The Best Hotels in Sicily, Italy’s Sun-Soaked Southern Isle

The best hotels in Sicily are a testament to the region’s unique character. A scruffy, splendid, sun-baked mosaic of varied cultures and landscapes, all under Mount Etna’s menacing gaze, the island’s strategic Mediterranean position has allowed almost every civilization to have a peck at its fertile soil. From the Ancient Greeks and the Arabs to the French and, latterly, the Spanish, the long list of conquests manifests in singular regional dishes, such as caponata, pasta alla norma. and sweet granita breakfasts. Then there’s the beguiling, layer-cake architecture, from Agrigento’s Valley of the Temples to Palermo’s Arab-Norman fusion cathedral, and the South East’s Baroque towns with their rambling, crumbling palazzi. Taormina is a picture of sun-soaked terraced gardens tipping over surreal blue bays, yet just south of it lies the splendidly disheveled Catania, with its noisy markets and famous “hot tables.” Europe’s most active volcano’s slopes are dotted with flamboyant guest houses and vineyards passed down like heirlooms through the generations, while over on the far west of the island, Moorish influences endure in the couscous dishes and spices, and great stretches of its cliff-backed, wispy coastline remain fiercely protected for wildlife. Film buffs head to the villages of Savoca and Forza d’Agrò, where Francis Ford Coppola filmed The Godfather. Thalassophiles, meanwhile, flock to dolce vita beaches and crystal-clear swim spots, while the well-informed seek out the unearthly beauty of the sleepy islands scattered beyond Trinacria’s sun-bleached shores.

Whether you intend to drop bags at a reimagined fishing village, caught in a tangle of wild jasmine and bougainvillea on a volcanic isle, or a turreted bastion of Sicily’s Golden age, dining on tales of grand tour shenanigans and 1950s film stars under Palermo’s spell, here at the best hotels in Sicily.