Lonely Planet Sicily

by Gregor Clark

Lonely Planet’s Sicily is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Explore the Valley of the Temples, sample Sicilian cuisine, and discover the Aeolian Islands; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Sicily and begin your journey now!

 

Inside Lonely Planet’s Sicily Travel  

Up-to-date information - all businesses were rechecked before publication to ensure they are still open after 2020’s COVID-19 outbreak

NEW top experiences feature - a visually inspiring collection of Sicily’s best experiences and where to have them

Planning tools for family travellers - where to go, how to save money, plus fun stuff just for kids

Colour maps and images throughout

Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests

Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots

Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, websites, transit tips, prices

Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sightseeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss

Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, people, music, landscapes, wildlife, cuisine, politics

Over 60 maps 

Covers Palermo, Western Sicily, Tyrrhenian Coast, Aeolian Islands, Ionian Coast, Syracuse & the Southeast, Central Sicily, Mediterranean Coast

 

The Perfect Lonely Planet’s Sicily , our most comprehensive guide to Sicily, is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less travelled. 

Looking for more extensive coverage? Check out Lonely Planet’s Italy for a comprehensive look at all the country has to offer.




About Lonely Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and phrasebooks for 120 languages, and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, videos, 14 languages, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more, enabling you to explore every day. 

 

'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' – New York Times

 

'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' – Fairfax Media (Australia)

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, Reference, Italy

887 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2000

Reviews

[Ming Wei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent travel book, plenty of useful information, no faults in books.

[Ming Wei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent travel book, plenty of useful information, no faults in books.

[Ming Wei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent travel book, plenty of useful information, no faults in books.

[vn. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never thought I’d be reviewing a travel guide but alas here we are. I am going in a few weeks and this has been extraordinarily helpful with the planning of the trip!
Will def come back after the trip to offer additional thoughts!

[Dominic DiCenzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely useful guide. We used it on a two week trip of Sicily and visited many of the recommended sights and restaurants. Very informative.

[Theut · Rating 3 out of 5]

Utile per una panoramica generale, su una regione così ricca mi sarei aspettata una guida un po' più corposa.

Seconda lettura per un veloce ripasso...

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Went to Sicily for a week. This is a great travel guide that helped my fiance and I find hidden gems on this lovely island.
We based ourselves in Catania and thanks to this book we day tripped to:
Sirucusa (+Ortigia), Aci Trezza, Taormina (+Isola Bella) Etna and Santa Maria La Scala.

We hope to go back (with this guide book) to visit Palermo and the valley of the temples!

[Kai Weber · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's probably not a good idea to review a travel guide before actually traveling with it. I'm only going to Sicily in a week, but have finished part of my preparations by reading through this Lonely Planet book today. It seems to be a very sound and well-balanced guide, and helped me to decide about which destinations I want to see, without leaving too many regrets for what I had to exclude from my itinerary. As usual for this book series it doesn't have too many photos, which I missed a little bit when reading it, but then again it probably helps the publisher to stay within budget and it helps the reader a bit with training ones imagination (or ones Google picture searching skills...) For my interest the parts on Sicilian history and culture could have been a bit more extensive, though.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A helpful supplemental guide for traveling in Sicily. I use Lonely Planet books to supplement Eyewitness travel guides and find the combination perfect, as for this location. I always find information on more out of the way places or cultural events that greatly enhance the vacation.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pleased to get this for free through Kindle Unlimited, and have it with me while we visited Palermo. It gave me the quick down and dirty on what we might want to see. It seemed like it might have been a bit dated, but that didn't affect my ability to use it. A good serviceable travel guide.

[Mila Bujić · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was very useful on our roadtrip around Sicily, with nice details and recommendations for places to visit on the way. Informative enough to understand the context without going too much into detail. Led us to a random village for the best ice cream of our lives :)

[David Cooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, but love visiting the island even better

Very informative and educational. Some really great colour photos. Very underated island, it has so much to offer. It just sits there serenely in a silver sea, absorbing the golden sun.

[Valerie Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely gorgeous photos - makes you feel like you could go anywhere in Sicily for a good meal or a stunning shot. I will hopefully be going in the next few years for the food, so I appreciated the focus on that and some recommendations on slow food tours and authentic meals.

[Jon A. Fredrikson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well organized and easy to navigate

Good levels of sites with most likely interest, but secondary sites receive enough coverage to attract interest where the allowed

[Gina M. Buckey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative

Was very informative. Learn alot of interesting things about Sicily. I do wish it had more photos but a well written book.

[Iolo Griffiths · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to the island of Sicily with a lot of useful information on how to get around and what to see.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy Lonely Planet Guides.

[Lea]

I love this book because I love Sicily.

[Paul Goldberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well done travel guide. Easy to read and well organized.

[Brian Gowthorpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent guide that provided a solid background and lots of useful info. Only wildlife (snakes) and the total population seemed to be missing.

[Calvin Zito · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only used it around Palermo but was helpful.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can’t believe I read a travel book cover to cover

[E G Melby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just read the parts for where will will visit next month

[Mika Auramo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Viimeisin lukemani Sisilian matkaopas ”Sicily” on oivallista matkaseuraa ja tarjoaa mukavasti virikkeitä niin ensikertalaiselle kuin jo useita kertoja Sisiliassa käyneelle turistille, joka pähkäilee, mitä tekisi eri puolilla saarta ja mihin aikansa käyttäisi, jos haluaa nauttia lomastaan täysin palkein.

Sivuja kirjassa on vajaat neljäsataa, ja se on jaoteltu tyypillisesti muutamaan alueeseen, tarkemmin sanottuna kahdeksaan lohkoon, ja selailua helpottaa värikoodit ja alueiden kartat, minne ja milloin kannattaa lomansa suunnata. Lisäksi annetaan hyviä vinkkejä kuvituksen avittamana, mitä löytyy ykköskohteiden leipeiltä luvuista ”Beoynd Catania” ja sitä rataa. Kuvitusta olisi voinut olla enemmänkin, mutta tämänkin perusteella tekemistä löytyi seuraavalle matkalle, eikä tarvitse erikseen ostella patikkaoppaita, miten päästä Etnan rinteille tai Taorminasta Castelmolaan ja ympäristöön ihailemaan upeita maisemia.

Lopussa on vielä ihan ummikoillekin tarpeellista tietoa ja tapakulttuuria, miten eri konteksteissa toimitaan ja miten juomarahaa jaellaan. Iänikuisille Aperol Spritzeillekin on vaihtoehtoja, eikä cannoloa kuulu syödä haarukalla ja veitsellä…

Myös uusin painos vuodelta 2025 on edellistä parempi ja pääkohteiden lähistöt karttoineen tulevat tarkemmin esitellyiksi varsinkin omatoimimatkailijoille, jollaista tuli testailtua viimeksi syksyllä 2025 Taorminan ja Catanian liepeillä eli Sisilian itäisellä rannikolla

[Fabiana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buona guida, con ottime dritte culinarie e essenziale per quello che c'è da vedere, anche se come al solito alcuni posti interessanti che ho visitato non vi erano nominati.
Da campeggiatrice avrei gradito anche qualche indicazione in tal senso, invece come sempre la lonely tratta solo altri tipi di strutture :(

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holy cow, Batman...this book makes me want to go to Sicily! Hands down my favorite Lonely Planet book. It is incredibly well written with FANTASTIC images to sell Sicily and make for a well educated traveler.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guide book provided excellent history, details, and recommendations. We used it regularly during our trip. And who knew that I would actually like cannoli if it was fresh and made perfectly in Taormina? Highly recommend.

[Lamadia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super useful for planning and getting around. A must-have for traveling to Sicily.

[Tittirossa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Superficiale e poco approfondita. Si limita a dare indicazioni solo sui posti più noti (con una profusione di ristoranti).

[Bern · Rating 5 out of 5]

Straightforward Guide

Always a fan of Lonely Planet guides; this one does not disappoint and was a great help in travel planning.