Egadi Islands Information

The closest mainland town is Trapani (80 km from Palermo), where all the ferries and hydrofoil services depart from. There are 2 companies running the service, Siremar and Ustica and both of them have ticket offices situated at the port. The service operates all year round, subject to the weather and sea conditions though, so do consider the weather when planning your trip to Egadi. Favignana and Levanzo are both 20 mins away, Marettimo is around 1 hour.

The first one and perhaps the most lively is Favignana located 19 km from Trapani coast with 33 km of stunning coastline that occasionally stretches to small sandy beaches. The ideal way how to discover this butterfly shaped Island is on a bicycle. There are several places in the town where you can rent out a bike "noleggio bici" for a very little fee. Favignana is mainly a flat with wide fields, only right in the middle mountain Monte Santa Caterina sticks out (314m). Favignana is home to around 3600 people those are certainly proud of it and make the most of it by taking "passegiatas or just sit and relax in one of the local cafés. There is also the biggest Sicilian tuna factory "tonnara" which every year (usually the end of April, beginning of May) when the floating of tunas is the busiest holds so called La Mattanza, which is a traditional fishery but in rather very brutal way with tunas trapped in the nets, impaled and then pounded. It is very popular and traditional; so many Sicilians (not only local people) attend such an event to remind themselves that fishing used to be the only livelihood for the island.

There are few boat tours available to be booked right at the port.Swimmers should head south as there is a lovely beach Lido Burrone, which will satisfy all your needs.

Bars and restaurants at Favignana are lovely and serving mainly fish dishes. All ingrediences are fresh and mostly locally produced! 

Levanzo is the smallest out of the Egadi Islands with only approximately 400 people living on this rather rocky and hilly island with almost untouched and unspoiled nature. It is our favourite as there are no cars, just sun, ever changing blues of the Mediterrean Sea and breathtaking scenery. Time goes by here very slowly, it is a place to soothe and rebalance your mind and body. The best time to go is in May as there aren’t that many tourists and the weather is just splendid. The only village on the island (south coast) is Cala Dogna which is a picturesque Sicilian village with North African flavour. Even though Levanzo is small the walk around the village and the coast might take between 3 -4 hours. Don’t worry that you will not find your way around Levanzo, there is only 1 road, so you can’t get lost .Pack up some picnic as we have spotted few benches on our way to Cala Minnola, small bay recommend by the locals for perfect spot for sunbathing and swimming. For more ambitious walkers we suggest to walk up to Pizza Del Monaco which is the tallest hill (278m) and offers the best views of the island and opportunity to snap up some great pictures with your camera. Fevanzo’s main attraction is prehistoric cave Grotta del Genovese which can be accessed only with a guide namely by foot (cca 10 km could be quite steep at times, the guide will be waiting for you right at the entrance), by boat (sea conditions permitting) or with a guide in the jeep (of course the most convenient). Grotta del Genovese contains wall painting 15000 years old. The walls are painted with bison and deer, some ritual pictures of men and women dancing as well as charcoals drawings of fish.

One thing needs to be said we have found only 1 shop, a bakery, couple of bars and 2 restaurants and 2 hotels on Levanzo, so do book well in advance if you are planning to stay overnight. It felt both strange and great as this is what Levanzo is about. The life here is just simple and lets you forget about work stress or anything else that is troubling you.Most of the locals are fishermen and if you as lucky as us they will take you on their boat for a lovely tour around the island or even give you a lift to one of the other islands for a small fee or even for free.

Once the hike is finished, immerse yourself in the clear green blue waters and let your body fell the warm of hot pebbles beaches.

Marettimo Island - Egadi Islands Sicily

Marettimo is the last, but definitely not the least of Egadi Islands. It takes nearly an hour from Trapani on they hydrofoil to get here as it is the furtherest from the mainland, which means there are not many tourist and one can have a proper feel of the island and its simple life. If you look out from the ferry Marettimo appears to be a big rocky and steep mountain that suddenly arises from dark blue sea with white clouds hanging above. It is a wild island with rugged coast, but you might be surprised to discover it is a very green place. The springs are just beautiful in here. The whole island is dotted with delicious blossoms and some rare plant species. Thanks to its colourfull flora, bird watching spots and donkey rides Marettimo is as charming as it canbe. Lemon and thyme scent the air of the island accompanied by the music of cicadas. Talking about thyme, the name Marettimo comes from Mare (sea) and timo (thyme).

A number of walk trails allows you to plan anything from a short walk to even a full day's trip. Castle at Punta Troia could be one of them. It is 2- 2,5 hrs walk with an isolated beach behind the castle being your incentive.

Marettimo has mesmerizing and utterly beautiful underwater life and scuba divingg at Marettimo is an absolutet must. There are diving centres that organise trips and courses, so definitely try. You just have to see it!