Italy · Sicily
The Egadi Islands and western Sicily
Seven nights from Trapani — Favignana, Levanzo and Marettimo, in Europe's largest marine reserve.
7 nights · Round trip from Trapani
The far west of Italy, and it feels closer to North Africa than to the Tyrrhenian. Three islands inside the largest marine reserve in Europe, a coast with no development on it, and anchorages that outside three weeks in August you will have to yourself. If the Aeolians are the famous Sicilian week, this is the one people come back for.
The route, day by day
Day 1
Favignana
An hour and a half from Trapani. The tufa quarries cut straight down into the sea — you swim in them now — and the tonnara that made the island rich.
Day 2
Cala Rossa
The anchorage on the north-east corner of Favignana, over white rock in water that has no business being that colour. Early, before the day boats.
Day 3
Levanzo
One white village and one road. The Grotta del Genovese holds Palaeolithic paintings of animals and dancing figures, eleven thousand years old — booked ahead, reached on foot or by tender.
Day 4
Marettimo
The far island: nine hundred residents, no cars worth the name, and snorkelling rated among the best anywhere. One harbour, a handful of restaurants, nothing else.
Day 5
Marettimo
A second night, because nothing follows it well and the grottoes on the west side take a morning. This is the day the week is built around.
Day 6
San Vito lo Capo
Back east to the mainland for the Zingaro reserve — seven kilometres of undeveloped coast reachable only by sea or on foot, with coves the whole way along.
Day 7
Trapani
The short run in past the salt pans and the windmills, which at the right hour are the reason people photograph this coast.
Worth knowing
- Two yachts are based at Trapani; more can be positioned west from Portorosa for your dates
- The marine reserve is zoned — anchoring is limited in places and closed around parts of Marettimo
- No motor yachts and no day charters are based in western Sicily: this is week water
- Trapani airport is twenty minutes from the base; Palermo is about ninety
- Outside three weeks in August you will share Cala Rossa with two boats rather than thirty
Where this route goes
Yachts that sail this route
Itineraries
Sail this route
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