I only had a week.
End of March. Surprisingly cool and rainy.
My single highlight was hiking Mount Etna.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Favourite city was, surprisingly, Catania.
Best hostel Ostello Bello Palermo.
There are plenty more reasons to plan a holiday to Sicily.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
I flew to Catania from nearby Malta specifically to do some hiking on Mount Etna.
It turned out to be my favourite city.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
My accommodation in the city, Ostello deli Elefanti, was expensive, but perfectly located. Here’s my rooftop office overlooking the Cathedral dome. 😀
Free walking tours start from here.
Impressive Catania Cathedral has been destroyed and rebuilt several times because of earthquakes and eruptions.
Composer Vincenzo Bellini is revered here. Sadly, he died young.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Syracuse had far fewer tourists than the other places I visited in Sicily in March.
Yet it once rivalled Athens in power and splendour.
Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage site celebrated for its seamless blend of 2,700 years of history, ranging from massive Greek ruins to golden Baroque architecture.
Click PLAY or watch some drone video on YouTube.
I started with a GPSmyCity walking tour of Ortigia Island (Historic Center).
Underwhelmed. Not sure why. Everyone else seemed to really appreciate having the place to themselves.
I did enjoy it more at night than in daylight.
BETTER was simply wandering the narrow streets of the old city.
Stumble upon random historic sites not mentioned in my tourist bumf.
Next day I paid 18 Euro to tour the Roman Amphitheatre, one of the 3 largest in Italy.
This and the surrounding grottos were more interesting than the old city, for me. BUT the site is badly organized. Poor signage. Confusing navigation.
Museum quite good, however.
You’ll enjoy Syracuse more than me. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood.
One HIGHLIGHT for me was a small, unpretentious restaurant called PASTA RUN.
Inexpensive. Small portions. Tasty.
Here’s their Pasta Alla Norma, a signature dish of Sicily. It was named in honour of a native of Catania, Vincenzo Bellini, the composer of the opera Norma.
I went back the next day to try their arancine, Italian rice balls that are stuffed, coated with breadcrumbs and deep-fried.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Cefalù is about an hour by train from Palermo.
The town, with its population of just under 14,000, is one of the major tourist attractions in the region. Despite its size, every year it attracts millions of tourists.
The Cathedral of Cefalù is impressive. Service was in progress when I stopped in. Well attended.
The highlight for me was climbing La Rocca.
Great views.
Plenty of ancient stonework from different historical eras. This was easy to defend.
In the afternoon I hung out at the beach for a bit. Then wandered the narrow streets. Evocative.
Ryan stayed for a few days.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Palermo is Sicily’s cultural, economic and tourism capital. Rich in history, culture, art, music and food.
Just outside the train station are the Quattro Canti (Four Corners), a Baroque intersection that captures the city’s, ornate, historic, and bustling character.
I started with a Palermo city walking tour using the GPSmyCity app.
There’s no end to interesting architecture. But — as in the rest of Europe — some are under endless renovation.
I do feel that Sicily makes less a big deal of their tourist attractions. No security. Anyone can do anything they want, even in Cathedrals.
I stayed in an excellent, expensive hostel ➙ Ostello Bello Palermo.
Best was the large guest kitchen which provides all the ingredients to make your own pasta.
The hostel was by the waterfront so I made several trips along the (still being developed) coastline.
It almost never rains in this part of the world. BUT I did get some weather in March.
Click PLAY or watch Rick Steves on YouTube.
After 5 days enjoying my stay at Follow the Sun, I hated to leave.
This might be the best hostel deal in Europe.
For less than 21 Euro / night — including a terrific breakfast — you get a fantastic facility in a perfect sun / fun location. You can’t beat this value in expensive Malta.
Here’s the vista from my balcony. Though it’s a hostel, my room is called the penthouse. 😀
Valletta is the capital city of Malta, the European Union‘s smallest capital city.
UNESCO World Heritage site. A LOT of history.
Founded by the Order of St John of Jerusalem, also known as the Knights Hospitaller.
Ruled successively by the Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs and the Order of the nights of St John. Valletta’s 320 monuments, all within an area of 55 ha, make it one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world.
Today the strongest influence is from 150 years of British colonial history.
About 30% of the population of Malta are expats ➙ British, Italian, Indian, and Filipino most prominently. You can buy a EU passport with a minimum €600,000–€750,000 contribution. 😀
Population of Valletta as of 2021 was 5,157.
At any given moment, there are far more tourists than citizens. More than 3 million tourists arrive in Malta each year. Most of them visit Valletta.
I started in the afternoon with a scramble around nearby, dilapidated Fort Manoel.
Fort Manoel should be a major tourist attraction — but, as of 2026, most is closed to tourists. Some project renovations to be finished by 2033.
I didn’t get to Valletta until after dark. More evocative than during the day. Mysterious. Even spooky in places.
I do recommend you visit at night.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Another day I joined a free hostel walking tour to Valletta.
We started with 13 tourists from around the world.
Paty, our leader from Brazil, took us to many interesting spots.
We unexpectedly crashed wedding photos.
AND we had a birthday girl. Actually it was the day after her birthday — but the couple had been on the plane flying to Malta the day before.
Over the course of several hours, some of our group took off to meet friends. Or stop for dinner.
Only 6 of us were left by the time we got to Paty’s recommended restaurant, Alexanders by Zizka. Excellent.
I ordered that weird, delicious thin crust pizza. The rest had pasta, some with rabbit — a local favourite dish.
I loved Malta. But the highlights were all on hostel walking tours.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
We did take the ferry over to the Three Cities, but only had about an hour there. Time allowing, it would be even better than Valletta being so much less crowded with tourists.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Excellent Malta hostel day trip with leader Paty.
Here’s our group in Mdina: U.K., USA, France, Spain, Colombia, Sweden, Canada.
Mdina and Rabat are two historic, neighboring towns in central Malta that effectively function as a single destination.
Mdina, the “Silent City,” is a fortified medieval citadel that served as Malta’s capital until the 16th century.
I’m surprised it’s only on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. This place is amazing.
Rabat, which translates to “suburb” in Arabic, grew outside Mdina’s walls and is renowned for its deep religious roots and Roman heritage.
The biggest highlight ➙ Basilica of St Paul.
For us, Rabat had the best inexpensive restaurants we’d found in the nation.
We loved the savoury Pastizz (Pastizzi) snacks and traditional Maltese savoury pastry parcels called Qassatat.
But the highlight of the trip for us all were the Dingli Cliffs.
We took an Uber van to get there for sunset.
St Peter’s Pool is a popular tourist destination in Malta for those looking to cliff jump, swim, and snorkel.
A diving dog called Titti once appeared jumping into the water with its owner Carmelo Abela, creating an internet sensation.
We met up at Marco Polo hostel ➙ astonished to have so many young people. Most of this mob are a Squash team from a U.K university blowing off their midterm reading week, partying in Malta instead. 😀
We took the public bus to the fishing village of Marsaxlokk.
At least a dozen of these small boats offer to take passengers to St. Peter’s Pool for 5 Euro each.
On board, skipper let the young people choose the music. First song played was Bad Bunny Tití Me Preguntó.
It was freezing — but at least 10 of the young people jumped.
This area is not all that clean. Nor officially maintained.
After seeing many rats in S.E. Asia, this was my first in 2026.
Before dark we walked the cliffs a half hour to a popular local restaurant. I had the Malta pasta. Very flavourful.
Yes, the eroding edge frequently collapses. I’d call this cliff walk dangerous.
Another excellent trip led by Paty for Marco Polo hostel.
Not counting airports. Not counting that time I stepped one foot into Bhutan. 😀
Here’s a map of my current list.
