Are you a foodie like me? 6 Foods You Must Try In Sicily

Sicily has always intrigued me, mainly because I heard people say it was dangerous due to the mafia. I have always found this hard to comprehend as I never thought of Italy as being a dangerous or an unsafe place. Nowadays Sicily’s tourism is thriving! If you are looking for that beautiful Italian charm whilst not being over run by tourists, Sicily is the island for you!

THE CAR RENTAL

We flew into Catania and collected our rental car from Catania airport. We explored the region of South East Sicily for 5 days, visiting Ragusa Ilba, Noto, Marzamemmi, Fontane Bianche, Ortigia and Syracuse.

We booked our Alamo car rental through a 3rd party company called Zest Car Rental. I use Zest Car Rental because they are very highly rated car hire broker. When you book through them it is covered and if anything were to go wrong, they take care of everything. It didn’t cost us any extra than what we would of paid if be booked directly through Alamo.

Alamo car rental was apart of a few different companies we realised when we arrived at the airport. When they showed us the car they notified us of any damage or scratches on the car and also made us have a look ourselves incase anything was missed.

The staff were very professional and it gave us piece of mind that we could trust they wouldn't rip us off with some fake story about how we broke something when we returned the rental car at the end of our trip.

Cost of car rental + full insurance - £164.84 5 days

Petrol - €26 at end of 5 day trip

ITINERARY

Catania - 2 nights

We arrived in the evening and took the airport bus to Catania centre (only 10/15 mins on the bus) Our Airbnb was next to the fish market and this was a great place to stay as it had a good atmosphere and a good choice of seafood restaurants. We stayed in Catania for 2 nights/1 day and on the 2nd day we went back to the airport to collect our car. We felt it would of been a waste of time and money collecting our car from the airport when we arrived first arrived.

Accommodation - Catania Airbnb

Things to do in Catania

Sunrise or sunset tour of Mt Etna
Eat at one of the seafood restaurants in the fish market are (one of our favourites: Scirocco Sicilian Fish Lab)
Have a drink at the Etnea Roof Bar & Restaurant to see a view of Mt Etna
Visit the Roman Theatre of Catania & Monastero dei Benedettini Cassinesi di San Nicolò l’Arena
Buy Arancini & Cannoli from Pasticceria Savia and eat them in the park across the road Villa Bellini

Ragusa Ilba - 1 Night

Ragusa was the first stop on our road trip, we drove 1.45 hours to a beautiful Sicilian town sat on top of a giant hill. We stayed in the upper town Ragusa Ilba, as I read online this had more restaurants and prettier buildings. We stayed in a hotel called Giardino Sul Duomo. I went for this one because it had a nice view of the town on the edge of the cliff and it had a pool, even though we didn’t get the chance to use it. I would suggest finding somewhere else to say as there is better value for money places there. For example, this Airbnb is the one I wanted to stay at but I was too slow to book it: Ragusa Ilba Airbnb

Accommodation - http://www.giardinosulduomo.it/home

Things to do in Ragusa Ilba

Eat meat, cheese and local beers & wine at Salumeria Barocco
Walk around Giardino Ibleo and enjoy the view
Eat at the ‘best restaurant in Sicily?’ Duomo Ristorante
Take a day trip on the train to Scicli and or Modica
Eat ice-cream at Divine Icecreams

Noto - 1 Night

I wanted to stay at a beach nearby called Fontane Bianche but the accommodation too expensive for me. Hence, we stayed the night in Noto instead and got to experience 3 different places in a short space of time. We went to a nearby coastal town Marzamemmi for lunch, spent the night in Noto and had a beach day in Fontane Bianche the next day. I was happy we made this decision as Noto was a small town and didn't have a lot going on.

Accommodation - http://www.booking.com/Share-KtisBFX

Things to do

Eat Pasta Alla Norma at Al Buco
Drink local beer and people watch on the main street
Marzamemmi for lunch
Beach day at Fontane Bianche

Marzamemmi - I considered staying Marzamemmi as well, as it looked like a beautiful little seaside town. I was glad we didn't stay as the accommodation was over priced and the beach was no where near as nice as Fontane Bianche. We went for lunch, and in my opinion thats all you really need there.

Fontane Bianche - Instead of paying for accommodation in Fontane Bianche, we stayed in Noto, which is only a 15 minute drive from Fontane Bianche. We saved a lot of money on accommodation this way. On the way to the beach we picked up snacks from Lidl to have a picnic at the beach, (to also avoid paying high prices for lunch at the beach clubs). We arrived about 10 am and only a few people were at the beach club. We went to Lido Sayonara as they had free parking and 2 lounge chairs and umbrella were only £15 for the day. (In Cinque Terre they are £25) The beach was amazing and looked just as good as the photos online. The water was warm, clear and shallow for miles.

Ortigia/Syracuse - 2 Nights

We arrived in Ortigia in the afternoon and had the joyful task of finding a parking spot. Lucky for us our Airbnb host gave us an extensive guide on the parking in Ortigia. Blue is residents only, yellow is paid parking, and white is for anyone, anytime and free. After a few attempts and we finally managed to score one. Our Airbnb was a cute little 1 bedroom apartment in the heart of Ortigita, right around the corner from the market. We were happy we stayed 2 nights in Ortigia as there is a lot to explore in this area.

Accommodation - We originally were booked into this Airbnb. But our host had to move us into her other even bigger better apartment before we arrived.

Things to do

Take a boat excursion to the nearby caves
Explore the Archaeological park
Take the hop on hop off bus
Get lost in the little streets of Ortigia
Eat seafood
Swim in the sea
Explore Castello Maniace
Eat Pizza at Sicily Pizzeria and Lounge Bar
Eat at the local market Caseificio Borderi

South East Sicily Travel Guide and Road Trip Itinerary

THE CAR RENTAL