As the largest island in the Mediterranean, Sicily is a melting pot of architecture, cuisines, and multifaceted history. Flora and fauna are made up of a collage of African and endemic alpine species, while Catania, Messina, and Palermo depict a stark contrast and a diversion.
Conca d’Oro, “The Golden Basin,” is a plain famous for its lemon and orange groves and overlooks the gulf of the Tyrrhenian Sea.(BNFWork/Shutterstock)
For first-time visitors, there are many “must-see” attractions such as Mount Etna, the highest and most active volcano in Europe; Cattedrale di Monreale; Villa Romana del Casale; and the marvelous church mosaics of Palermo. Syracuse once rivaled Athens in size and importance at the height of Greece’s power, and as a bonus, Sicily lays some of the Mediterranean’s most pristine littorals at your feet….