The Place
It's more than an island! Discover Sicily and discover the world. The world's first multicultural society, Sicily is Italy's (and Europe's) most historically cosmopolitan region, having been ruled by Asians, Africans and Europeans. Sicily is black and white and a million shades of gray. There's no other place on Earth like Sicily. Our island is a unique place full of art, archeology, history, folklore and breathtaking scenery. And, of course, great food. Sicily is almost a nation unto itself. The enchanting land where Archimedes taught and Saint Paul preached was a Greek colony, a Roman province, an Arab emirate and a Norman kingdom. The Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese and Jews made Sicily their own, leaving behind an eclectic history that you can still touch today. And Sicily will touch you. Sicily is Europe, Africa and Asia on one island. Greek tyrants, Arab emirs, Norman knights, Byzantine bishops and Holy Roman Emperors made Sicily the place it is. Experience their legacy in Phoenician settlements, Punic cities, Greek temples, Roman amphitheatres, Norman-Arab castles and Aragonese churches. Thirty centuries of history expressed in the Classical, the Romanesque, the Gothic, the Baroque...

Sikania to its most ancient peoples, Sicily was Sikelia, Plato's utopian society, to the ancient Greeks. Later, the sonnet was created at the Court of Frederick II, and Sicily found her place in the literature of Dante and Boccaccio. Sunny Sicily is Punic Palermo, towering Taormina, ancient Agrigento, splendid Siracusa, and medieval Monreale and Cefalù.

And God created Sicily. The place where the mountains meet the sea. Sicilia, the island in the sun, is home to Heavenly beaches, majestic mountains and Europe's greatest natural wonder, Mount Etna. Sicily's coasts are gold with orange and lemon orchards. Each scenic region offers something different. In northeastern Sicily's Nebrodi Mountains you'll find unexpectedly lush forests. In the central regions you'll encounter rugged land and rolling hills. Dignified vineyards, ancient olive groves, hardy almond orchards and endless wheat fields complete the picture. Summer is amber land under a sky of blue. Winter finds palm trees dusted with snow in a surreal symphony. Spring is a rainbow of wild flowers set against greenest fields...

If you could choose just one place to visit where you could witness everything from the culture of Hellenic antiquity to the glories of the Middle Ages and the wonders of the Renaissance, shaped by a dozen civilizations, Sicily would be that place. And Best of Sicily would be a good starting point.

Yes, our island is Italian. And French and Spanish and Greek, with a few German and Arab nuances in its cultural mix. Sicily is the world's island. A place where time and tradition have been forged by peoples and faiths from the north and south, from the east and west. Beauty in diversity: Europe, Africa and Asia in one magical moment...

Bedda, the Sicilian word for "beautiful," is the way we Sicilians describe this place.

You won't be the first guest to enjoy Sicilian hospitality. Cicero, Saint Louis, Richard Lionheart and Eleanor of Aquitaine have already tested the waters for you. Yes, our island has been extending hospitality to first-time visitors for three thousand years.

We like to think that if the internet existed in Cicero's time he would have visited Best of Sicily before coming to the island. You won't need papyrus or a Roman courier, just a keyboard and mouse. We'll take care of the rest.

A world unto itself, Sicily, in all its complexities, is a land like no other.

The Discovery
Welcome to the world's favorite Sicilian website, online since 1999! The Sicily you never knew existed. Sicily's definitive (and largest) online destination guide is full of information and easy to use.

Sights, scenery, cities, shopping, history, culture, nature, beaches, hotels, restaurants, travel planning, arts, fashion, food and wine, and an online magazine with real information you won't find on any other site, written for thinking people. All uniquely indexed and easy to find. If you have even a general idea of what you're looking for, you'll find it in Best of Sicily:

Come to Sicily...
» Top 12 destinations in Sicily.
» Scenery & Geography of Sicily.
» Tours of Sicily and shore excursions.
» Hotels, Flights, Cars reserved online.
» Restaurants around Sicily reviewed.
» Travel Faqs with practical information.
» Arriving in Sicily by air, land or sea.
» Airlines servicing Sicily's major airports.
» Travel Ideas for your visit to our island.
» Sicily Map indicating roads and cities.
» Sicily Weather forecasts, temperatures.
» Beaches in Sicily - a selected listing.
» Travel Services for unique experiences.
» Palermo - guide to Sicily's largest city.
» Bed & Breakfasts, other accommodations.
» Guest Farms - country retreats (agriturismo).
» Villas in Sicily and how to find one.
» Golf in Sicily for something different.
» Tour Guides in Sicily listed by locality.
» Sicily for Children - fun for families!
» Net & Mobile phone service in Italy.
» Travel Guide Books reviewed.
» Shopping - exclusively Made in Sicily.

Featuring descriptions of places you'll want to visit, indexed by both city and things to see and do, along with some useful travel faqs, a history of Sicily (with sections on customs, culture, the Sicilian language, life in Sicily, genealogy and much more), and even a good book page, Best of Sicily offers timely, useful information, provided by a qualified staff based in Sicily --not just travel writers or tour guides but insightful archeologists and widely-published historians who really know Sicily and Sicilians, presenting facts and details you won't find anyplace else. Viewed eight thousand times each day, our pages present varied (even controversial) points of view. The real Sicily, not the generic "tourism" version presented by other sites. Most online destination guides list their descriptions by locality. With Best of Sicily, you can search for a city, town or historical site by locality but also by the kind of thing to see. In Sicily archeology alone makes for an adventure, but it's just part of this island's historic heritage.

We're not a travel agency (although we promote several 'co-branded' tours), but you can find a flight, book your hotel and reserve a car through Best of Sicily. Plan your entire visit (with Sicily's greatest links page), or just find out more about Sicily. There's something here for almost everybody interested in something Sicilian. Every day, Best of Sicily is Sicily's international point of reference for thousands of the Web's most discerning readers: Travelers, teachers, students, journalists, food and wine aficionados, culture vultures, adventurous trekkers and virtual tourists. Informed readers, not just "visitors."

This site is for you. Just real, practical information. On our Sicilian history pages, with their links to hundreds of articles, you won't find just a lifeless narrative account of the 'who' and 'what' of ancient, medieval and modern Sicilian history, you'll understand the 'how' and the 'why' that makes a unique place come to life.

Come visit Sicily. We've been expecting you for three thousand years!

The People
Archimedes, Arethusa, Persephone, Demeter, Frederick II, Antonello da Messina, Alessandro Scarlatti, Vincenzo Bellini, Giovanni Verga, Fulco di Verdura, Leonardo Sciascia, Eleonora Abbagnato, Marella Ferrera, Giuseppe Tornatore, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Giovanni Falcone and the Beati Paoli are just a few of the Sicilians you'll meet in Best of Sicily Online Magazine. Featuring original articles about people, places, art, theatre, dance, cuisine and culture (and even a goddess or two), Best of Sicily Magazine is the first Sicilian online magazine published entirely in Sicily in English. Every month, insightful, original articles by Sicily's best authors on the life and soul of the place called Sicily. And articles on a few "honorary" Sicilians like Aeschylus, Idrisi, Goethe, Wagner, D.H. Lawrence, Emilio Segré and Danilo Dolci. Uncensored, unbiased and uninhibited, it's the real Sicily and real Sicilians: Artists, musicians, writers, performers, athletes. For easy searching, dozens of these Sicilian biographies are linked from our history page.

Offering accurate, revealing information, this monthly publication presents views and perspectives that reach beyond the world of trendy topics and the superficial.

With more "foreign" (non-Italian) readers around the world than any Sicilian newspaper or hard-copy magazine (over two million in 2008), the Magazine has a little of everything. Hundreds of articles about people, wildlife, nature, art, out of the way places, esoteric history. And vital social issues dealing with the life of real Sicilians in today's Sicily - things like education, the women's movement, the workplace and environmental conservation. Things that make Sicily a living, breathing place, not just a "tourist destination." The undiscovered, living Sicily, a place full of complex issues and real people. Best of Sicily, with some nine million visits since 1999, is the most widely read English-language non-fiction publication about Sicily. And, of course, it's free. (The only Sicilian publication which may have enjoyed more readers internationally is Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa's bestselling novel, The Leopard.) The truest colours of Sicily, polished but never varnished, in a multicultural mosaic beyond "Sicilian tourism." We thank you, the Web's most sophisticated readers, for making Best of Sicily the world's favorite Sicilian website!

Sicily in Your Pocket! Take Sicily with you with Best of Sicily Mobile, Sicily's first online travel guide for cell phones and PDAs. It's like having our entire island in your pocket and at your fingertips. Designed for easy visibility on even the smallest phone screen, as well as your Blackberry, Palm or iPhone, our mobile 'mini-site' is useful for anybody visiting Sicily. Get connected to http://bestofsicily.mobi