Sicily: 6 experiences around Chiaramonte Gulfi

There is something special about south-eastern Sicily. The landscape unfolds in dry stone walls, silver-green olive groves and small towns clinging to the mountainsides, while the Mediterranean glitters somewhere down below. Here, in the Iblei mountains near Chiaramonte Gulfi, we stay on an old wine and olive estate, and from here it is a short distance to some of Sicily's most beautiful and most peaceful experiences.

It is a part of Sicily that many travellers overlook in favour of Palermo or Etna. But that is precisely why it has kept its calm and its own rhythm. The baroque towns stand largely as they were rebuilt after the great earthquake of 1693, and the cuisine is still tied to what the land and the sea provide.

You don't need to be an experienced traveller to take part. The idea behind these recommendations is that you can head out and explore on your own when there is a free afternoon — at your own pace, with time to look, taste and sit down on a bench in the shade. Here are six experiences I am particularly fond of.

1. Ragusa Ibla — the baroque of the old town

Ragusa is divided in two: the upper, newer town and the old quarter of Ragusa Ibla, which sits like a cluster of honey-coloured houses on a rocky knoll. After the earthquake of 1693, the town was rebuilt in lavish Sicilian baroque, and today it is inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage list together with several of its neighbouring towns.

Take a slow walk through the winding streets up towards the cathedral of San Giorgio with its sweeping façade and broad staircase. Sit down on the piazza, order a coffee, and let the town come to you. It is not a town to rush through — it rewards those who have time.

2. Modica and the famous chocolate

Modica is another of the baroque towns, built down along two ravines so that the houses lie in layers up the slopes. The town is known far and wide for its chocolate, made by an old method in which the cocoa mass is not fully heated. The result is a grainy, intense chocolate in which the sugar can still be felt against the tongue.

In the town's chocolate shops you can taste your way through varieties with vanilla, chilli, cinnamon and citrus. Combine the tasting with a walk up to the church of San Giorgio, and you have an afternoon that gives something to both the legs and the palate.

3. Noto — the capital of baroque

A little further east lies Noto, which many call the capital of baroque. The town was rebuilt from the ground up after the earthquake, and the result is an unusually cohesive quarter in warm, golden limestone that almost glows in the afternoon sun. Noto too is part of the UNESCO World Heritage.

The main street, Corso Vittorio Emanuele, leads you past churches, palaces and broad staircases. Take your time to step inside a single one of the churches and feel the calm, then find a café with a view of the great cathedral. It is architecture you can sit and contemplate for a long while.

4. Chiaramonte Gulfi — the town on the mountain

Our nearest town, Chiaramonte Gulfi, is often called 'the town on the mountain', and with good reason. It lies high up in the Iblei mountains, and from the viewpoints you can, on clear days, see all the way out to the coast and, on good days, glimpse Etna in the distance.

The town is known for its olive oil and for a calm, unpretentious everyday life that feels far from the tourist crowds. Take a walk through the quiet streets, look into a church or two, and enjoy the feeling of being somewhere where life still moves at its own pace.

5. Olive oil and wine from the Iblei mountains

The area around us is olive country. The gnarled trees have stood here for generations, and the oil from here is among Sicily's most esteemed — green, fresh and with a hint of pepper in the throat. A tasting where you dip bread in freshly pressed oil says more about the region than many words.

The wine belongs here too. Sicily has a long wine tradition, and at the region's estates you can taste local drops in the company of olives, cheese and bread. It is simple fare, but made from ingredients that have been allowed to taste of what they come from.

6. Markets and Mediterranean cuisine

If you want to understand Sicily, you have to go to the market. In the towns you will find stalls with sun-ripened tomatoes, lemons with the leaves still on, fresh herbs, cheeses, olives and fish from the sea. There are shouts, scents and colours — and a generosity that is contagious.

Sicilian cuisine is Mediterranean cooking at its best: pasta with fresh vegetables, fish from the coast, aubergine, almonds and citrus. Take a taste home with you, or simply sit down and watch life go by. The food here is just as much about the fellowship around the table as about the dish itself.

Practical tips

• The baroque towns lie close together, but the mountain roads wind — reckon that the journeys take a little longer than the map suggests.
• Wear good, closed shoes for the cobbled and stepped streets; you walk a lot here.
• The hottest hours in the middle of the day are for shade and rest — the Sicilians themselves take a break, and so should you.
• Cash is still handy to have at small stalls and at markets.

The best thing about south-eastern Sicily is perhaps that it asks nothing of you. You don't need to get to it all. Choose a single town, a single tasting, a single view — and let the rest be. Then you are already well on your way into the calm and depth that the region is so rich in. Have a good trip.