Sicily or Sardinia – which Italian island is best?
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Vying with several thousand islands in the Mar Medi Terraneum (the “sea among lands”), Sicily and Sardinia take gold and silver medals for size.
Like companionable sisters, they have much in common: both are officially Italian, yet their southern shores are about as close to Africa as Birmingham is to London; both have been conquered by waves of the same invaders; both have coastlines of matchless beauty; and both remain resolutely independent, with their own dialects, cuisine, folklore and traditions.
For all their similarities, their differences run as deep as the sea that surrounds them. Drifting off the far edge of Europe towards Tunisia, Sicily has always been vaporous: its identity is hard to define, as if shrouded in the smoke of its volcanoes. Politically Italian since 1861, culturally it remains a world apart – a paradox, an enigma.
The sea-faring Phoenicians washed up here around 3,000 years ago; planting vineyards, creating wineries, building cities aligned with the stars (the strewn ruins of which survive at Motya and Solunto); they laid the foundations of the island we know today.
Since then, Sicily’s fecund soils have been trampled over by countless other conquerors and barbarian tribes, not to mention hosts of tourists who come in search of its sun-washed beaches or the film locations of Inspector Montalbano and The White Lotus.
Sicily’s little sister, Sardinia, is yet more shadowy: DH Lawrence described it as “lost between Africa and Europe, belonging to nowhere”. It’s surprising how often Sardinia is likened to far-off (and occasionally mythical) lands: the Maldives, the Sahara, the Pacific Islands, Eden.
Much of Sardinia’s history is curiously intangible – associated with myths and legends, expressed in otherworldly music. It takes a little imagination to read its prehistoric stones: those towering, nuraghe and cavernous sacred wells; those “spirit houses” where the dead are said to linger; those looming monoliths known as giants’ tombs; yet something about these primordial places seeps into the ocean bed of one’s memory and stirs its deepest roots.
Finding it difficult to choose? Read on, and prepare to be swayed.
Sicily
Whoever comes to Sicily finds a land of violent extremes: fiery volcanoes give way to shimmering seas; serrated cliffs to scalloped coves. In Sicily’s majestic and ancient temples, you might imagine the Greek gods and heroes still wander; in its hinterland hover the ghosts of bandits, brigands and mafiosi. Melancholy ruins, exuberant cities, gilded wealth and grinding poverty all sit cheek by jowl.
Though recent tourism has, to some extent, tempered the island’s jagged edges, any odyssey here will still lurch from poetry to prose: those godly temples give in to graffitied suburbs; virgin beaches to urban sprawl. Yet everywhere you will encounter that steamy cauldron of cultures that makes Sicily such an enthralling place and, above all, you will see unrivalled achievements in art and architecture. For Goethe, who visited in 1787, the island’s thousands of years of history offer “the key to everything”.
How to get there
There are direct flights to Palermo from Heathrow on British Airways and from Gatwick with easyJet and Wizz Air. Easyjet also flies from Luton, while Ryanair flies from Stansted and Edinburgh.
Flights to Catania, on the east coast, leave from Heathrow (BA) or from Gatwick (BA, easyJet or Wizz Air). There are flights from Luton (Ryanair and easyJet) and from Stansted with Ryanair or Jet2. Jet2 also flies from Birmingham, Leeds-Bradford and Manchester, and easyJet from Bristol. Trapani, on the island’s west coast, is served by Ryanair from Stansted and Manchester.
City streets
Historically rich, culturally confused, at once splendid and decadent: the city of Palermo is a microcosm of Sicily. Its ever-changing names chronicle the saga of its long history: Sis, Panormos, Madina al-Siquilliya, Balarm, Paliemmu, Palermu – all reflect the myriad faces of Sicily’s capital.
This eclectic past plays out today in an imbroglio of ancient ruins, pagan necropolises, Christian catacombs, Norman churches with Arabic domes and chapels ablaze with Byzantine mosaics. Flamboyant Baroque palazzi and art nouveau villas line its chaotic streets, which are alive with souk-like markets and exotic street bazaars.
To enjoy the slower rhythms of Sicilian urban life, head south-east to the Unesco-inscribed Baroque cities of the Val di Noto. The honeyed-stone town of Noto itself makes a lovely base. From there, wander over to Modica, whose voluptuous duomo is known as one of the wonders of the Baroque world, and on to Ragusa Ibla. This swansong of Sicilian Baroque snakes dramatically across limestone crags, creating an unforgettable counterpoint with the furrowed landscape beyond.
Martin Randall Travel (020 8742 3355) offers numerous cultural tours in Sicily, including a seven-day Opera in Sicily itinerary with performances in Noto, Modica, Ragusa and Syracuse, from ￡4,380 per person.
If you prefer to travel independently, Rocco Forte’s Villa Igiea (0039 09 16312111) in Palermo has double rooms from ￡472 per night, while Q92 (0039 0931 967461) in Baroque Noto has doubles from ￡218.
Historical hotspot
Pindar, the Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, called the ancient Greek citadel of Akragas “the most beautiful of mortal cities”. It has since inspired many writers, from Ludovico Ariosto to Luigi Pirandello.
Its evocative remains now form the Valley of the Temples, a Unesco World Heritage site in Agrigento. Sweeping across some 3,000 acres, curbed by the thin blade of the sea, are colossal Greek temples, titanic stone deities, a labyrinth of sanctuaries and tombs – all bearing silent witness to one of Magna Graecia’s most august cities. Visit at sunset and linger to see the ruins evocatively floodlit.
Also protected by Unesco, on the west of the island, are Segesta’s lonely temple and theatre and the windswept remains of Selinunte – an ancient megalopolis that rises and falls across three hills on the sea’s edge.
Peter Sommer (01600 888220) curates expert-led cultural and archaeological tours of these and other historic sights. The 14-day Exploring Sicily trip costs from ￡5,965 per person, excluding flights.
Around 40 minutes from Agrigento, in the Torre Salsa nature reserve, the Adler Spa Resort Sicilia (0039 0922 145 7000) has double rooms with half board from ￡372 per night. Concierge can arrange tours.
Natural beauty
Ever-simmering Etna is one of Sicily’s greatest natural wonders, but just as awe-inspiring is the Aeolian archipelago, a constellation of seven volcanic islands off the north coast. Belching fire and sulphur as they rise in the Tyrrhenian Sea, they make a formidable sight. The most northerly isle is smouldering Stromboli, edged with black sand and lava-pebble beaches. One can island-hop from there to Panarea, whose sculptural cliffs, coves and skerries have enchanted many a celebrity; then on to Lipari, the largest of the Aeolian group, whose pretty villages open onto rapturous views; Vulcano, with its hot sulphurous springs and smoking crater; and vine-clad Salina. The westernmost isles are Filicudi and Alicudi – places to forget the world.
Liberty Lines (0039 0923 0022022) and Snav (0039 081 4285555) operate hydrofoils and ferries connecting the Aeolian Islands to Palermo, Milazzo and various ports on the Italian mainland.
Hotel Capofaro – Locanda & Malvasia (0039 090 9844330) on Salina has double rooms from ￡388 per night.
Don’t miss
Though it’s awash with visitors in the tourist season, the hill town of Taormina, overlooking the Ionian Riviera, remains an enchanting place to tarry. Wander through its charming streets, browse its boutique shops, or mosey down to the little beaches and island at Mazzarò bay. Taormina’s most famous monument is the ancient Greek-Roman theatre – a heroic protagonist in a mise-en-scène of volcano, cliffs and sea. As Goethe reckoned: “No audience in any other theatre ever beheld such a view.”
Right by the theatre, with that impossibly romantic backdrop, is the iconic Belmond Grand Hotel Timeo (0039 0942 627 0200; belmond.com); doubles from ￡570 per night.
Hidden wonder
Sicily’s interior is an unearthly hinterland of rocky outcrops and spartan valleys. In the parched summer months, its aridly undulating hills look like desert dunes. Hire a car to explore its wistful landscapes and take in Enna, Sutera and the Villa Romana del Casale.
In the belly of the island, the small city of Enna is known as Sicily’s “navel”. A place of cults and legends, it soars on a vertiginous cliff and its mighty Lombardy Castle makes a spectacular sight as it erupts from the valley. The rock-top village of Sutera has, in turn, been called “the balcony of Sicily” thanks to its dizzying panorama. Also in the hinterland is another of Sicily’s Unesco sites: the imperial Villa Romana del Casale at Piazza Armerina, carpeted with an acre of ancient Roman mosaics that roll out a narrative of heroes and battles and bikini-clad Olympian women.
Sardinia
Like Sicily, Sardinia was merged with Italy in 1861, but even today most islanders will proudly describe themselves as Sardinians, not Italians. Perhaps for this reason, they have jealously protected their territory, resisting the asphalt jungles and urbanised coasts that blight much of the Mediterranean.
Wherever you go, you’ll find a virgin paradise: around 1,200 miles of ever varied shorelines; headlands, coves and bays; inlets, islets and skerries; miles of sand beaches and backshores, towering dunes. The island is also a haven for wildlife: flamingos wade in the salt-flats of Cagliari and the lagoons of Chia; there are wild horses on the high plateau of the Giara; feral donkeys and spiral-horned mouflons on Asinara island; sea turtles and deer in the windswept Piscinas dune fields.
Sardinia’s most remarkable monuments are its mysterious Nuragic settlements, built when the world was 3,500 years younger. Flung across the entire island are looming sacred stones and shrines, dry-stone fortresses, and towers so impossibly vast they are said to have been built by the Cyclopes.
How to get there
There are direct flights to Cagliari (on the south coast) from Gatwick (British Airways and easyJet) and Stansted (Ryanair). Ryanair also flies direct from Stansted to Alghero, on Sardinia’s west coast.
For Olbia (on the north-east coast) there are flights from Heathrow with British Airways and from Bristol, Gatwick, Luton and Manchester with easyJet.
City streets
Few people come to Sardinia for its cities – except perhaps for the ancient Roman ones of Tharros and Nora. Nevertheless, the island’s capital, Cagliari, and the small city of Alghero make for interesting launch pads.
Alghero lies in a halcyon spot on the Coral Riviera to the north-west of the island.
It’s a languid, lived-in little place where locals still bring their chairs out onto the pavements to sit and chat in the language of the troubadours (a medieval variant of Catalan that took root here after the Aragonese conquest of the 14th century). The local cuisine has a Catalonian twang, too: paella, calamari and rock lobster “alla catalana”. In the historic centre, shady cobbled alleys trickle down to the impressive ramparts, where you can enjoy a lazy passeggiata with views of the marina and the glassy waters of the bay framed by the far-off cliffs of Capo Caccia.
On a sea-lapped promontory, 10 minutes’ walk from the historic centre, Villa La Tronas Hotel and Spa (0039 079 981818) has double rooms from ￡227 a night.
Historical hotspot
The most famous is the Unesco-listed Nuragic site of Su Nuraxi at Barumini, but the entire island is blanketed with the stones of Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements. The Valley of Nuraghi – in Logudoro, to the island’s north-west – is particularly rich in ancient monuments; the most atmospheric one is Santu Antine near Torralba. Known locally as Sa Domu de su Re, “the house of the king”, this megalithic drystone fortress and village were built around a Cyclopean tower more than three and a half millennia ago – the stuff of legends.
Elsewhere, redolent remains of ancient cities recall the invasions and conquests of Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans and Byzantines (unlike in Sicily, the Greeks left little trace). The most atmospheric archaeological sites are Roman Tharros and Nora, skirted by the restless sea on Sardinia’s west coast. The ruins of ancient Bithia, to the south, have largely been swamped by the waves – like fabled Atlantis.
Natural beauty
La Pelosa, on the island’s north-west, is one of Sardinia’s most pristine beaches: opal waters and silky white sands guarded by a 16th-century watchtower. In high season, it’s necessary to book to avoid extreme overcrowding.
Lonelier and less frequented, to the north of La Pelosa, is the island of Asinara. Closed to the public for well over a century while it served as a prison, it’s now a protected national park inhabited only by blue-eyed albino donkeys, wild goats and curly-horned mouflons. It’s a place of hushed beauty: rocky bays and inlets open onto sandy shores, dunes and freshwater pools – a haven for migratory birds en route to Africa. One can hike across the island via a network of mule tracks and dirt paths.
Don’t miss
To really understand Sardinia, try to take in at least one of its countless sacred festivals and folkloric processions, or listen to the haunting sound of the cantu a tenòre – a music “as old as dawn”. This resonant, polyphonic chant, with its unworldly overtones, is so vital to Sardinia’s intangible heritage that it is safeguarded by Unesco. There are regular performances at Su Gologone Experience Hotel (0039 0784 287512).
One of the most visceral of the island’s folk traditions is the carnival ritual of the Mamuthones in the mountain town of Mamoiada: black-masked, sheepskin-clad figures, burdened with clamorous sheep’s bells, hoof around open fires, banishing the forces of darkness.
Then, to mark the arrival of spring, Cagliari sets the stage for the greatest religious procession in the Mediterranean world: the Festa di Sant’Efisio. During the first four days in May, communities from all over Sardinia process through the city’s petal-strewn streets, wearing myriad traditional costumes. Festooned ox-drawn carts and splendidly dressed horsemen and women accompany a simulacrum of Cagliari’s patron saint, Ephysius, on a magnificent 40-mile pilgrimage to Nora.
Hidden wonder
The mountain range of Supramonte – a place of seraphic peaks and plunging canyons – conceals some of Sardinia’s wildest secrets. Many places here can only be reached on foot, such as Su Gorropu, one of the deepest gorges in Europe, or the lunar-like valley of Lanaittu and the ghostly remains of the Nuragic village of Tiscali. Lost in a mountain cavity and invisible from outside, Tiscali was a place of refuge since at least the 15th century BC through to the late Middle Ages. It’s around a two-hour trek to get there, with expansive views down onto the Lanaittu valley as you scale stoney, karstic slopes.
Su Gologone Experience Hotel (0039 0784 287512) organises guided treks to Tiscali and hiking or jeep excursions around the Supramonte peaks and the Lanaittu valley. Doubles from ￡230 per night.