A Tour of Small-Town Sicily [View all]

A sampling of the island’s beautiful vistas, ancient culture and what might be the best gelato in the world.

'The rain lightly pelted my window just as dawn was breaking on the Ionian Sea. I was lying snugly in my hotel bed in Syracuse, the venerable, ancient city on the eastern coast of Sicily. I dozed off for another hour or so before I was awakened once more by morning light through the balcony window. Does travel get any better than this? I thought. I sat up and set my feet down on the floor. Wet. It was very wet. Rain had leaked in and flooded nearly half of my hotel room. To make matter worse, I had unwisely laid my laptop on the floor, along with my phone. I leapt to my feet, panicking, and ran to get the hair dryer.

It was a less-than-ideal situation, to be sure. But it was a rare moment of misfortune on what was otherwise a delightful trip: With a few open days in Sicily after a fruitful stay in Catania, I decided to stitch together a quick trip that took me through four cities in the southern and southeastern parts of the island. I got an excellent sampling of the island’s beautiful vistas, a culture influenced by both ancient Greece and Rome, and fantastic regional food, including some of the best gelato I’ve ever tasted. And as usual, I set out with the goal of traveling comfortably without spending too much money.

Siracusa, or Syracuse, settled by the Greeks in the 8th century B.C. and weathered by the Peloponnesian War and waves of Arab, Frankish and Roman invaders (among others), is worth a stop on any Sicilian tour. The city is particularly pleasant to visit because its compact città vecchia, or old city, is on the small, charming island of Ortigia; two bridges on the western side connect it to the rest of the city. I arrived by train from Catania one afternoon (6.90 euros, a little over $8, for a one-way ticket on the Trenitalia website) and dragged my roller bag through the narrow, labyrinthine alleys toward my lodgings.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/travel/sicily-syracuse-nona-budget.html?