How a travel journalist plans a month in Sicily

The hotels, the pitch-and-commission dance, the lemons, the lot...

I’m watching Netflix’s adaptation of Il Gattopardo from Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s rich, delicious portrayal of 20th century high society and politics in Sicily. And it’s as if all the resplendent, faded palazzi I gormlessly shuffled around in Sicily’s string of Baroque pearls have dusted off their gilt, zhuzhed up the frescoes and sprung back to life.

While adaptations of old classics tend to make those with an affinity for the books, or original films stomachs churn, Kim Rosso Stuart was born to play the Leopard or ‘Il Gattopardo’ – a dashing Sicilian prince grappling with revolutionary change amid Italy’s unification – and Benedetta Porcaroli is a magnificent Concetta (The Leopard’s favourite daughter). The series has waltzed and reeled me back to Sicily’s golden age, the architectural vestiges of which, like fine wine, seem to only get better with age. These crumbling palazzos, bleached by the sun and scratched by unruly palms, are the splendid skeleton of a bygone Sicilian aristocracy… the one whose final wheeze was so scrumptiously captured in the last prince of Lampedusa’s chapters and whose tired grandeur is hard to resist (even die-hard contemporary designers tread carefully in Noto, Modica, Scicli…)

Of course, this is all high priority research for an impending trip to Sicily. A full month, still with many loose ends I should be tying up rather than watching Il Gattoprado till 1am… it’s worked it’s magic as I’m champing at the bit to get on that plane.

Sicily off-season is now a must for me with two young children. It’s peak summer furnace defeats the object of travel if you’re setting alarms to use the pool or scurrying around for aircon at lunch.

So it’s a spring fling, and having organised countless holidays for others there (I’m not a travel company, but a few luxury travellers prefer using journalists to craft loose itineraries then taking this to travel ops for the admin) and written ludicrous numbers of articles on the place (typically off the back of a 3-night trip), it’s almost amusing how many gruelling hours the prep work has taken, but here’s why.

If you’re a freelance journalist, you can get invited to good trips by good PRs (for which you need to land a commission with a reputable title), or you can pitch ideas to editors and play a sort of chicken-and-egg game, where you warm up a destination and the possibility of a review, without pressing the ‘go’ button until an editor has confirmed a commission. Or, which takes years of graft, gaining trust and a good dollop of luck, you’re approached by an editor to review a hotel they feel you’ll do justice, or write more freely about a destination they know you’ve solid knowledge of.

Less art, more a frenzied scramble, the pitch-commission-stay dance takes years of practice, but there’s something incredibly satisfying about having an editor contact you to write a piece, or commission you with minimal questions and faith in your ability to deliver. I say this because it’s the driving force behind this trip, therefore making the process markedly different to planning your standard jolly hols.

Full disclosure, I’ve so far managed four gold-standard commissions - one on family hotels in Sicily, one on a detailed insider guide to Sicily (no easy feat), an off-season piece, and one detailed hotel review – all for top titles, all bound to take me far longer than I hope. But the pressure’s on to land a villa review, a cultural piece on Noto and a beauty feature exploring the age-defying properties of minerals found in Etna’s volcanic soil (three stories I’m determined to land despite several rejections). I have a week left, wish me and my buggered laptop keys good luck.

Let’s start with the hotel list. (I’ve linked my round up on Conde Nast Traveller here and the individual reviews I’ve already written for them below).

These are hotels I’ve already reviewed but it’s been a while and I need a refresher (and any updates)

• Dimora Delle Balze - an earthy, linen-draped design haven just outside Noto. The pool and driftwood cabanas hover over a scrubby, prairie like Val di Noto.

• Grand Hotel Timeo, A Belmond Hotel - Taormina’s grand dame where a pianist still tinkles away on the terraces overlooking the bay and Mount Etna (where the Grand Tourees once sat with their cigars and egos).

• Zash Boutique Hotel - a contemporary reimagining of an old Palmento (vineyard) at the foot of Mount Etna – I remember it mainly for the unfussy spin on fine dining - which was a novel concept 7 years ago.

• Monaci Delle Terre Nere - it’s changed hands and has lost its soul (and service standards) a wee bit along the way, but it’s still a beautiful, peachy Baroque Sicilian mansion with its own vineyards and gorgeous pool. A must if you’re in the region.