since 10 April 2026, so expect biometric checks on exit.
Confirm your flight status against Etna activity before you leave your base. FCDO: airspace can be affected during eruptions; check with your travel provider or Catania airport during heightened activity.
Do not return the car empty or leave luggage visible while you refuel. Theft from parked cars is common across Italy per FCDO.
A simple last stop before the drive to the airport; carry a little euro cash.
Practical details verified 21 July 2026. Prices and opening hours change — we re-check them monthly, but confirm anything critical before you travel.
Real-time hotel prices for Taormina / Giardini-Naxos and Catania. Upgrades are shown over each location's included hotel.
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