Sicilian beaches
 

Hi there,

I am wondering if anyone has a recommendation for a laid-back beach town in Sicily. I want to find a town/small city that is very walkable, where I go to the beach during the day.

Something not too too touristy would be nice (I am aware that I am going during August and that nothing is tourist-free during the summer).


Any/all suggestions will be helpful. Thanks!

I should add that I was in Sicily a few years ago, and went to Taormina, Siracusa, and Palermo, plus did a bunch of archeological daytrips from Palermo.

My favorite beach spot was at Lo Zingaro.

Anyhow, I guess I'm trying to avoid Taormina, mostly because I'm looking for something a little more typically Sicilian. Maybe go somewhere in the southwest or southeast? I've just never been down there and don't know what to expect.

Thanks.

On our way from Palermo to Taormina last summer, we stopped into the town of Capo di Orlando for lunch at Tartaruga which is a charming inn/restaurant on the beach. The guests were all Sicilian/Italian and the town was small, clean and seemed like a very nice resort. The beach was very clean and nearly empty. Capo di Orlando is located between Cefalu and Milazzo.

I stayed overnight in Capo d'Orlando in May a few years ago. I was there only because the next day I was going to a little mountain town inland from Capo d'Orlando. It's a medium sized provincial town. People who grew up in the tiny mountain towns nearby sometimes move there for jobs or business, and some people from little inland towns commute there to work now that there are modern roads. When I was there, it was not the time of year for the beach and bathing, but people (including me) were taking walks back and forth along walkway above the beach. Most people seemed to be taking their evening promendae in the park in the center of the town, not near the beach. It's not the type of resort town where you would walk around in a bathing suit, and I suspect that even shorts would be out of place. It's a town with a year-round commercial life, though not a hectic one, and, while certainly not ugly, it's not especially picturesque. It doesn't really have a resort-y feel, or at least it didn't in May. On the other hand, it's a place where you could meet all your practical needs, like places to eat, banks, laundramats. It could not be easier to reach, since it is on northern coast train line. If you have a car or hire a driver, you could take a day trip from there into the Nebrodi Mountains area, much of which is parkland and nature preserve, where there are some unspoiled Norman towns, some Norman/Byzantine/Arabic ruins, beautiful mountain scenery, natural springs, and the famous horses of San Fratello. So while I'm not exactly recommending it as some spectacular destination in iteslf, it does have quite a few advantages.

The southern coast would probably be extremely hot in August (notter than the north/northeast, which is much greener), but there may be beach towns near Ragusa that meet your needs.

Possibly somewhere in the Aeolian islands, e.g., on beautiful Salina, would be a beach spot that would meet your needs. You could also look into some of the less touristy islands, like the Egadi islands (Favignana, etc.)

Thank you for your responses! I will look into these spots, and any others that anyone else wants to recommend.

A related question...I am thinking about going to Sicily in mid-October. How warm is it then? For some reason I can't find good weather information. Is the water warm enough to swim in? Are the beaches deserted then? This isn't a beach holiday but would be great to get a day out on the beach anyway. thanks.

Sally: I was there this past November (mid-month) and I thought it was fairly warm. I was actually hot most of the time walking around Palermo, and pleasantly warm in most of the other places. It was pretty cold only in one place, and that was up in the Nebrodi Mountains. Yet just a 1/2 hour away near the coast it was warm. I would guess that the water would be warm enough to swim in October. (Actually, I've swum in the ocean in NJ in early October, so I'm really pretty sure the water would be warm enough then in Sicily.) I'd guess that it might be warmest along the southern coast. I've read/heard that December is the rainiest month, or maybe January. There was some rain when I was there in November, but it was only very rainy one day in Cefalù. In the Madonie Mountains there was a fierce warm dry wind from Africa at night when I was there in November.

For whatever it's worth, some of my cousins, knowing that I'd already seen Sicily in May, which is lovely, said that the other nicest time to see it is September. I was afraid November was going to be a terrible time, in terms of weather, but it wasn't at all. So if you go in October, you'll be right in between those two months. I think maybe the only months to avoid, if we have a choice, are July-Augst and December-January.