Let us introduce you to Gay Sicily: the island just under the “Italian Boot” on a map, the home of “The White Lotus” Season 2, and also an incredibly significant destination for LGBTQ+ Italy. The Messina Strait separates Sicily from the rest of Italy, and as the biggest island in the Mediterranean, Sicily still conserves antique traditions and customs unique to its roots. You may already be familiar with the famous Mt. Etna, an active volcano, or the town of Noto, where queer communities flock to pristine gay beaches.
Why should you put a visit to gay Sicily on your To-Do list?
Sicily is a cradle of LGBTQ+ experiences and is considered one of the most gay-friendly and gay-welcoming places in all of Italy. There’s no shortage of great reasons why you should visit. Like wine? The volcanic ash from Mt. Etna provides a unique terroir that you’ll fall in love with and never want to stop drinking. Love culture? The island has ancient roots with Greek Theater, as a hub and safe escape for queer artists throughout centuries. Fan of modern TV? Relive all the best moments of The White Lotus in the real-life locations where the series was filmed. Just want to relax? Sicily is home to quite a few gay and queer beaches where you can feel your most authentic self while you bask in the sun and take in iconic views of the Mediterranean. What could be better?
Gay Sicily: The Best Places to Visit
From ancient landscapes to crystal-blue waters, to gay beaches, here are some of the best ways to experience Gay Sicily.
Catania & Volcano Etna: Wine, History, and Gay Sicily
Catania is the place where tolerance allowed young folks to meet and find love near an iconic tree that’s important for the local LGBTQ+ community, and where the Second World War imposed a hard exile for many gay men. From Catania, you can easily visit the Volcano Etna on a 4×4 Jeep as a full day excursion, and take a boat tour to Taormina the pearl of the Mediterranean, known as a “buen retiro” for many gay artists during the 19th and 20th centuries. Take in a stunning view of the Messina Strait, and if you are lucky, you can easily see Reggio Calabria on the other side of it.
Step into an Ancient Greek Theater
In Sicily, you can visit the ancient towns of Syracuse and the Island of Ortygia: home to the most famous Greek theatre in the world. It’s still in use today and the breath-taking nature of Ortygia Island frames into green-and-blue shades of the oldest quarter of Syracuse. You can also visit Noto, and take in the astonishing Sicilian baroque architecture.
Gay Sicily from the Water
One of the best ways to enjoy Gay Sicily is on the water. Plan plenty of time to enjoy sunbathing and swimming, with options to take boat excursions (in Catania and Taormine), cool down with almond granitas and natural drinks, and share your activities with friends. We always recommend you finish your trip with a typical Sicilian dinner pairing with Etna-wine tastings.
Check out the Quiiky LGBTQ+ tour of Sicily for a great way to experience the island’s delights!
Experience Gay Sicily with The White Lotus Tour
Quiiky recently debuted a new tour for 2023 to celebrate the real-life settings of the second season of the vibrant series, ‘The White Lotus’. The biggest island of the Mediterranean Sea is the backdrop of this complex thriller, where the characters’ story entails with the hotel staff plots and intrigues.
Central to the story, and the tour, is the stunning ‘San Domenico Palace’, the five-star hotel in Taormine, your first home in Sicily. The ‘Four Seasons’ hotel was an enchanting 14th century Convent, which has preserved its old-fashioned, charming style of gardens, arches and architecture, which mesmerize every visitor here. Your guide will show to the town center and to ‘Giardini Naxos’, which you will recognize as the ‘beach club’ of the series. Enjoy a boat tour in the afternoon to visit the ‘Isola Bella Beach’, dive into the crystalline waters around Taormine and taste the local flavor of the Mediterranean cuisine at one of the many restaurants along the coast. Our recommendations: the Michelin-starred ‘Principe Cerami’ or ‘Otto Geleng’, the ‘Anchovi’ or ‘La Cambusa’.
The tour also stops in Noto, at ‘Tenuta Planeta Feudo di Mezzo’ for a wine tour, in the place where your fave characters Harper, Ethan, Cameron and Daphne visited. The altitude and sunlight on this Northern slope of Volcano Etna make the terroir an inimitable place for winemaking. You will learn about this stunning town of yellow sandstone, which is almost frozen in time. Here, enjoy the best ‘cassata’ at Caffè Sicilia! On your way out of Noto, stop for a ‘granita’ or a ‘cassata’ in Catania, and get to know this stunning example of Baroque architecture and the most LGBTQ+ friendly town in Sicily, together with Palermo.
In Palermo, walk century-old streets and markets, such as the most famous ‘Ballarò’ or ‘Vucciria’, where fresh food and typical recipes are all available on–the-go and always at hand. Here, colors, people, language are the very heart of Sicilian lifestyle. You’ll also check out the Cathedral, the Norman Palace, and the Teatro Massimo, where Tanya takes in ‘Madama Butterfly’.
Finally, you’ll see Monreale, a UNESCO Site, to visit Villa Tasca, known in the series as the Noto villa where Daphne and Harper spent the night. Villa Tasca is plunged into a wide park, English and Italian Style, which dates back to the 19th century architectural Romanticism. Its interiors are covered with frescoes and the atmosphere is magic, out of time. Its botanical garden is a precious gem of Mediterranean lush nature.
So don’t wait until it’s too late! Spend 9 days and 8 nights experiencing your own queer version of The White Lotus, starting at just €9,900.
