Introduction to Erice

96km (60 miles) SW of Palermo, 14km (8 2/3 miles) NE of Trapani, 45km (28 miles) NW of Marsala, 330km (205 miles) W of Messina

Originally established some 3,000 years ago, Erice is an enchanting medieval city. From its panoramic mountaintop setting, two sheer cliffs drop 743m (2,438 ft.) to vistas across the plains of Trapani and down the west coast of Sicily. On a clear day, you can even see Cape Bon in Tunisia, but the Sicilian aerie of Erice is often shrouded in mist that only adds to its mystique (or misery, especially in winter, when temperatures can plummet below Sicilian norms and snow is not uncommon).

Erice is a lovely place to spend an afternoon wandering the medieval streets, with their baroque balconies and flowering vines, and drinking in the vistas. The southwest corner of town contains the Villa Balio gardens, originally laid out in the 19th century. Beyond the gardens, a path winds along the cliff's edge up to Erice's highest point, the Castello di Venere. Today, little more than crumbling Norman walls surround the sacred site where a temple to Venus once stood.