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A day ’ s drive from Agrigento to Siracusa

Leave the Valley of the Temples and head east through lovely countryside of almond trees , olives and vineyards . After a while the road reaches the coastline which is rocky and dotted with mediaeval defence works and then after Licata the road skirts the shore at Falonara where there is a 14th Century castle surrounded by palm trees . After Gela you pass through cultivated countryside where there are abundant olives and oranges , cane and vines around the town of Vittoria . Not far away is the pretty Baroque town of Comiso with its Chiesa Matrice by Rosario Gagliardi . Continue to the amazing town of Ragusa ( the most interesting part is Ragusa Ibla ), famed for its noteworthy Baroque architecture also by Gagliardi , with the church of San Giorgio being one of his masterpieces . Have lunch at one of the local trattorie , perhaps U Saracinu near the church of San Giorgio . Ragusa is also famous for its embroidery , raffia and honey . Continue initially south�west passing Modica and then through the attractive landscape of low drystone walls , fields of pasture and crops , dotted with farmhouses built of local stone . Later you reach Noto , also famous for its Baroque architecture by Gagliardi . Built from scratch in the late 17th Century the local white tufa , a limestone , was used which has been turned a dark yellow�brown colour by the sun . Take time to stroll the streets and admire the fascinating buildings , a mixture of churches , palaces and monasteries . Beyond Noto enjoy the beautiful scenery of almond trees , olive groves and citrus fruits before reaching Siracusa .

How you get to Sicily By air Airport at Catania with scheduled flights with British Airways from London as well as ' No frills ' and charter flights into Catania and Palermo . Hire�cars We include a hire�car with our hotels on the mainland of Sicily . However , if you are staying in Taormina or in any one location you might not need the use of a car , so a transfer can be arranged for you instead . When driving around Sicily you do have to bear in mind the time it can take to travel from place to place .

How you get to the Aeolian Islands By Air to Catania ( as for rest of Sicily ). However it is usually impossible to get further than Lipari the first day . We recommend that on the way there you break your journey in Taormina and then continue the next day . The return journey from the islands to Catania can be done in one day . To reach the islands you take a hydrofoil ( summer timetable runs from June to

September , before and after that the schedules are less frequent ) from Milazzo on the Sicilian coast . Milazzo is about a 2 hour taxi ride from Catania airport . The hydrofoil timings are approximately as follows : Milazzo to Lipari � one hour , Milazzo to Panarea � 1 hour 45 minutes , Milazzo to Salina � 1 hour 45 minutes . In the summer months there is also a hydrofoil service from Naples to the islands with Stromboli being the closest with a journey time of about 4 hours . We do not include the cost of the taxi transfer or the hydrofoil tickets in the holiday prices � details are provided by us on request about the transfer arrangements .

Average temp . in ° Centigrade for Taormina . Source : Italian State Tourist

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Palermo

Siracusa

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