Messina

While not one of the aged Greco-come-Roman relics that keep Sicily on the forefront of Italy’s cultural and historical tourist map, Messina is a lived-in, energy-filled port town with the ability to inject real life into any trip to this southern isle in the Ionian Sea.

Geographically, Messina is a curious beast, strewn out in a seven shape along the Strait of Messina and anchored on the Piazza Duomo beyond the Porta Grazia. Today, this neighbourhood in the city’s midst is known as the home of arguably one of the country’s most fascinating cathedrals; a palimpsest of Norman and Germanic and Renaissance styles that met its match in the destructive earthquake of 1908 (don’t be put off though – reconstruction was meticulous!). And in the cobbled streets and sun-splashed piazzas around this architectural masterpiece, elegant fin-de-siècle fountains babble over and hidden trattorias tout Sicily’s most famous swordfish cuts, coming courtesy of the deep sea fault that runs between this fishing town and the mainland. Messina tour guides will also champion the beaches of the greater Messina Province: long and kissed by naturally warming waves at Alì Terme; postcard-perfect and backed with resorts at Roccalumera.