Looking for a small beach town in Sicily non touristy.

Posted by cfrancese on 07/11/24 11:53 PM

Hello, I’m traveling with my wife and 1 year old in September. Looking for a small beach town in Sicily that is non touristy. We are well traveled in Italy. Been 10x. First time with a child though. We like older towns that we can walk or hang out in at the square at night. Want to be walking distance to the beach if possible. Something with at least 5 or 6 restaurants to choose from. We will have a car. Trapani and Cefalu seem like a decent choice, but is there anything smaller that might be just as good. I hear Castellammare del Golfo beaches are dirty is that true? How is Mondello or Scopello?

Thanks

Posted by mggtravel

Northern California

07/12/24 03:43 AM

111 posts

Many years ago we went to San Vito
Lo capo - it was wonderful - not touristy, great hiking and beautiful water and beach - small village (at the time) with several good restaurants. Might be worth checking out.

Posted by BethFL

07/12/24 12:56 PM

2816 posts

We went to San Vito Lo Copo last year for the day. We liked it a lot. It was May though so not high season so don’t know what it would be like then. The beach is wide, there are some shops there, and town seemed pleasant.

We were later in Cefalu. Town is charming but beach was not as good and more crowded.

Posted by jaimeelsabio

Mid-Atlantic area

07/12/24 10:20 PM

7206 posts

We stopped in Lido Rossello in late September 2018. Its beach was nice. There’s not much to the town, so might not be enough to do for what you’re looking for. Nearby is Punta Grande, but it too might be too small for you.

Posted by Roberto da Firenze ⚜

San Francisco Bay Area (USA)

07/13/24 01:32 PM

16133 posts

There are beaches everywhere, so it would help to know your overall itinerary to give advice, since you can find beaches near everywhere.

San Vito lo Capo has probably the most beautiful beaches in Sicily, and among the best in Italy.
https://www.fanpage.it/stile-e-trend/viaggi/spiagge-san-vito-lo-capo/

Scopello is on the hill but at 5 min drive from the village center you can visit the Zingaro Natural Reserve, which stretches from Scopello to San Vito lo Capo, therefore you can access it from both towns.
https://www.sanvitoweb.com/en/zingaro-nature-reserve
https://www.hitsicily.com/it/tuna-fischery-scopello-baglio-beach-zingaro-reserve-trapani-sicily-rent-house-villas-holidays/
Scopello is a very quaint hill town very close to the sea but I wouldn’t consider it a resort. There are of course hotels (although not very large ones) and BandB and rental places both in town and in the surrounding areas, but there are no large all inclusive resorts.
Mondello is a district of Palermo with a gorgeous beach. It’s less than 30 min from the city center by bus. It gets crowded during the summer weekends, but in September it shouldn’t be too crowded on weekdays.
https://turismo.comune.palermo.it/palermo-welcome-mare-dettaglio.php?tp=158&det=26&id=373#

If you tell me your intended itinerary I can suggest more.

Posted by Tinac

North Italy

07/13/24 03:35 PM

395 posts

Trapani makes a good base and it's easy to get to San Vito and other beautiful beaches from there by car.
https://slowtravelitalyspain.blogspot.com/2019/03/trapani-october-2016-trip-report.html?m=1
There's more to see and do than in San Vito. The beach in San Vito attracts a lot of people beyond the end of September.
Cefalù attracts a lot of foreign tourists and will still be very busy in September.
We liked the beach in Pozzallo. The town isn't special but with a car it's easy to reach Ragusa Modica Scicli which all are fantastic https://slowtravelitalyspain.blogspot.com/2019/05/east-coast-sicily-pozzallo-trip-report.html?m=1

Posted by cfrancese OP

07/14/24 03:01 PM

3 posts

Thanks for your responses. Our itinerary is to spend about 4 or 5 nights in a town on the north coast of Sicily. After that we are sailing for a week from Marsala, to Favignana, Marettimo, Levanzo, Trapani then back to Marsala. We are in Trapani for 2 nights during that sail trip so would ultimately love to find a different place to stay before our sail trip then Trapani unless you think it deserves more then 2 nights. How is Santa Flavia? After the sail trip gonna do 2-3 more nights before we fly out somewhere in that vicinty. Maybe San Vito lo capo or Sciacca or somewhere in between those two on the coast.