We did an organised tour of Sicily and generally loved the place. It certainly isn't the first thing you'd see in Italy, but it is historic and picturesque with great food and wine.

Some random comments:

Forget Catania. It's a dirty, noisy, crowded tourist city without any redeeming features that I could find. Sorry if you like Catania but I didn't. It's like Rome without the good bits. There you go, I've now just offended the Romans as well as the Catanians.

The rest of Sicily was beautiful, especially the internal parts of the Island. The Greek and Roman monuments here are much better preserved than in Greece or other parts of Italy.

The highlight of Catania was the Una Palace Hotel with a great rooftop bar and restaurant with excellent views of Mt Etna. They serve an ala carte breakfast for only 10 Euro above your normal included breakfast and you get to try unlimited Sicilian delights including the best granita we had on the Island. Maybe there is one redeeming feature in Catania! Service was slow and the waiters had that knack of walking right past you without even seeing you even when we were the only people in the restaurant. Still - it was a lovely day, a great view and we enjoyed the breakfast. It's a must.

Near Modica we found a superb hotel with the biggest hotel rooms I've had in Europe. It's a few kilometers out of town, but great rooms, good meals and a superb bar. Hotel Poggio del Sole.

Grand Hotel Piazza Borsa topped this with even bigger rooms. It's near the centre of town in Palermo and is a very upmarket hotel. The hotel makes the best Ceci (chick pea) soup I've ever had.

We found a magnificent restaurant in Taormina - La Capinera. Good winelist, superb food and a spectacular setting. It's an absolute must.

Taormina view:



View of Mt Etna from Catania Hotel:



Sunset near Mt Stromboli:



Smoke and lava flow on Mt Stromboli:



Rocky outcrop near My Stromboli:



View from the Island Panarea:



Restaurant (Da Pina) on Panarea:



Etna:



Cefalu:



Temples:





Stairs with flower pots arranged each day. Good exercise and very beautiful: