Ragusa in Sicily

The final two stops on my Sicily road trip were Ragusa and Siracusa. Only about an hour apart but completely different vibes.

On the drive to Ragusa we stopped in Agrigento to stretch our legs. It’s built on a mountaintop so the steps to get up there from parking felt like you were crawling up a harrowing pathway; next time I’d seek a more direct route along an actual road. I got lunch on the main pedestrian stretch and the scenic views and energy of the town was superb.

Grabbing a drink and foccacia in Agrigento

In Ragusa, I stayed in Ragusa Ibla and could not believe how stunning it was when I walked up. My hotel was AD 1768 Boutique Hotel and I can’t recommend it enough. I had no idea I was staying on such a palatial Piazza Duomo!!

Purple arrow shows you my hotel

Ragusa Ibla is a baroque, mountain top, walled city. The architecture is ridiculously stunning, as you wind your way through pristine medieval alleyways and under stone bridges. It connects to Ragusa Superiore by a 25 minute pathway, another historic district built after an earthquake in 1693. Still old, just not as old as Ragusa Ibla.

View of Ragusa Ibla from the Superiore side of the valley

There were lots of gelato shops, leather vendors, and book stores to explore so I was in absolute heaven. There’s also a tourist train (Trenino Barocco) that drives you around town for a couple euros and I absolutely would have done that if I had more time.

Found the cutest garden wandering around Ragusa

I took a cooking class in Ragusa and this was a highlight of the trip for me! Loretta was offering in-home classes on the Cesarine website. Her brother also hung out with us as we made hand rolled cavati pasta, caciocavallo fried cheese, and traditional chocolate “gelo” pudding. A couple of takeaways for me were to hand tear ground sausage before placing it into the frying pan (I normally break it up as it is cooking), and to dice onions smaller than I’ve been doing for tomato sauce.

Made cavati from scratch

The final product - so chewy, so perfect!

Keep reading to hear about my travels to Ortigia.