People watching in Palermo

Since returning from my trip to Sicily a couple of weeks ago I have been so busy planning all my clients fabulous adventures, I haven't made time to write a post to talk about Sicily. To anyone that has always fancied a trip to Sicily please read on.

I have wanted to visit Sicily for nearly 20yrs, my entire travel career!

For this reason I wanted to explore & squeezed in a lot! Our roadtrip began in the NW & finished in the SE starting in Palermo, on to Cefalu, continuing across country through rolling fields, a half a dozen beautiful hilltop towns & a thousand turns in the road until we reached buzzy Catania. Last stop, the luxurious resort town of Taormina.

I have written here about Palermo on a previous post, capital city & utterly picture perfect. Ancient, charming & full of character this town is a city break for anyone interested in history, architecture, charming churches & fantastic, traditional Sicilian food.

Next stop, a rather hairy drive took us out of Palermo city & on to Cefalu. Driving in Sicily is much like driving in the rest of Italy, everyman for himself & a fair few 'who knows' type junctions!

After passing through a rather industrial stretch of coastline we arrived in charming little Cefalu, a pretty seaside town of winding cobblestone streets, people watching & a central Cathedral square. We had planned to stay here 2 nights but April's drizzly weather meant we cut our stay short & headed across country for an impromptu night in Catania city.

Catania, although gritty & very 'real' was actually my favourite stop in our roadtrip. With it's crumbling facades, old town squares & a beautiful shopping promenade all in the shadow of Mount Etna it reminded me very much of Arequipa in Peru. It felt a little down at heel in places but the people were friendly, welcoming & proud. You could easily sit back, taking in all the surroundings & feel you were somewhere in South America.

Final stop, the hilltop town of Taormina. A very different feel to Catania & Palermo this pretty, shiny town felt more Disney-esque. It was pretty touristy & more expensive than the otherwise reasonably priced towns we had visited up till this point. With bars & restaurants more inline with London prices this felt a lot like the Amalfi coast in places. Cobbled alleyways interweaved with tourist & designer shops. A quick funicular ride down the hill brought you to cute, shingle Mazzaro beach, home to the ultra luxury Belmond Sant Andrea. Just around the bay was 'The Pearl of the Ionian Sea', the nature reserve of Isola Bella.

My overall takeaway from Sicily is if you love good food, people watching, history & great architecture you'll adore this island. Don't expect any wild nights out though, the evenings can get pretty sleepy in the shoulder seasons. Ask me for more details on the best itinerary for you, I'd love to chat Lara Harris hashtag#Misslarastravels hashtag#Travelplanningwithlara hashtag#Travelagent hashtag#Travelexpert hashtag#Travel hashtag#Luxury hashtag#Travelcounsellors hashtag#LuxuryTravel