36 Best Sights in Central Sicily and the Mediterranean Coast, Sicily

Donnafugata, the country seat of the Salina family in Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s novel The Leopard, is a fictional place, but it's a fusion of Santa Margherita del Belice (where the Tomasi di Lampedusa palace was until destroyed by a 1968 earthquake) and the Chiesa Madre and Benedictine Convent in Palma di Montecchiaro. The town was founded in the 17th century by Tomasi di Lampedusa’s ancestors, at a time when Spain, who ruled Sicily, needed the island to be its main source of wheat. As rural Sicily was beset with banditry, and considered far too dangerous for individual families to live in isolated farmhouses, the Crown encouraged landowners to found new towns, where peasants could live in relative safety, heading out to the fields each day and returning at night, to live cheek-to-cheek with their animals in one story houses. These days it is a rather grim, dilapidated-looking place, but for fans of The Leopard, a visit to the convent to buy almond cookies from one of the four remaining nuns is an eerie experience, offering a brief glimpse of the hidden lives that have changed little in centuries.

Starting at the town of Tracino, follow signs to the idyllic valley of Mueggen where immaculate vineyards and an intricate network of drystone walls and terraces are scattered with pepper-pot dammusi, some exquisitely restored as holiday homes, others picturesquely crumbling. From here, a narrow unpaved but drivable track leads down into the island’s most fertile valley, the Piana di Ghirlanda, before winding uphill and over into the next valley and the village of Rekale. Just beyond Rekale a narrow paved road leads steeply uphill (marked Zighidi) then runs past the Byzantine tombs and along a spectacular ridge with views down to the sea and into the Valle di Monastero. Follow signs to Sibà, to discover what may be the island's most charming village, nestled among lush greenery on the lower slopes of the Montagna Grande, then continue to the village of Bugeber, perched high above the Lago di Venere (Lake of Venus), with its green-turquoise waters filling a spent volcanic crater. There are swimming spots from the lake's beaches, and  smearing oneself with lake mud, and then lying in the sun until it is baked hard, is considered beneficial.

This good sandy beach lies between the nature reserves of Foce del Platani and Torre Salsa and is easily reached by car. It comes with a handful of lidos where you can eat and drink well and rent sunloungers in season. Amenities: food and drink. Best for: swimming; walking.

This beach of sandy red-gold dunes offers lots of fascinating sea plants and flowers growing straight out of the sand. There are no facilities, so bring provisions and sun protection. It's lovely for beach walks and birdwatching (look out for kingfishers, egrets, and herons) as well as swimming. Amenities: none. Best for: swimming; walking.

On the morning of July 10, 1943, the port of Licata became the first town in Sicily to be taken by American soldiers of the 7th Army under General Patton. Anyone interested in this history should visit the small museum of memorabilia within the tourism office, where the finds include a Coca-Cola bottle found in a shipwreck, ammunition boxes, huge mobile food containers, and even a packet of American razor blades. The staff can also help you get access to the town’s former air raid shelter.

From Scauri, steep and narrow Contrada Zighidi climbs up to a small roadside parking lot (marked track 971 Grotta del Bagno Asciutto). Take a look first at the Byzantine tombs cut into the rock, then head downhill along a narrow track into broad, flat Valle di Monastero, planted with miniature olive trees and neat vineyards. The path then leads up through a charming crumbling and semi-abandoned village of dammusi before arriving at a car park with information boards, from where a clearly marked path leads to the Bagno Asciutto, a natural cave with hot steam emissions where you can lie and sweat before cooling off from a small courtyard surrounded by stone benches and fantastic views.