Erice is a jewel of a place. It is a picturesque, romantic, medieval town, beautifully situated 750m above sea level on the top of Monte Erice in the province of Trapani. You may get a little light headed before you get there as the road zig zags up to the peak, but once you're there and you walk up to the Cathedral's Bell Tower (26 meters high), you will be rewarded with some of the most spectacular views in Sicily, stretching from the Gulf of Trapani and beyond to the Egadi Islands. If you decide to take the cable car, the whole journey takes only 15 minutes and enables you to take some superb pictures.

You will instantly fall for this endearing town with its narrow cobblestone streets, stone buildings and very relaxed atmosphere. Erice was founded by Elymians and dates back to the end of the 5th century B.C. and there are many splendid reminders of the towns historic past, including the ancient walls that surround the town.

Although Erice is not big, it is a bag full of treats. There is so much to see iErice! The 14th century Chiesa (Church) Matrice which from the outside might look a little plain, but inside is truly beautiful, much of it in Neo-gothic style after rebuilding work took plan ce during the 19th century. With free entry, the Cordici City museum (housed in the Municipal Palace) consists of small archaeological finds from prehistoric to Roman times as well as a very interesting coin collection. From the Castle of Venus (also for free) there are spectacular views of the land and sea below. The Pepoli Castle is surrounded by the great Giardino del Balio (garden) and Piazza Umberto has Erice's best restaurants serving delicious freshly cooked food .

They say that those people based in the lower areas of Erice always used to go up to the mountain to cool themselves down when the weather had become unbearably hot. Certainly Sicily can be very warm in summer, so it can be somewhat of a relief to escape the heat and feel the lovely cool breeze on your skin. One more thing by the way! The biggest ice cream I ever had in Sicily was in Erice. It was so big, that it nearly fell of the cone. Don't forget to try one and also check out all the tiny cute looking shops where you could get some special and unique gifts for your loved ones such as ceramic art shops, puppets, jewellery shops and pasticcerias, selling wonderful traditional pastries, such as cannoli, cassata and genovesi.

There are several places to stay in Erice, but they are often full, so if you can't get yourself booked in, try the nearby city of Trapani, a busy fishing port and capital of the region, positioned on a "Salt road", You could also choose to go to Marsala, a town famous for it's rich fortified Marsala Wine. Alternatively if you fancy combining with the beach, there's the beautiful small town of San Vito Lo Capo, with it's superb sandy beach and crystal clear waters.

*Photos by Ivana Andre

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