As Sicily's westernmost point pushes out into the Mediterranean, one of the last landfalls is Trapani, an ancient coastal port but a mere stripling compared to Erice on the hill above. Trapani actually began a few thousand years ago as the port for Erice, or Eryx as the Greek settlers would have known it - so old is the city that it was colonised by the Ancient Greeks. With ancient Phoenician and Elymian walls still extant, the city also has two castles, the Saracen Pepoli and the Norman Venus (itself on top of the ancient temple of Venus). This city is draped in myth, with the temple supposedly being founded by Aeneas.
Erice sits atop Monte Erice, some 750m above sea level and gazes down on Trapani, Marsala, the lovely Punta del Saraceno and Capo san Vito, and on to the Egadian Islands ... a stunning vista. It's a town of narrow cobbled streets, gloomy or atmospheric depending on your taste for melancholy, but quite special in our book. Discerning visitors choose to book a hotel in Erice and venture down to the ritzier delights of the coastal stretch for sun, sea and some very good restaurants. Sicily has excellent cuisine throughout, with a heavy emphasis on fish and seafood, and one local speciality you must try is the Marsala wine, sweet or dry, taken alternatively as dessert wine or aperitivo.
To the left you'll find a selection of hotels, to get you in the mood
- see also our full listings of Erice hotels.
