It is a good idea to use a different language.The weather was more predictable, so it felt like an old-fashioned British beach day. My husband, son, and I walked away from the Marina in Porto Palo in south-west Sicily and turned west, carrying an umbrella, towels with sun cream and water, as well as a picnic cooler. Le Solette is a half mile curving golden sandy beach that lies between rocky outcrops, and is backed by low mountains. It was reached after a 10-minute walk along a narrow path. It’s a gorgeous spot, with soft sand and clear water in hues from turquoise to indigo – but the most remarkable thing about it is not what’s there, but what’s not.
The strange thing about seaside resorts is that the sand can be almost invisible under sunbeds with matching umbrellas. There is the convenience, but how much? I have been to Liguria resorts, which are in the north-west of Italy. From Easter to September, a walk along front offers views of not the sea, but the walls and changing rooms of an uninterrupted row of beach. Stabilization.
But quiet, undeveloped beaches can be found – and more easily in southern Italy, Sardinia and Sicily, and away from cities. (Mondello, near Palermo, for example, also has bathing-establishment blight.) One of our favourite areas is around Menfi – just an hour and 20 minutes’ drive south from Sicily’s capital. It’s architectural sights are limited because of the 1968 earthquake that destroyed many older buildings. But it’s located in the top wine and food producing area on the island, which means great restaurants and farmers’ markets.
Even better, it’s a couple of miles from a barely developed stretch of coast, where golden sandy beaches – with blue flag status for nearly 20 years – are punctuated with wild, scrubby headlands and small villages. Tunisia’s coast is only 100 miles away. This is closer than Naples or Rome.
We stayed in an apartment on a low-rise. Villa Melograno (sleeps six from €1,430/£1,225 a week) just outside Menfi, enjoying early June temperatures in the mid-20Cs, sea views from the garden and daily forays to whichever seaside spot took our fancy.
On lazy days, on our way to the nearest beach, we stopped at Lido Fiori. This dune-backed resort has a small supermarket, two restaurants with views of the water and an open stream that runs through its western end.
For more bustle, we’d drive to the wider sands of Porto Palo, a fishing village with a good choice of places for an evening pizza. Getting to Le Solette took more effort but this was rewarded with a blissful day of swimming, snoozing and snorkelling, with not a building and barely another person in sight.
It is in August that the Menfi coastline becomes busier, as Italians flock to the island from Palermo. The temperatures also soar. The shoulder-season heat (as an added bonus, many coastal car parks do not start charging until mid June) was ideal. October, with highs between 21 and 25C, also sounds appealing.
Sicily is a place with plenty of things to do besides the beach. The fertile, sun-soaked land around Menfi is known for olives, vines and vegetables (particularly the Slow Food-registered spiny artichoke, in season December-April). The Wednesday Farmers’ Market in Menfi is a great place to find tomatoes, peppers aubergines, herbs, salads and cheeses.
Olive oil from 250-year old trees Ravidà It offers cooking classes, tours and tastings. If we return in the autumn, we will head to the more down-to earth Casale Abate, which offers a “family olive harvest” (weekends from 26 September-26 October, €250 for four people including two nights’ accommodation) where everyone joins in hand-picking the olives, pressing them and tasting the ultra-fresh oil on warm bread.
Families with younger children will love the new attraction which opened in Casale Abate last fall: the Ricupa open farm. Children can try collecting eggs, milking goats and cows, picking fruits and learning about vegetable growth.
Menfi was experiencing a wine revival at the beginning of the 21st century. This area had a long history of producing wine, which began with the Romans and flourished during the reign of Julius Caesar, whose favorite wine was Sicilian. However, in the 20th Century, bulk shipments were the norm, resulting in low-quality plonk being shipped in large quantities. The area has been refocused to produce quality wines and is now called “Menfishire”, “Sicily’s Chiantishire”. Its 7,000 hectares are responsible for 40% of the wine exported by Sicily. We tried the Mandrarossa winery, on the way to Porto Palo, and enjoyed our pick of four wines, with nibbles, on a panoramic terrace with views out to sea (€30pp). The 2023 nero di avola’s plum, blackberry and peppery flavors lingered on my palate for a long time.
The next day, we hired bikes from Sanzone Menfi’s well-surfaced tracks are open for riders former railway line from Menfi to Porto PaloEarning a large ice cream each from Gusto Giusto On the main road to the village. The next day, our son cycled on the same route to meet us in Sciacca’s port with its baroque center. Castello Incantato (adult €5), a slightly mad sculpture park created in 1919 by émigré Filippo Bentivegna returning after an unhappy stay in the US. However, the most popular cultural attraction around here is older.
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The attendance at the 2019 event will be higher than normal. Valley of the Temples in AgrigentoIt is a good time to visit the more extensive, if less intact, ruins of the Greek settlement of Menfi. In 2025, it would be a great time to explore the extensive, but less intact, Greek settlement of Selinunte (adult €14) founded in the seventh century BC. We drove 20 minutes from Menfi and walked, mostly alone and with open mouths, from ruin to ruin, with a sparkling sea as a backdrop. Temple E was the best preserved. By lunchtime, we’d walked a lot and were happy to relax in the sea view bar near Poseidon’s temple. (A little electric train trundles round the site and may be tempting in high summer, though it’s a little pricey at €8pp.)
Selinunte was a small city that lasted only 240 years, even though it had a population of around 30,000. Carthaginians destroyed it in 250BC during the first Punic War. It was never rebuilt. Since then, earthquakes, weather and the passage of time have all contributed to its destruction.
It’s there, all sun-drenched, slapped by the waves, and so huge that it can accommodate busloads of tourists without feeling crowded. This whole happy coast is a bit like that.
There are more places to eat, sleep and eat.
Casale Abate has one- and two-bedroom bungalows with a shared pool 15 minutes’ drive from the beach, from €427 a week, on booking.com
Right on Lido Fiori beach, Le 4 Stagioni has rooms from €90 B&B and one- and two-bed apartments from €100. The restaurant serves local fish paired with wines or craft beers from Sicily.
Salisà is a slightly smarter fish restaurant just along the beach, which a couple of years ago added peaceful new-build accommodation among fields half a mile inland, with rooms (from €126 B&B), pool and generous breakfasts.
Menfi centre is the place to be. La Regina di Alabastro Enjoy traditional meat and seafood dishes, as well great pizzas. Elegant rooms sleep two to five from €110 room-only. In summer, buses leave every hour from the town for Porto Palo or Lido Fiori.
