Holidays in Sicily

Central Sicily

This area of quiet countryside and historic towns, could well be called the heart of Sicily - and it might well be the focus for your Sicilian holiday; and although Sicily is a large island, because of its triangular shape the centre is surprisingly easily reached from all three coasts. That is if you take the highways... if you take the smaller byways you will be extremely interested in what you see on the way, will have to be patient with bends in the road and will find you need a great deal more time.

Things To See & Do in Central Sicily

• Visit the high wonder of Italy's provincial capital of Enna
• See the Roman mosaics at Piazza Armerina
• Climb the Torre Pisano in Enna and marvel at the breathtaking views
• Visit quiet Nicosia and her beautiful mountain lakes

View accommodation in Central Sicily »

Enna

Whichever way you decide to travel around Sicily, the centre of the island is worth your visit. The chief town of the centre, Enna - the 'navel of Sicily' - sits along its high ridge in a seemingly impossible position. Unlike most of the major city sites in Sicily, Enna was actually built by a native people known as the Siculi, and this makes Enna one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on the island. Yet like all the towns and villages of the area, many of them built high in the sky for defence, it has been conquered more than once, and one can only wonder at the bravery of those in both sides in these battles. The fighting seems to have continued all through Sicilian history, so it is hard to visit anywhere here where there wasn't a crucial fight at some point or other from Neolithic times to the second world war.

Piazza Armerina and Caltagirone

For slightly less daunting surroundings, go a little to the south, where Piazza Armerina has some of the best Roman mosaics in the world, and where the ceramic making town of Caltagirone - the Queen of the Hills - will cheer you with the colourful displays.

Or taking due care with roads and maps (and picnics, the smaller villages are not well endowed with restaurants) just wander in the countryside, and perhaps visit one of the once important but now less known ancient sites such as Morgantina, where out of season you will find few other visitors, and you can contemplate the eerily evocative past in a peace the inhabitants seem not to have known.