Sicily Wine Travel

Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean, is one of Italy’s top wine travel destinations. In addition to wine, Sicily is a great place to go for its cultural diversity, historical sights, food, and its many beautiful beaches and seaside towns.

Sicily Wine Tourism

Wine tourism in Sicily is growing in part due to a consortium of \passionate wine producers, Wines of Sicilia Doc, an organization that aims to preserve and promote the island’s wine-making. Wine has been produced on the island since as early as the 8th century BC when the Greeks started cultivating grapes and ancient varieties are still used in producing some of Sicily’s top wines.

Indigenous Sicilian wines include the white Grillo, a perfect appertivo or accompaniment to seafood, and the full-bodied red Nero d’Avola, rich in red fruit aromas, that grows in a variety of micro-climates. Both wines go well with grilled swordfish, one of Sicily’s top dishes.

Wine makers are also trying other native grapes such as the white Catarratto and the red Frappato, often using them to blend with other varieties to make unique Sicilian wines. Almost 50 native grape varieties are now being used in wine making and many vineyards are making new plantings of these old varieties. Some of the wineries in Siclia DOC are shown on the map below.

Top Places to Go in Sicily

From well-preserved Greek temples and Roman sites to Baroque towns, charming villages, beaches, and even a volcano Sicily has a lot to see. The island is large so it’s a good idea to concentrate on one area if you only have a few days. Even a week is not long enough to try to see the whole island.

Sicily Highlights:

• Palermo, Sicily’s largest city, has beautiful monuments, stunning Byzantine mosaics, cultural events, and vibrant markets
• Siracusa, seaside city with Greek and Roman sites
• Greek Temples in Agrigento
• Ragusa and other Baroque towns of the Noto valley
• Taormina, by the sea, has a Greco-Romano theater and was part of the European Grand Tour.
• Cefalu is another beautiful seaside town, about an hour from Palermo
• Villa Romana del Casale, a top Roman site
• Mount Etna, Europe’s biggest active volcano

Plan Your Sicily Trip

Sicily has 3 airports – Palermo, Trapini, and Catania, with flights from many Italian cities and ferries run from several west coast cities on the mainland. Sicily can also be reached by train from Naples or points south or by car, taking a ferry from Villa San Giovanni in Calabria.

• Places to Stay:
  Top Palermo Hotels
  Top Siracusa Hotels
  Top Taormina Hotels
• Sicily Travel Guide and Map
• Typical Weather for Palermo

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