Coves cobblestones and pastry shops: a walking tour of north-western Sicily

A self-guided holiday across this wild, beguiling corner of the island offers up a subtropical landscape, incredible old buildings and crystal-clear waters

There’s something immensely satisfying about being able to see the point you’re aiming for on a long hike. Far below Erice, a hilltop town in north-west Sicily, I can make out the arc of Trapani on the coast – my target, three hours away by foot. Paths wind down the hillside, past wild flowers and giant cacti, the city looming ever larger, its buildings a palette of pastel pinks and greys that blend into the surrounding salt flats and ocean.

I’d come to explore north-western Sicily on a self-guided walking holiday, staying in small, family-run hotels and covering an average of 10km a day. Closer to north Africa than the Italian mainland, it’s a starkly beautiful and wild region, with multi-layered history thanks to myriad invaders over the centuries.