8 notable places within an hour's drive.
landmark
Ragusa Ibla
The older, lower half of Ragusa: late-baroque palaces and stairways rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake, crowned by the Duomo di San Giorgio's wedding-cake facade. Best first seen from the Santa Maria delle Scale steps across the ravine.
26 km · about 30 min drive
cafe
Antica Dolceria Bonajuto
Sicily's oldest chocolate house (1880), keeping alive Modica's Aztec-derived cold-worked chocolate: grainy bars spiced with cinnamon or chilli, plus 'mpanatigghi pastries filled with chocolate and beef. Down an alley off Corso Umberto in Modica Alta.
33 km · about 40 min drive
ancient ruins
Villa Romana del Casale
A luxurious Roman villa near Piazza Armerina with the world's richest collection of ancient mosaics.
40 km · about 45 min drive
landmark
Noto
A golden Baroque town rebuilt after an earthquake, a UNESCO showpiece of honey-coloured façades.
44 km · about 50 min drive
ancient ruins
Syracuse
An ancient Sicilian city once rivaling Athens in power, with a stunning Baroque island center on Ortigia and vast Greek ruins.
52 km · about 60 min drive
landmark
Ortigia, Syracuse
The honey-stone island heart of ancient Syracuse, layering Greek temple, Baroque piazza and seafront in one.
53 km · about 60 min drive
racetrack
Autodromo di Pergusa
Sicily's fastest circuit, a near-5 km ring wrapped around Lake Pergusa in the island's mythic heart. Once hosted non-championship F1 races won by the likes of Brabham and Fittipaldi.
53 km · about 60 min drive
landmark
Marzamemi
17th-century tuna-fishery hamlet at Sicily's southeast tip, its golden-stone piazza and tonnara buildings ringing a tiny double harbour. Summer evenings fill the square with open-air trattorie serving bottarga and tuna 'ham'.
59 km · about 70 min drive