Since I don’t like the cold winters in Germany, I decided to spend 10 days in Sicily during February. While there were only 2 degree Celcius at home, I have spent 10 beautiful days with up to 20 degrees Celcius. One of the main reasons why I decided to go to Sicily in winter was to hike on the Etna by snow. I have been several times to Sicily but only in summer (during May to August) but my trip in winter was a special experience.

In February the island is less crowded, you have an awesome view of the snowy volcano and the almond trees are in bloom. I definitely recommend to visit Sicily in winter, because the island has so much more to offer than just lovely beaches. The only negative thing is that in the very touristy places such as Taormina, a lot of places are closed during winter.
My flight arrived in Palermo. From Palermo I travelled to Taormina, Catania, Noto, Marzamemi, Ragusa Ibla and Agrigento and then back to Palermo.
Here are the Top 3 of the most special experiences of my trip:

1. Day Trip to Mount Etna
The highlight of the trip was the excursion to Mount Etna. As soon as I arrived in Taormina, I started looking for companies that offer excursions to Mount Etna. I decided for Etna People, because in my opinion they offer the best value-for-money.
The next morning I got picked up in front of my B&B by the guide Paolo. While driving the guide, who is studying geology, gave us a lot of information about Mount Etna, the vegetation and past erruptions, which was really interesting. The group was small, beside me just 3 other participants and Paolo took a lot of time to answer all our questions and share his passion about the Etna with us.
The hike was spectacular. We were walking for about 1,5 hours on fields of lava and ash, we even walked on the top of an extinct crater. During the hike we had a lot of stopps, so it was not exhausting. Afterwards we visited a lava cave, equipped with torches and helmets. We had lunch in a really nice wine cellar on the Etna and got to try three differents wines. The food was delicious: We had appetizers and Pasta alla Norma (pasta with aubergines, tomatoes and ricotta cheese). In the afternoon we visited the Alcantara gorges.

2. Terrazza su Noto
Noto is a beautiful little city, famous for its baroque architecture and listed as an UNESCO world heritage site. A highlight was the stay in the Bed and Breakfast “Terrazza su Noto”, which offers a breathtaking view from its roof terrace. You can overlook the city, see the cathedral of Noto and the ocean. The next morning we had a nice breakfast with Crossaints, Cappuccino and freshly squeezed orange juice and the great view, while the sun was shining.

3. Valley of the Temples and Scala dei Turchi
While the Valley of the Temples and the Scala dei Turchi are very crowded during summer time, there are not many tourists in winter. I would recommend to visit the Valley of the Temples in the evening. It is a great place to watch the sunset and the temples look beautiful with the light of the setting sun. The Valley is open until 8 pm so we stayed until darkness to see the illuminated temples and the lights of the city of Agrigento.
The next morning we visited the Scala dei Turchi. We took a walk along the nice sandy beach and climed the “stairs”. Then we had a picknic on the white rocks, looking on the sea. We were the only people there, which would have been unimaginable in summer.

Lovely report, thank you! Looking forward to the rest!

Nice report. Did you get around by rental car or public transportation?

Thanks. I loved Sicily in spring, interested to hear that earlier in the year would work too. Was your tour ot Mt. Etna in English?

Maria90 you are making my day! Thank you so much for this interesting trip report.
My husband and I are planning to go away for a week during the second week of March. I have taken Italian classes for three years now and of course are eager to practice my language skills at any given opportunity. We are not into sunbathing but we are however craving some sunshine after a long and dreary winter. Culture, good food and a little sunshine is all we are looking for. I looked at the weather reports though and the weather in any part of Italy seems less stable than on the Spanish east coast. A city like e.g. Barcelona doesn't really have a low season so restaurants are open year round. Downside: they don't speak Italian in Spain.
I will now have a second look at Sicily as a serious option. Any other advice, tips and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for your positive responses

shelleyk: I have rented a car. Getting around with public transport can be a bit difficult especially in winter.
If you want to visit mostly the cities and stay overnight (day trips can be difficult because there are often just few journeys a day) you do not need a car.
In cities like Taormina parking is really expensive.

thursdaysd: The tour was held in English but the guide told me they offer other languages as well.

Elisabeth54: the weahter during my trip was mostly fine. Just one day of rain. And March is even a better time to visit Sicily.

MARIA90, thanks for the great suggestions.

I visited Sicily once in mid February for a week. We stayed in Taormina and took day trips to various eastern parts of the Island.It was beautiful.

The weather was most delightful for travel...

It is a nice report Makes me wanna go two. It's cold here in NYC

Thanks a lot for sharing!

just found this. We are off to Sicily in September so absolutely not winter but your information is still very helpful so thank you very much for taking the trouble to post it.

My thanks to you as well. Friends of ours just did a month in Italy and Côte d'Azur and found it a great time to go there.
Perhaps they were just fortunate to have good weather but it's nice to know there are winter options.

You really have us thinking of doing the same, but I think we would stay in Cefalù as it is a beautiful town.