6 Best Sights in Sicily, Italy

Driving along the flat and winding coast road north of Marsala, you'll soon come across the extraordinary series of salt pans glistening in the shallows of Sicily's largest lagoon, the Stagnone di Marsala. The shallow depth of the lagoon, ranging from 2 to 6 feet, has made it perfect for the production of salt, and it has been put to this purpose since Phoenician times. The sheer flatness of the scene is varied only by the conical heaps of salt and a scattering of the disused windmills once used to supply power. The scene is still and quiet most of the time, but you'll sometimes see pockets of activity, with full wheelbarrows of salt being hauled to the conveyor belts that create the mounds. The stacks of earthenware tiles you'll see everywhere are used to weigh down the salt to prevent it being from blown away by gusts of wind. It's an extremely photogenic tableau, with the light changing through the day, the occasional presence of spindly pink flamingos in the lagoon, and Mozia and the Egadi archipelago looming through the haze. The narrow coastal road is one-way for much of its length, and the cycle track running alongside it enables the area to be comfortably toured on two wheels.

There's a small museum dedicated to the salt extraction industry in a restored windmill at the Ettore e Infersa embarcation point, where souvenir samples of salt can be purchased. You'll also find the Mamma Caura bar-restaurant here ( www.seisaline.it  Closed Tues. Oct.–May), with outdoor tables and a rooftop terrace.

While you can see examples of Caltagirone's long ceramic tradition throughout the city, the most impressive display can be found in the 142 individually decorated tiled steps of this monumental staircase leading up to the neglected Santa Maria del Monte church. On July 25 (the feast of San Giacomo, the city's patron saint) and again on August 15th (the feast of the Assumption), the stairs form a tapestry design with illuminated candles. Months of work go into preparing the 4,000 coppi, or cylinders of colored paper, that hold oil lamps—then, at 9:30 pm on the nights of July 24, July 25, August 14, and August 15, a squad of hundreds of youngsters (tourists are welcome to participate) spring into action to light the lamps, so that the staircase flares up all at once.

The nonprofit Filicudi WildLife Conservation is dedicated to research and conservation of Aeolian sea life, particularly dolphins, sperm whales, and sea turtles. You can join one of their naturalistic excursions to go snorkeling with a marine biologist, go out on a boat at dawn to watch for cetaceans and turtles, or have a guided visit to the Sea Turtles First Aid Center. If you'd like to become more involved, you can join a one-week research camp on dolphins and turtles as a volunteer.  

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the twin hill towns of Cammerata and San Giovanni Gemini were famous throughout Sicily for their traveling ice cream and granita makers. The key to this ice-cream industry was the collection and preservation of snow, and a local family of ice-cream makers has restored several of the neviere, circular buildings resembling stone igloos, strewn over the forested slopes above the towns. Snow was shoveled into the neviere, trodden down until it turned to a thick layer of ice, then covered with a mat of rushes and straw before another layer of snow was added on top. Stored like this, the snow would keep frozen for months, and with the giant blocks of ice fetching the equivalent of €3,000, it had to be carefully guarded. The best way to see the neviere, learn how to make Sicilian granita, and visit a small private ice museum, is on a guided tour, which can include a lunch of cold cuts, local cheeses, and grilled meat and vegetables in a pretty, family-run café.

This adventure park is located inside the Parco delle Madonie and offers several activities, including archery and obstacle courses, through the forest and above the trees on rope ladders. There are different levels of varying difficulty, which are designed for children and adults alike. You can also rent a tree house or glamping accommodations to spend the night suspended 20 feet above the ground.

One of a pair of pylons (the other is across the strait in Villa San Giovanni, Calabria) that carried electricity across the strait from 1955 to 1994, this steel tower stands 761 feet over the most northeastern point of Sicily. Though the pylons are no longer officially in use, they do have protected historic monument status and are used to gather meteorological data. Access to the 1,000-odd steps to the top is closed to the public.