Giro di Sicilia 🇮🇹

Sicily is often overlooked as a touring destination in the Mediterranean region in favour of other islands like Mallorca, Corsica and Sardegna, but has some great riding and loads of very quiet rural roads.

Highest road elevations are on the south side of Etna, past the Crateri Silvestri – from Zafferana Etnea it’s a route which is busy with tour buses though, so best to ride up at the crack of dawn. A much quieter alternative is to ride on the north side to Piano Provenzana.

There are quite a few farm tracks and dirt roads adjacent to the main Castelvetrano-Agrigento road which have very little traffic. The latter tends to be thronged with tourists but sites with similar Magna Graecia-style ruins like Segesta and Selinunte were exceptionally quiet.

Away from the coast, some of the best views of the island from inland are from the old fortifications in Enna, and it’s a fairly gentle descent from there east to Catania. Don’t leave it too late getting to Enna though – I rode up from Caltanissetta and underestimated the gradient – the switchbacks at the end have no streetlighting after dark.

Sicilian cuisine can be quite carb-heavy with cannoli and arancini, which is great if you have a long day in the saddle. Also, the island is great if you are a fan of cats (meow); many can be seen prowling around in Taormina in the evenings.