Sicily is not one place

Three coasts, three characters: mountain in the north, the volcano's in the east, Africa's in the south. What each looks like underfoot — the villages over the water, the black rock, the marl cliffs and the scirocco — is on the four pages below, closer to the ground it describes.

The island is a triangle with a cape at each corner, which is what the old name Trinacria records. Trapani to Syracuse, one end to the other, is four and a half hours; the strait crossing at the other end takes twenty minutes by ferry. Distances inside the east are short — Catania to Syracuse or to Taormina, about an hour each. Joining the two ends of the island is the part that costs: Palermo to Syracuse is three and a half hours, and nothing here is a straight line.

Three parts, drawn under Arab rule: Val di Mazara in the west, Val Demone in the north-east, Val di Noto in the south-east. The Normans kept the division and it survived until 1812. What that lopsidedness left on the map — the place names, the bread, the church fronts — is on the history page.

Spring and autumn are the easy answer: green interior turning gold in May, the sea still warm into October. July and August are hotter than most visitors expect away from the coast, and book out fastest around the feast days and the harvest — the food and culture pages below carry the calendar in more detail.