The Best Time to Visit Sicily, Month by Month

The best time to visit Sicily is May, June, September or early October. Those months give you warm days, a sea you can swim in, everything open, and none of the August heat or the August crowds. April and late October are the next best, with a higher chance of rain and shorter days. July and August are hot and full. November through March is the quiet season, which is a real option if you are coming for towns and food rather than for the beach.

The numbers below are the 1991-2020 climate normals published by the World Meteorological Organization for two stations in eastern Sicily: Catania Sigonella, inland in the Catania plain, and Messina, on the coast. Inland runs hotter in summer and colder at night; the coast is milder and considerably wetter.

Spring

March. Days of around 65°F inland and 62°F on the coast, nights near 44°F. About six rainy days in the month. The countryside is green, the almond blossom is finishing in the west of the island, and the towns are empty. Etna still has snow. A good month for walking and for the baroque towns, a poor one for the sea.

April. Around 71°F inland, 67°F on the coast, nights in the high 40s. Rain about five days in the month. Everything is in flower and the hills are still green, which they will not be by June. Easter, whenever it falls, brings elaborate Holy Week processions to towns all over the island, and it also brings Italian travelers, so it is the one spring week to book early.

May. The month a lot of people would choose if they only came once: around 79°F inland and 74°F on the coast, nights in the mid 50s, and under three days of rain in the whole month. The sea is still cool for swimming at the beginning and fine by the end. The Greek theater at Syracuse begins its season of classical plays, which runs into late June.

Summer

June. Around 88°F inland and 82°F on the coast, nights around 62°F, and barely more than one rainy day in the month. Prices and crowds are still below their peak in the first half. This is the last comfortable month for climbing Etna in the middle of the day.

July and August. Inland maxima of 93°F and 94°F, and the plain around Catania regularly goes well past that. The coast is a few degrees kinder, around 88°F, but the nights stay near 76°F. Rain is essentially absent: Catania averages under one rainy day in July.

August is also when Italy goes on holiday. Around Ferragosto, on August 15, the beaches, the coastal towns and the roads are full, and prices are at their highest. Come in August if a family schedule requires it, plan the days around the middle hours, and do not expect to walk around a ruin at noon.

Fall

September. Around 87°F inland and 82°F on the coast, nights in the mid 60s, four or five rainy days. The sea is at its warmest after a summer of heating. Crowds thin out sharply after the first week. For many people this is the single best month in Sicily, and our guide to the Etna wine harvest explains why it is also the most interesting one on the volcano.

October. Around 78°F inland and 75°F on the coast, nights in the high 50s, five rainy days at Catania and eight at Messina. Swimming is still possible on warm days. The light is long and low, and the harvest is finishing at altitude on Etna. Our guide to Sicily in October and November goes through these two months in detail, including what closes.

November. Around 70°F inland and 68°F on the coast. This is where the rain arrives: six days at Catania, eleven at Messina, which averages more than five inches of rain in the month. Seaside places begin to shut. Towns and cities carry on as normal.

Winter

December to February. Daytime highs of around 61°F to 62°F inland and 59°F to 61°F on the coast, with nights near 41°F inland and 50°F on the coast. December is the wettest month of the year in both stations. Snow falls on Etna and the ski lifts run on the north and south sides when conditions allow.

Winter in Sicily is mild by American standards and cheap by any standard, and the cities are at their most ordinary, in the good sense. Two dates are worth knowing. The feast of Saint Agatha in Catania, on February 3, 4 and 5, is one of the largest religious festivals in Europe and fills the city completely. In February the almond trees flower in the southwest, around Agrigento, which holds a festival for it.

What you give up is the sea, the long evenings, and a good part of the coastal infrastructure, which closes from November to Easter.

What is the rainy season in Sicily?

October to February, and it is concentrated: in Catania, three quarters of the annual rain falls between October and March, and the total for the whole year is under twenty inches. Messina, on the strait, gets nearly twice as much. Rain here usually arrives as a heavy few hours rather than as a gray week.

How many days do you need?

Seven days covers one side of the island properly: for the east, that means Taormina, Etna, Catania and Syracuse without rushing. Ten days adds the baroque southeast, Ragusa and the Hyblaean hills, and a slower pace. Fourteen days is enough to cross the island and see Palermo and the west as well, though most people who try to do the whole island in a week end up spending it in the car. Our eastern Sicily itinerary sets out a route that works.

Can you wear jeans in Sicily?

Yes, all year, though not happily in July and August in the interior. The practical rules are the same as anywhere in Italy: shoulders and knees covered inside churches, shoes you can walk on stone in, and something warm for the evening even in summer, because the temperature drops as soon as the sun does, especially at altitude on Etna. Our guide to what to pack for Italy covers the rest.

When our journeys run

Our Sicilian journeys are timed for the shoulder months, which is where this article lands: warm days, open towns, and a volcano you can climb without suffering. The dates are published on the journeys page, and if the months that suit you are different, Design your trip exists for that.