Popular Topics

Trip Report

Couples trip to Sicily and Rome

Our trip to Sicily and Rome was a couples trip with 4 adults. Our trip goals were historic sightseeing and exploring the culture of my grandfather’s homeland of Sicily.

  • Ragusa+ 3
  • Ragusa
  • Restaurant La Madia, Seafood Mosaic
  • Couples trip to Sicily and Rome
DS2019
About Me:
AtlasGuru Contributor

EuropeItaly, Vatican City13 days / August - September 2016

Highs & Lows

The quest to find the best cannoli in Sicily.

Weather interfered with our scheduled sailing trip and had to upgrade to a larger boat.

Itinerary Overview

  • 3 Nights: Rome
    Historic sightseeing, self-guided pizza tour.
  • 2 Nights: Agrigento
    Sightseeing, beach time, relaxing, fine dining at 2-Michelin Star restaurant in Licata—La Madia
  • 3 Nights: Ragusa
    Sightseeing, exploring other towns, fine dining at 2-Michelin Star restaurant—Il Duomo
  • 1 Night: Taormina
    Sightseeing, dinner
  • 3 Nights: Salina
    Relaxing, massages, tennis, pool time, food exploration, sailing trip
  • 1 Night: Catania
    Sightseeing, dining
Rome - Historic sightseeing, self-guided pizza tour.
1

Rome Historic sightseeing, self-guided pizza tour.

On our first day, I walked to Sabatini in Trastevere. Good coffee & pretty good food. Omelette. Salad. Went into the church across the square, Basilica di Santa Maria. Mass was in progress, so watched for a bit, and sang a "hallelujah".

We sat in a park for an hour to escape the heat. Watched local families meet and talk. 

Tried to have lunch at Flávio al Valavaletto, but they were booked up, so opted for Piatto Romano instead. Good choice. We had appetizers of fried anchovies and some peppers. Justine had cacio è pepe, and I had a pasta dish with clams and mushrooms. Both amazing. Perfect texture. Justine's noodles were a bit more thick than spaghetti. Mine were like an egg noodle. Butter and olive oil goodness. We split 9-Euro bottle of white wine, a frascati from Gotto d'Oro. Great, light, and refreshing. Apparently, frascati is a Roman varietal that has been grown in the area for over 2000 years. I also had a Menabrea Bionda beer. We were the first in the restaurant at 12:30pm, but it filled up pretty soon after.

Went to La Gatta Mangiona for dinner. I'd give the pizza 4/5 stars. Flavor great, crust good. Crust wasn't quite as mottled and charred as I like. I think my own pizzas could compete with these. I had capricciosa (egg, prosciutto, artichoke, olives, mushrooms), which is the one Katie Parla suggested, while Justine had one with cheese and anchovies, and Kim had a fungi. Not sure what Jake had. Had some good beers. Almond Farrotta and Barley Zagara. Tried the suppli fruitta di mare. Pretty good, but not outstanding. Had some clams in it. 

Taxied back to Trastevere area where we had gelato at Fatamorgana. I had Katie Parla's recommended combo, but with Kentucky chocolate (made with tobacco.) Very good.

On the next day, I had a cappuccino and pane con crema at Caffe Rosciolli. Delicious.

Then, went on a walking, self-guided pizza tour that I created.

Forno Campo de Fiori: had red, white, and potato pizza. We liked the red the most. White was pretty basic, but thin. Potato was too cold for my liking (would like to try right after taking out of oven), but flavor was great. Rosemary, shredded potato. 

At Forno Rosciolli, we had a red and white pizza. The white was very thick and bready. Not crisp. It was ok. The red was crisp and thin, and the tomatoes were more cooked compared to Forno CdF, where the flavor was more bright.

Next was a long walk to Pizzarium. Not very busy. We didn't have to wait at all. We had:

  • Rosso
  • Chicory with smoked feta (tasted smoky)
  • Prosciutto with chicory
  • Eggplant
  • Peppers

All great. Here they reheat in the oven, which seemed to re-crisp the crust.

Took an Uber back to CdF area where we ate at a sit-down pizza place outside at Emma. Real Neapolitan pizza here. It was ok. 

We went to The First Luxury Art Hotel for a rooftop bar. Highly recommended for view and ambiance. Expensive but worth it.

On our last full day, we Ubered up to the Vatican area for lunch, where we ate at Sorpasso. Great food. Highly recommended. 

Dinner that evening was at Il San Lorenzo - it was fantastic. Upscale. Refined fish. Wanted to try the tasting menu, but would be for whole table. Ended up with great selections between us.

Agrigento - Sightseeing, beach time, relaxing, fine dining at 2-Michelin Star restaurant in Licata—La Madia
2

Agrigento Sightseeing, beach time, relaxing, fine dining at 2-Michelin Star restaurant in Licata—La Madia

The Inn (Azienda Agricola Mandranova) is in a beautiful rural location among an olive grove. We dined outdoors at a large communal table on the first night. We had wonderful food, prepared with olives from their grove, and from local producers.  There was quite a "wow" moment as they brought out big bowls of food that was to be shared among all of the tables.

On the 2nd day we went to Cala del Re. Beach which was excellent. Sand not too hot. No rocks in the water. Shallow sand very far out from shore and then that evening we splurged on fine dining at 2-Michelin Star restaurant in Licata—La Madia. 

On our last day in the area, we visited the Temples of Concordia, Juno, and Hercules—Greek temples in the Valle dei Templi, Cala del Re.

Ragusa - Sightseeing, exploring other towns, fine dining at 2-Michelin Star restaurant—Il Duomo
3

Ragusa Sightseeing, exploring other towns, fine dining at 2-Michelin Star restaurant—Il Duomo

We visited the baroque towns: City of Noto, City of Modica, City of Ortigya.  Additionally, we ate, a lot!  I Banchi restaurant (best cannoli of our trip), Caseifico Borderi (best sandwich ever)

Taormina - Sightseeing, dinner
4

Taormina Sightseeing, dinner

Walked to St. George restaurant at Ashbee hotel. Had drinks on rooftop terrace. No real view of sunset (cloudy and view obscured by trees) but beautiful, with a pink sunset turning the water purple. Beers (Ulysses.) Aperitivo including olives, capers, potato chips. Bread. Donkey sausage.

Salina - Relaxing, massages, tennis, pool time, food exploration, sailing trip
5

Salina Relaxing, massages, tennis, pool time, food exploration, sailing trip

In Salina, we relaxed, had massages, played tennis, had pool time, food exploration, and took a sailing trip onboard a catamaran to Panarea where we swam.

Boat drama: The boat operator called to tell us that the weather was unstable and suggested we upgrade to a bigger boat, a catamaran. Weather called for thunderstorms.   The next day, we had great weather luck. Though the morning was cloudy and cool, with some remaining thunder, and Stromboli not visible at all behind a wall of rain, things cleared up around us as we set sail for Panarea. By the time we anchored there, it was sunny in our zone.

The next day, I took the bus alone to the village of Lingua.  Lingua itself was pretty nice, but smaller than the port area of Salina.

 

Catania - Sightseeing, dining
6

Catania Sightseeing, dining

On our last night, we walked down the street toward our dinner restaurant. Stopped at a few shops along the way. The duomo and plaza here are very beautiful. 

Arrived at restaurant, Osteria Antica Marina. We were the first there. Only fish on the menu, as expected. The menu was a bit daunting, and fish was to be ordered by the hectogram (100 grams). But, I think if you ordered a fish, you would get the whole fish and have to pay the entire weight. So, Justine and I opted for just a tasting menu. It was 45 euros. Came with a lot of food. First was a bunch of marinated and fresh fish appetizers. We didn't know what many of them were. Looked like a bunch of ban chan. Octopus (too chewy) and marinated octopus (better). Fried sardines. Tuna. Very tiny clams. Something with caponata. Something that seemed like fried tofu, but probably wasn't. This was followed by pasta with bottarga. Then by dorado and potato in a tomato-based sauce. Wild strawberries in lemon granita. Then sweet cakes (delicious) and limoncello.

 

Q & A

  • What would you have changed?

    I would have budgeted more time for Siracusa and Ortigya. We just passed through on our way from Ragusa to Taormina. We didn't visit Palermo, though we planned to in order to explore the food of Sicily. Seems like a must do.
  • Tips you would give a friend?

    We always needed small bills and coins. Next time in EU, bring mostly fives. We didn't seem to have problems finding places that took credit cards, but when the transaction size was small, they wanted cash. Handing a 50 Euro bill at this point wasn't acceptable. We rented a wifi hotspot from WiTourist. It was invaluable!
  • Anything go wrong during the trip?

    Bad weather required a rescheduling of a sailing trip. Stay flexible. We almost cancelled the trip, but they offered an alternative that was a little more expensive, but worth it.
  • Packing tips?

    We did carry-on luggage, but ended up having to check it due to EU carriers having a different opinion on what qualifies as carry-on. Make sure you know the size rules, and be prepared to pay fees. Also, we were very optimistic about being able to wash-launder clothes. Try to plan out hotels with reliable laundry facilities mid-way through the trip. This was a fail for us, and we ended up with a lot of wet clothes hanging in our bathroom for a few days.
  • Restaurant recommendations?

    Amazing food all around. Here are some of the best recommendations: Emma's pizza in Rome; the sandwich at Borderi in Ortigya; Caffe Sicilia's gelato in NotoI; Banchi's cannolo in Ragusa- the best of our trip; Charcuterie (especially coppa) and cheese at Sorpasso in Rome; Swordfish crudo at Il San Lorenzo in Rome; Cappucino at Tazza d'Or; Seafood tasting menu at La Madia in Licata; Spaghetti with sea urchin, lamb chops at Il Duomo in Ragusa

Lodging

  • Piazza Farnese Luxury Suites- Good location, well situated to many of the most popular attractions. Rooms were comfortable.

  • Azienda Agricola Mandranova - Beautiful location among an olive grove. Shower in our room was a little bit too small. Overall, room was comfortable.

  • San Giorgio Palace Hotel - A little bit sterile. Felt like we were staying in a Microsoft conference room turned into a hotel room. Hotel staff were impatient. But, location is ideal for exploring the town.

  • Hotel Taodomus- Nice views of Mt. Etna from rooms. You must park far away, and transport your baggage across the cobblestones to the hotel. A small elevator takes your bags (but not you) upstairs. GPS navigation is a little wonky in this area, as there are many crisscrossing tunnels underneath the town, so it was difficult to navigate to the hotel’s designated parking garage.

  • Capofaro Malvasia and Resort - Beautiful location set among a vineyard. Tranquil. Excellent food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Beds were extremely hard and uncomfortable, though the couple we were travelling with did not have such an extreme experience in their room.

  • UNA Hotel Palace - Comfortable room, clean, centrally-located.