An active volcano, Godfather filming locations, and some of the best food in Italy
🔥 Check Top Sicily Tours 🏨 Compare Hotel PricesSicily is Italy's largest island and genuinely feels like its own country — a layered history of Greek, Roman, Arab and Norman rule shows up everywhere from the architecture to the food, and the island's scale means it rewards a proper trip rather than a rushed stop. At its centre sits Mount Etna, Europe's largest active volcano, still shaping the landscape and the local wine region around it.
Taormina, perched on a clifftop with views over the sea and Etna simultaneously, is the island's most postcard-perfect town and doubled as a filming location for both The Godfather and The White Lotus. Syracuse, with its island old town of Ortigia, offers a quieter, equally beautiful alternative. Sicilian food — arancini, cannoli, fresh seafood, and a wine scene increasingly recognised internationally — is reason enough on its own.
👉 This guide covers Taormina, Syracuse, Mount Etna, and how to plan a proper Sicily trip.
💡 Quick Sicily facts:
Europe's largest active volcano, climbable with a guide — a genuinely unforgettable experience, whether you go for a wine-tasting foothills tour or a full ascent toward the craters.
Check Availability →Savoca and Forza d'Agrò, the villages used for key Godfather scenes, are a genuine pilgrimage for film fans — best visited with a guide who knows exactly where each scene was shot.
Book the Godfather Tour →A Greek-built, Roman-expanded amphitheatre with a jaw-dropping backdrop of the sea and Mount Etna simultaneously — one of the most photographed views in Sicily.
Explore Taormina Tours →A small island old town connected to Syracuse by bridge, with a genuinely different, quieter atmosphere than Taormina — Baroque architecture and an excellent daily food market.
Book Syracuse Tours →Sicily's cuisine blends Italian, Arab and Greek influences into something genuinely distinct — arancini, cannoli, and Etna's increasingly celebrated volcanic wines.
Find Food Tours →Boat tours along the coast near Taormina and Syracuse reveal sea caves and swimming spots inaccessible from land — a genuinely different way to see the island.
Explore Sicily Tours →Mount Etna and Godfather tours are consistently the most booked experiences — reserve ahead
Find Best Sicily Tours →Guesthouses in Catania or inland Sicily from €55/night, cheaper than Taormina's clifftop premium.
Check Budget Hotels →Well-located hotels in Taormina or Ortigia from €120/night — the sweet spot for atmosphere and location.
Compare Options →Clifftop resorts with sea views in Taormina, including historic properties like Grand Hotel Ortigia, from €280/night.
View Luxury Hotels →Sicily is large enough that most visitors, even on a two-week trip, only realistically cover one half. The east coast — Taormina, Mount Etna, Syracuse and Catania — is the more established tourist route, with better transport links, more English spoken, and the island's single most photographed landscape (Etna smoking behind Taormina's Ancient Theatre). This is the right choice for most first-time visitors.
The west coast, anchored by Palermo, offers a rawer, less polished version of Sicily — extraordinary Arab-Norman architecture, chaotic and brilliant street markets, and noticeably fewer tourists. It rewards visitors who've already done a Sicily trip, or who specifically want a grittier, more local experience over postcard scenery.
If you only have one option, choose based on this: the east coast for classic Sicily (Etna, Taormina, ancient Greek theatre, Godfather locations), the west for a deeper, more textured dive into the island's Arab-Norman history and everyday urban life.
Catania Airport is the best gateway for Taormina, Mount Etna and Syracuse, with good connections across Europe. Palermo Airport serves the western half of the island. A rental car is genuinely valuable given Sicily's size — public transport between towns is limited and slow compared to driving.
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