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Small fishing boats moored in a harbor beside a stone quay and village houses, with snow-capped Mount Etna rising behind.

Sicily

2016 · Italy

CountriesItaly
Stages14

Route

Photographs (354)

A quiet roadside rest area beside a building with a German rest-stop sign, snow-capped peaks towering behind, and frost-covered trees lining the empty parking lot.A highway curves through a deep alpine valley flanked by steep rocky mountain walls, with snow-capped peaks ahead and tall electricity pylons spanning the gorge.A wide motorway stretches ahead with several cars driving, while tall umbrella pine trees stand on the right and mountains rise in the distance.A misty motorway stretches ahead with a truck on the left, umbrella pines beside the road and a tall lattice mast against hazy mountains.A motorway descends toward a town with red rooftops and street lamps, a white van and truck ahead, and mountains beneath a cloudy sky.A motorway curves along a coastline with green direction signs and a guardrail, the sea horizon on the right and hills near a town.Green signs reading Imbarchi and Villa San Giovanni direct drivers to the ferry boarding area, beside a railway freight yard with trains and overhead wires.Heavy dark clouds fill the sky with a patch of sun breaking through, above choppy sea and a distant coastal town beneath dark hills.The open deck of a ferry shows white lifeboats, a mast, winch and coiled ropes, overlooking a coastal town beneath dark hills.A blue ferry railing frames a harbor with small boats and a town along the shore, with mountains and low clouds in the background.Choppy sea stretches under a heavy overcast sky, with a white ferry sailing near a town at the foot of distant mountains.Two passengers stand on a ferry deck beside a blue railing and orange crane arm, looking toward a distant headland with a town and lighthouse.A green hillside garden in Sicily with orange trees laden with fruit, palm trees, a large coniferous tree, a potted plant and a metal railing in the foreground.Large stormy waves crash onto a dark pebble beach beneath a grey overcast sky on the coast of Sicily, with a distant headland at far right.A damp coastal street in Sicily with a parked white car, a building with a balcony, palm trees and power lines leading toward a rough sea on the horizon.Sicilian garden with palm trees, citrus bushes bearing small fruit, terracotta planters, a satellite dish, and a snow-capped mountain rising beneath a cloudy sky.Palm trees in a Sicilian garden frame a distant snow-capped mountain under an overcast sky, with tiled rooftops below.A Sicilian terrace with an iron lamp, a terracotta potted plant and a green bench overlooks orange trees and the distant sea horizon.A green Sicilian lawn bordered by citrus trees heavy with fruit and palm trees, beside the corner of a stone building with a tiled roof.Rough sea crashes against the seawall of a Sicilian coastal road while a row of colourful buildings with a church spire lines the front.Waves break over dark rocks along a Sicilian coastal road, with parked cars in front of houses and a headland rising above the hazy sea.A steep hillside with a winding road, cypress and palm trees, scattered buildings and a coastal town bay beneath a clouded sky.A paved esplanade with a yellow building signed 'Lido Florida' and a lone person walking, a mountain rising behind under a grey sky.A narrow street lined with parked cars, old stone and plastered buildings, a tall palm tree and cascading orange flowers over a wall.

Journal Notes (14)
Day 1 - Germany / Rome Italy

General The journey begins with the long drive south, and the first day of it belongs to the Alps. The route runs from Germany through Austria towards Italy along one of the main transit corridors of the continent, past rest areas with signs in German, through valleys flanked by …

Day 2 - Rome / Giarre

General The second day is a day of driving south and a crossing by water. The route leaves Rome on the motorway, runs through the hill country of central Italy, descends towards the south, follows the coast of Calabria to the port of Villa San Giovanni, and ends on the island of …

Day 3 - Giarre

General Giarre is a town of the Metropolitan City of Catania on the eastern side of Sicily, and it is the place where this part of the journey settles. It lies north of Catania and south of Taormina, on the coastal strip between the Ionian Sea and the lower slopes of Mount Etna, …

Day 4 - Taormina

General Taormina is a town of the Metropolitan City of Messina on the east coast of Sicily, and it has been a destination for travellers since the nineteenth century. It occupies a shelf of the hillside above the Ionian Sea, with its houses and gardens stacked between the mountai …

Day 5 - Syracuse

General Syracuse, Siracusa in Italian, is a city on the eastern coast of Sicily and the capital of its province, with a population of 115,636 as of 2025, which makes it the fourth most populous city on the island after Palermo, Catania and Messina. Its historic centre is on the s …

Day 6 - Etna Vulcano

General This day belongs to the mountain. Mount Etna, or simply Etna, is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina and Catania, and it stands above the convergent margin between the African Plate and the …

Day 7 - Giarre

General The harbour is the second half of the two towns that share this stretch of coast. Riposto lies next to Giarre and runs down to the sea, and its harbour is the place where the agricultural country behind the towns meets the water: the small fishing boats in this album are …

Day 8 - Lipari

General The eighth day crosses the water to the Aeolian Islands, and most of the album belongs to Lipari. Lipari is the largest of the seven islands of the archipelago, lying in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the northern coast of Sicily, and it is also a municipality that includes six o …

Day 9 - Giarre

General This is a day of looking at the mountain from below. The snow covered twin peaks of Mount Etna rise above the coast with a plume of smoke and gas drifting from the summit, and the same mass is visible at the end of an avenue of tall palms, above the roof of a stone courty …

Day 10 - Around Etna Vulcano

General The tenth day leaves the coast and follows the northern side of the volcano inland, into the valley of the Alcantara. The river rises on the south side of the Monti Nebrodi and empties into the Ionian Sea at Capo Schiso in Giardini Naxos, and on its way to the sea it pass …

Day 11 - Around Taormina

General The eleventh day stays in the hills above the Ionian coast and looks at the towns rather than walking through them. An elevated view looks down over the red roofed houses of a coastal town with green slopes behind it, a hillside village spreads across the slopes below a r …

Day 12 - Giarre

General The twelfth day of the journey is a day at home on the farm, and it is the album's portrait of ordinary life on this coast. Balloons on a patterned cloth, a table laid with a red striped cover, party masks and ribbons, a paper banner reading Buon Compleanno, terracotta po …

Day 13 - Riviera Dei Ciclopi

General The thirteenth day belongs to the Riviera dei Ciclopi, the stretch of coast north of Catania that takes its name from the Cyclops of the Odyssey. The centre of it is Aci Trezza, a town of around 5,000 people and a frazione of the comune of Aci Castello, about ten kilometr …

Day 14 - Agrigent

General The last day of the journey goes to the south coast, to Agrigento and the archaeological site that lies below it. Agrigento is a city of 55,227 people as of 2025, the largest in its province, the tenth largest in Sicily and the 115th in Italy, and it stands on a ridge abo …