Like many parts of Italy, Sicily has enjoyed a boom in tourism since the pandemic with more than five-and-a-half million visitors turning up in 2023, reports Regione Siciliana. The television series, The White Lotus Season 2, filmed in various parts of Sicily was an accelerator, although the enduring charms of Italy’s largest island—Baroque towns blending ancient cultures, extraordinary fresh produce, heroic vineyards, elaborate palazzi, exceptional luxury hotels, and beaches flanking transparent aqua seas are catnip to the traveler who wants it all—in one location.

Underscoring Sicily’s popularity as a destination, Neos airline debuted a seasonal twice-weekly direct flight to and from Palermo from JFK last summer. But for many, getting to Sicily from the U.S. often involves a change of planes in one European city or another, so the start-to-finish flight time can run 11 hours and well beyond, and that’s if everything goes according to plan.