The route that gives Sicily its full argument: two days in Palermo for the Ballarò market at 7am when the swordfish is being sold by the metre and the specific Sicilian breakfast (brioche con granita — the brioche dipped into the almond granita, the correct 8am Palermo decision) and the Palatine Chapel whose Arab-Norman mosaics give 12th-century multicultural Sicily visible on a single ceiling, two days at Agrigento for the Valley of the Temples at sunrise when the Temple of Concordia is lit from the east and the African coast is visible on clear mornings from the ridge above the Greek ruins, and three days at Etna and the Aeolian Islands for the active volcano whose summit (3,329 metres) gives the Sicilian coast visible in every direction and the Stromboli nighttime eruption visible from the boat that the Lipari ferry passes at 11pm.
Reading time: 11 minutes | Last updated: 2026
Sicily is the Mediterranean’s most layered island — 2,700 years of successive civilisations (the Greek, the Roman, the Byzantine, the Arab, the Norman, the Spanish) left their specific architecture and their specific food on the same 25,711 square kilometres. The Sicilian kitchen (the caponata, the arancino, the cassata) is the specific synthesis of every civilisation that cooked here, and the architecture (the Palermo Arab-Norman churches, the Agrigento Greek temples, the Baroque Noto) is the specific consequence of the history that the mainland Italian tour skips.
Before You Leave
Getting there: Fly direct London-Palermo (Ryanair from Stansted — 2.5 hours) or London-Catania (Ryanair, Wizz Air — 2.5 hours). No visa required for UK citizens within the Schengen 90-day allowance.
Currency: Euro. Italy is fully card-accessible; carry €20-30 cash for the market stalls and the smaller restaurants.
The car: Essential south of Palermo. Hire from Palermo Airport or Catania Airport (€25-60/day). The Sicilian road follows the terrain rather than the European standard — the mountain road between Agrigento and Etna is correct and narrow.
The Route
Palermo (2 nights) → Agrigento (2 nights, 2 hours south by car) → Etna base (1 night, 3 hours east) → Catania and Aeolian ferry (1 night) → Stromboli/Lipari/Vulcano day trip (1 day) → fly home from Catania
DAYS 1-2 — Palermo
Day 1: The Ballarò Market and the Palatine Chapel
7am — The Ballarò Market:
The Ballarò (the oldest street market in Palermo — the market in the Albergheria quarter, the Arab city planning visible in the street layout that the Norman conquest preserved): at 7am, the swordfish (pesce spada) arriving from the Palermo port, the vendor slicing the fish by the metre — the swordfish sold by the cut at the weight, the specific Sicilian fish market economy visible before the tourist browsers arrive.
The pane con la milza (the spleen sandwich — the bread roll filled with the veal spleen and the lungs, fried in lard, topped with the ricotta or the caciocavallo cheese, the specific Palermo street food from the Arab-Sicilian tradition): €3-5 at the Antica Focacceria San Francesco stall in the market.
The stigghiola (the grilled lamb intestine wrapped around the spring onion — the Ballarò charcoal grill, the specific offal that the market sells grilled at the kerbside): €2-3.
The Palatine Chapel:
The Cappella Palatina (the 12th-century private chapel of the Norman kings in the Palazzo dei Normanni — the gold Byzantine mosaics on the ceiling and walls, the Arab muqarnas (the honeycomb vaulting) visible in the ceiling between the mosaics, the specific Norman-Arab-Byzantine synthesis that makes the Palatine Chapel the most culturally specific single room in Italy):
At 9am (before the tour groups): the mosaics in the morning light from the chapel’s eastern windows — the gold tesserae reflecting the direct light, the specific medieval luminosity that the Palatine was designed to produce. Entry: €12.
Day 2: The Cathedral Circuit and the Street Food
The Sicilian street food circuit:
The arancino (the rice ball — the Palermo version (cone-shaped, arancino) versus the Catania version (spherical, arancina) — the debate unresolved and unresolvable, the filling (the ragù, the burro (butter and ham), the spinaci) visible at the rosticceria that opens at 10am): €2-4.
The sfincione (the Sicilian pizza — the thick focaccia with the tomato, the onion, the anchovy, the caciocavallo — the specific Palermo baked good that the Italian mainland calls pizza and that the Sicilian calls sfincione to establish the priority): €1.50-3 at the Ballarò bakeries.
DAYS 3-4 — Agrigento and the Valley of the Temples
Day 3: Sunrise at the Temple of Concordia
6:30am — The Valley of the Temples:
The Valle dei Templi (the UNESCO archaeological site — the 7 Doric temples on the ridge above the African coast, the temples built by the Greek settlers of Akragas from 480 BCE, the Temple of Concordia (the best-preserved Greek temple outside of Greece — the 34 columns standing, the entablature partially intact, the specific honey-gold colour of the local limestone in the early light)):
At 6:30am: the temple in the first light, the African horizon visible 110km south on clear mornings (the coast of Tunisia visible at the 110km distance that the air clarity allows on winter mornings), the almond trees in the valley below the temples flowering white in February-March.
Entry: €12. The temple park opens at 8:30am (the eastern entrance) and 9am (the western entrance) officially — the road along the outside of the park gives the Temple of Concordia viewable from the road shoulder at dawn before the gate opens.
The Scala dei Turchi:
The Scala dei Turchi (the white marl cliff 15km west of Agrigento — the specific cliff formation, the horizontal white strata giving the natural staircase above the Realmonte beach, the specific Sicily coastal geology):
At 7am (before the tour groups arrive at 10am): the cliff in the morning shadow, the beach below visible, the Mediterranean visible beyond.
DAY 5 — Mount Etna
The Etna summit ascent:
Mount Etna (the active stratovolcano at 3,329 metres — the highest active volcano in Europe, the most active volcano in Europe, the volcano that has been erupting continuously since its last major quiescent period ended in 2021):
The summit cable car from Rifugio Sapienza (1,900m) to 2,500m, then the authorised 4WD transfer to 2,900m, then the guided walk to 3,200m (the authorised summit approach below the active crater): the guided summit tour including the cable car and the 4WD: €65-90 per person.
The specific Etna instruction: the active crater area is restricted — the authorised guides lead the groups to within 200 metres of the crater rim when the activity level permits. The volcanic gas (fumarole) visible from the crater rim, the lava field (the aa lava — the rough-surfaced Hawaiian lava type, the specific Etna surface visible on the descent as the vast black landscape between the cable car top and the crater approach).
DAYS 6-7 — Stromboli and the Aeolian Islands
The Stromboli night eruption:
The Stromboli (the northernmost Aeolian Island — the active volcano that erupts every 15-20 minutes, the eruption visible from the sea as the lava ejected from the crater rolls down the Sciara del Fuoco (the “Stream of Fire”) into the sea):
The ferry from Milazzo (the Siremar or the Liberty Lines fast ferry — 1.5-3 hours depending on the service) to the Stromboli island, the evening boat around the eruption side of the island (the Sciara del Fuoco visible at night from the boat at 200 metres — the incandescent lava rolling into the sea, the eruption audible from the boat, the specific Stromboli nighttime encounter):
The night boat tour: €25-40 per person from the Stromboli harbour.
The Stromboli summit walk (the 3-hour guided ascent to 918m — the crater visible at the summit, the guided walks operating in the evening to give the arrival at the crater rim at dusk): €35-50 per person with the obligatory guide.
What It Costs
| Category | Budget | Mid-Range |
|---|---|---|
| Return flights (UK-Palermo, Catania-UK) | £20-80 | £40-150 |
| Car hire (5 days) | £125-300 | £200-450 |
| 7 nights accommodation | £105-280 | £280-700 |
| Food (7 days — Sicily is affordable) | £40-100 | £100-250 |
| Etna summit tour | £65-90 | £65-90 |
| Stromboli ferry + night tour | £50-80 | £50-80 |
| Entries (Palatine, Valley of Temples) | £24 | £24 |
| Total | £429-954 | £735-1,744 |
