Modica from Belevedere

Traveling in off-season has both pluses and minuses. On the one hand, no crowds at any of the sites meaning almost never having to wait to get in and discounts on accommodation, while on the other, you are often faced with a sign saying “Chiusa” (closed in English).

Our visit to Modica and Ragusa gave us a great opportunity to experience both!

Train Station – Siracusa

Modica our base for a couple of days is about an hour and half by train from Siracusa. Its a direct line and definitely the best way to get there if you can coincide your travel plans with the off season timetable.

Modica is one of the towns rebuilt after the earthquake of 1693 and consists of two towns – Modica Bassa (lower) and Modica Alta (upper) and a lot of steps between the two!

Taking the advice of our guidebook on Sicily and numerous informative blogs, we stayed in Modica Alta at the delightful Palazzo Failla Hotel which was offering a very good off- season deal. Its a delightful old hotel with a grand entrance staircase and large rooms with recently renovated bathrooms (almost unheard of in Sicily). Attached to the hotel is one of the region’s finest restaurants.

Modica is well known for its great food, not just its chocolate and baroque architecture. However, as we quickly found out most of the restaurants, including the hotel’s, that were on our hit list were, as the Sicilians say so delightfully in English “Is close ed”. The hotel also gave us a list of places to eat, however as we wandered the delightful streets, alleyways and stairs of Modica we were able to see that most were in fact “close ed”. Continue reading →