Tour Sicily by Cycle

InnTravel, a British holiday outfit, is offering unique bicycle tours of Italy. There are two tours of Sicily: The Realm of the Baroque, which is a gentle tour of the beaches, ruins and cathedrals of southeast Sicily (Siracusa and Ragusa are included) and Golden Cities, a more challenging ride through western Sicily beginning at Monreale, travelling down to Selinunte and ending in Marsala. The tours include bicycle rental, hotel accommodations, breakfast and many other meals. The tour company transports your baggage for you from town to town so you can be free to enjoy the scenery as you ride unencumbered. InnTravel also offers biking and walking tours and villa rentals in many other regions of Italy, including Sardinia and the Veneto.

Trattoria Garibaldi in Marsala

Western Sicily is not for the faint of heart. It's remote (although there are direct flights to Palermo from Rome) and English is definitely NOT spoken with regularity. But among the many hidden treasures of western Sicily is the North African cuisine, a remnant of the 250 year Berber occupation of the 10th and 11th centuries. Marsala, a town known also for its wine (more on that later) is home to Trattoria Garibaldi. Here, among the steady crowds in the multicolored rooms, you will find what is arguably the best fish couscous in Sicily. The dish is complicated to make but Trattoria Garibaldi gets it right-and it's hailed as the region's finest. The wine list is nice too, so be sure to pick out something regional-a Donnafugata, perhaps.