Favignana island must be lived slowly and intimately and it can be in contrast with present-day types of tourism. For this reason our advice list is “open”. The 10 things we recommend in Favignana are to be interpreted and measured according to your tastes, your available time and time of year.
Favignana is an island difficult to tell. You can always forget something. It is very hard to recommend what to do and see. Suggestions can be so many and different. We have tried to select what can be highly recommended. 10 things to do and see that is rarely possible to do in one holiday. That is why Favignana is visited more than once in 9 out of 10 cases. There are also some cases of Favignana “addiction”. More and more visitors have chosen Favignana as perfect destination for their holiday, coming back every year and also several times a year
Here our best advice for your holiday in Favignana:
Today an holiday is really complete if there are typical dishes tastings and experiences to discover local cooking and local products. Favignana can be considered as an amusement park, the reign of Mediterranean cooking, fresh fish, typical Sicilian food. There are historical, geographical and cultural reasons that confirm Favignana's record.
Some of the most appreciated dishes and receipts come out of this such as the fish couscous (with some local varieties), the frascatole (a type of pasta), spaghetti with sea urchin eggs, with limpets or with lambster, Beccafico sardines (sardines rolls with breadcrumbs, pine nuts and raisins) or pasta with sardines, the Pane Cunzato (bread with oil, salt, oregano).
In the Aegadian cooking, tuna dishes are a must such as tuna balls, spaghetti with bottarga (salty tuna eggs), tuna in sweet and sour sauce, fried or salted “lattume” and more recently the tuna Kebab.
Among the best known desserts you can taste “cassatelle” filled with ricotta cheese and chocolate shaves (according to Trapani and its surroundings tradition), “cassata Siciliana” and the traditional cannoli which some old women continue to prepare home-made (like the famous Mrs. Clara).
How can you savour these delicacies? You just try it for yourself. You can follow our staff's advice about the best restaurants on the island. You can also:
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The first residential settlement dates back to 1600. The old town develops around St. Anne district, in north-central area of the island. Today most of streets and paths are paved with “balate”, stones from an area at the slop of Monte Erice.
The town has three squares: piazza Marina (ex Camparia), piazza Europa and piazza Madrice, connected by the main street where you can have a walk at night. Piazza Camparia, now Marina, with Palazzo dei Parodi and the adjacent St. Anthony Church is the heart of working life concerning fishing activities. Piazza Europa is where the Municipal building and Ignazio Florio statue is situated. Piazza Matrice is where the parish church is situated.
Taking a walk through the alleys and lanes, especially when the island is not too crowded, is a suggestive experience. It seems you go back in time and, with a bit of imagination, you may see fishermen working to their nets, dirty quarry workers who get home at sunset with women who work at Florio factory.
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Favignana is especially sea. Its sea is amazing and breathtaking and it can often be “addictive”. Visiting Favignana means to discover its 33 km of coastline. You can find wonderful beaches, bays and coves where you can swim, admire the sunset and explore small coves and hidden corners. Because of its geomorphological shape, you will find both beaches and caves. It is the perfect destination for snorkeling lovers. You will find some of the most beautiful beaches in Sicily: here is a short list.
Cala Rossa
Cala Rossa is the beach that makes Favignana so special. No wonder that it is classified as one of the most beautiful beaches of Mediterranean Sea. It is accessible on foot and boat. The walking route is not so simple, but if you have right shoes and you are careful you will get it.
Cala Azzurra
Cala Azzurra is simple to reach and it is also suitable for children. It is characterized by its shallow water and white sand with pink shades. It is easily reached from the town.
Cala Rotonda
At Cala Rotonda there is a cave divers love a lot. It is 8 meters depth and about 30 km long. At the end of the diving you will get an hole. It is recommended for family with children and couples for an intimate moment at sunset.
Bue Marino
Not far away from Cala Rossa, there is a rocky beach you can reach through one of the most beautiful paths of the island. It is situated in a tuff extraction area and it is full of ravines and small caves to visit. It is suitable for dive lovers.
Lido Burrone
Lido Burrone is one of the most beautiful beaches of the island. It is a sandy beach situated near the centre of Favignana. It is characterized by its white sand and shallow water. For this reason it is suitable for children.
Cala Grande
This beach can be only reached on foot following the ways for Punta Sottile lighthouse. It is characterized by small creeks and sandy beaches surrounded by crystal water.
Cala Faraglioni
An arduous walking path will lead you to this beautiful rocky beach which is protected by a natural wall. There you will explore amazing sea caves.
Calamoni
Calamoni is a stretch of coast where there are both flat rocks and small beaches. It is situated in the coastline from Punta Lunga to Lido Burrone. It is particularly recommended for a fast and regenerating swim.
Spiaggia Puntazza
It is a thin strip of land characterized by rocks and wonderful water. The beach is situated at Punta Longa and it can be only reach on foot.
Grotta Perciata
“Grotta perciata” means “perforated cave”. It is a top-open cave where water penetrates from an arch in the rock resulting in a natural pool.
Cala Monaci and Marasolo Beach
Small and suggestive cove with thin sandy beach, in a panoramic zone. It is suitable for family with children.
Cala del Pozzo
Bay with rocks and beaches far 50 / 200 meters apart from each other. Perhaps it is one of the wildest area on the island. It is suitable for those who look for privacy. It is amazing at sunset when the sun disappears behind Marettimo island.
Scala Cavallo
This suggestive cove is situated on a cliff overlooking the sea and it is protected by a rocky wall with a wonderful tuff cave as an imposing rocky cathedral. It can be easily visited without difficulties. It is also ideal for dive lovers.
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Favignana is one of the most beautiful islands of the Mediterranean Sea, with Lampedusa (also in Sicily) and Formentera ( Balearic, in Spain). So you cannot miss a boat trip to admire suggestive and unforgettable landscapes all the year.
There are several types of boat which allow you to go around the island. You can choose among sail boat, motor boat and typical fishing boat. There also other options such as yacht and ketch. If you want to be independent you can also rent a motor boat (especially rubber dinghies with or without licence).
Be careful! Favignana sea is safeguarded by Marine protected are of Egadi Islands. It is the largest Marine area in Europe. Therefore there are several limitations and prohibitions. We suggest to read up and ask about it. You can visit the website: http://www.ampisoleegadi.it/
Our staff can suggest and book the best solution for you, including exclusive boat trip, by fishing boat or sail boat.
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Favignana is very suitable for cycling. It is a small island, it has a perimeter of 33 km and offers everything cycle tourists need. It is a pearl not only for its sea, its traditions and its food but also for those who look for an active holiday in contact with nature.
With 20 km of cycle paths, Favignana has the record to be the most loved island by cycle tourists from all over the world.
Discovering hidden and untouched corners is one of the best pleasure in holiday. It is most exciting if you find your own place by bike. It allows you to be independent and discover the island by your own. Getting around Favignana by bike is also a green solution for several reasons: it is cheap, there is a lot of availability, most of paths and roads are flat.
Favignana is the perfect island to be lived by bike. You can realize it when you go ashore since you meet a lot of visitors and inhabitants getting around by bike. Cycle tourists will find paved roads (the main roads are well illuminated) and few dirt tracks. Riding a bike you can get around Favignana and go to the most amazing and famous beaches.
Thanks to our strategic location our guests can visit both sides of the island and easily get the suggestive fishermen village of Punta Lunga.
Our staff will recommend and book your rental bike (also e-bike with pedal-assisted).
Every year several snorkeling and diving lovers decide to spend their holiday in Sicily and Favignana. In Favignana there are more than 50 dive sites among caves, underwater walls, shoals, canyons, archaeological sites and wreckages.
The most popular site is Galeotta where you can admire several schools of fishes. Another site is the cave in Cala Rotonda, it is also ideal for beginners.
The common characteristic of these sites is a wide variety of species (biodiversity) and bright colours of gorgonians, sponges and parazoantus and other many species living in this wonderful habitat.
It is an important natural heritage, safeguarded by the Marine Protected Area of Egadi Island, the largest in Europe.
Our staff can suggest and book scuba diving lessons thank to our collaboration with SUBBAQQUERIA Diving Centre, just minutes from Nido del Pellegrino (in Punta Lunga village).
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If you are in Favignana you cannot miss to visit the ex Stabilimento Florio (the important tuna factory in Favignana). It is a real journey into the past in order to know the “tonnara” and understand how important it was for the island development.
The ex stabilimento Florio is one of the biggest “tonnara” (tuna fish factory) in the Mediterranean Sea. It is 32 thousand square metres and it is a n important example of industrial archaeology.
“Tonnara” is a set of particular nets used for red tuna fishing. The same word is used in Italian to indicate the place where “mattanza” is practised. It is an elaborate and age-old Phoenician technique for trapping and catching red tuna that was learned and taken to area such as Spain, Sardinia and Sicily during Islamic period
The Florio family rented the “tonnara” of Favignana from Pallavicini family of Genoa in 1841. Subsequently Buying the islands of Favignana and Formica and acquiring fishing rights in 1874, Ignazio Florio called upon the architect Giuseppe Damiani Almeyda in order to expand and renovate the establishment. The extended building was not only a place where fishing equipments, anchors and “mattanza” boats were kept but it was also a place for a cultural and economic relaunch by which a lot of islanders had a source of income.
Florio introduced a new method for conservation of tuna in oil (olive oil from Erice hills, Trapani, Marsala and Castelvetrano). Cut into pieces, tuna was cooked in 24 large boilers (still visible today) and then it was dried. Another large room was devoted to work cans by using machines and welding machines. After many decades, the plant was renovated and recovered.
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St Catherine's Fortress, best known as St. Catherine's Castle, overlooks Favignana and it can be seen from Trapani and Erice. You cannot miss to visit this old building on the top of Saint Catherine Mount at 310 meters above sea level. As one goes up, you will enjoy an amazing view on Egadi Islands and Western Sicily coastline.
In 9th century Saracens built a defensive tower on the top of the mountain, Normans changed it in fort. It was enlarged by the lord of Favignana Andrea Riccio in 15th century. During Bourbon rule it was used as prison and then as refuge for soldiers. It was abandoned last century.
Here it seems time has stopped at the end of World War II. It is possible to see traces of the presence of soldiers.
The visit is free. You can visit all the building from the basement to the terrace. Once there was a chapel dedicated to St. Catherine and then used as prison by Bourbons. Be careful not to go alone and at night.
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Hypogean gardens are typical of Favignana. They have been obtained by transforming the old tuff quarries into gardens. these quarries produced a valuable tuff and then they were abandoned.
Favignana has a lot of these gardens. Some host Mediterranean scrub, different types of vegetation, fruit trees and prickly pears. Some are not spontaneous, man has changed disused quarries into beautiful gardens.
The best example is that of Villa Margherita and its creator, Maria Gabriella Campo. She describes Favignana as “a barren island, with little Mediterranean vegetation”. For this reason she started to plant 30,000 metres square in a desert area, around some disused tuff quarries.
Maria Gabriella is daughter of a quarry worker. She started some reclaim measures to change a disused tuff quarry into a wonderful garden . There are several species she has taken from her journey in Italy and abroad. Despite someone thought it would be impossible, Gabriella managed to realize her dream and create a garden in a barren land. For this reason, this garden has been named “ Impossible Garden”.
Villa Margherita Gardens offer an unforgettable and amazing experience through arcades and caves, suggestive views and traces of different cutting systems. Today these wonderful gardens are in an area of 35,000 metres square with 300 different species and varieties from all over the world.
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If you spend your holiday in Favignana you cannot miss to visit Levanzo and Marettimo. If wyou do not go you will regret.
If you are in Favignana visiting the other two islands is very easy. You can reach them by hydrofoil or ferry ( 15 minutes to Levanzo and 40 minutes to Marettimo) or by personalized boat trip.
You can spend a day in Levanzo, visiting Grotta del Genovese in the morning and having a swim in some of the most beautiful coves, Cala Minnola and Cala Fredda, in the afternoon.
You can do the same in Marettimo, spending your day in a boat trip to admire its caves.
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the map says our exact location, in front of the “Previto” islet, on the road to sea stacks
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