Helen writes: while driving in Sicily last week, Sarah and I came up with our top ten reasons to take a trip around Sicily in early Spring. Here’s what we came up with:
1) Very little traffic so it’s really quick to travel long distances through beautiful countryside on decent roads.
2) Warm early in the season. We were there 2–5 February, and although cool in the evenings once the sun has gone down, the days were glorious with warmth in the sun.
3) Towns like Trapani, Marsala, Taormina, Siracusa and Noto were beautifully quiet with just a handful of tourists.
4) Flowers were just beginning to emerge on in the fields and roadside making it really feel really spring-like. The almond blossom was out in the fields too, which was beautiful.
5) Great car hire deals to be had early in the season.
6) Fabulous seasonal food: fresh fennel from the warming ground, and citrus fruit straight from the trees; oranges keeping us going during our travels. We had fish each night that had been freshly caught each very morning.
7) Beautifully empty beaches: it’s not warm enough to swim (unless you’re mad or have a wetsuit – I’m sure my eldest brother would be in the sea without a wetsuit, however, he is a little mad when it comes to outdoor swimming). However, we could have sat on the beach in Taormina all morning with our books; it was gloriously warm. Here’s the first of our new additions to our Sicilian holiday apartments: Casa al Mare. We were here at 09:00 in the morning and already it was lovely and warm in the sun on the beach.
8) Quiet airports. There are so few tourists about the airports are easy to navigate and everything is quick with few queues.
9) The 2009 vintage is ready for drinking. These young wines make a lovely accompaniment to the seasonal menus.
10) Everyone on the island is delighted to see you so early in the season; the welcome we received everywhere was fantastic.
New holiday apartments, villas and hotels in Sicily are being added all the time to Essential Italy, so add a bookmark in your browser to get the latest updates.