Given the distances to be traveled and the imperfect roads, conventional wisdom stipulates that even ambitious short-term visitors to Sicily stick to either side of the island. There’s no wrong choice, though it’s the eastern coast that’s home to the majestic Mount Etna, Europe’s highest active volcano.

That was also the side favored by the Greeks, who colonized Sicily between the eighth and sixth centuries B.C. (before the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Normans and the Bourbons all took their turn), making a bustling capital out of Syracuse. In more recent times, the hilltop town of Taormina has been the popular eastern-facing destination — it was even the site of the 2017 Group of 7 summit. As its cobblestone streets have become ever more crowded, though, the Val di Noto region — which is a two-hour drive south and includes the towns of Ragusa, Modica and Noto — and the nearby city of Syracuse are finding new life.