Situated in southeastern Sicily, Val di Noto (the Noto Valley) – with its eight gorgeous late-Baroque cities – became one of the Italian UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2002. The eight cities are: Caltagirone, Militello Val di Catania, Catania, Modica, Noto, Palazzolo, Ragusa and Scicli. These cities already existed during the Medieval Age, but were...

Etna's recent paroxysmal activities have shown that when a volcano erupts, tons of ash and lapilli materials are ejected into the atmosphere and deposited on the ground not only in the vicinity of the volcano, but also over a wide area. The volcanic ash that falls in Catania in suburban areas and roads can be collected and disposed of as inert mate...

Delta announced an expansion of its trans-Atlantic flight schedule for the summer of 2025, introducing new routes and increasing service frequency to several European destinations from its U.S. hubs. Catania, Sicily: Delta will start daily flights from New York-JFK to Catania in May 2025. Naples, Italy: Four-times-weekly flights from Atlanta to Nap...

As Sicily faces one of the worst droughts of the past decades, the University of Catania is organising a series of events as part of EU Green Week 2024. Scientists are taking us on a journey back in time to better understand the impact of climate change on the island. "Almost all the water consumed by Sicilians comes from underground," explains Pro...

Italy's Mount Etna erupted overnight, spewing hot ash and lava into the air, causing travel disruptions in and out of the Italian Island of Sicily and leaving Catania International Airport closed on Thursday. The billowing smoke from the eruption affects proper visibility for pilots, which is why arrival flights and departures have been delayed on...

While you can’t ditch your passport just yet, advances in facial recognition technology are slowly but surely making physical identity documents obsolete. Case in point: Two Italian airports, Milan Linate and Catania airports, are currently trialing FaceBoarding, a facial recognition system that allows travelers to go through security checkpoints w...

A rare event was caught on camera over the weekend at Italy's Mount Etna, the most active stratovolcano in the world. The Sicilian volcano was seen spewing rare and nearly perfectly circular volcanic vortex bubbles – at some points, appearing pink in color against the sky.  Giuseppe Barbagallo, a member of the South Etna Alpine Guides Group, told R...

My great grandfather Niccolò Cipollina was born in the Cala, Palermo’s ancient port, in 1899. My great grandmother was born in Villarosa in the Enna province at around the same time. My Sicily roots run deep and it’s one of my favorite places to travel. It’s also a frustrating place to dine out since so many restaurants exist mainly to cater to tou...

Mount Etna loomed large over everything as we arrived in eastern Sicily that early January. From miles away, I could see the steam plumes rising from the snow-topped behemoth, like blown-out candles on a hastily iced birthday cake. Appropriately, I was on a milestone birthday road trip around Sicily, from Palermo to Catania. The second-to-last stop...

Literary cafes have existed for a long time, but this well-preserved gem in Catania is much more than a bookstore where you can have an espresso. First and foremost, Legatoria Prampolini was established in 1894, a detail that officially makes it the oldest bookstore in all of Sicily. Since 2019, it has been managed by the sisters Angelica and Maria...