Pelagie Islands (Lampedusa & Linosa)

The Pelagie Islands are Italy's southernmost territory, a small archipelago of three islands, Lampedusa, Linosa, and the uninhabited Lampione, lying in the open Mediterranean some 200km south of Sicily and geographically closer to Tunisia than to the Italian mainland, administered within the Agrigento province. Lampedusa, the largest, is a sun-bleached, low-lying limestone island ringed by some of the most beautiful beaches in Europe, its waters an extraordinarily clear gradient of turquoise and emerald. Its crown jewel is the Spiaggia dei Conigli, Rabbit Beach, a protected cove repeatedly rated among the world's finest, fronting a small islet and forming a nesting site for loggerhead sea turtles whose hatchlings emerge in late summer; access is regulated to protect them. The surrounding marine reserve offers superb snorkelling and diving over seagrass meadows, caves, and dramatic drop-offs. Linosa, by contrast, is a tiny volcanic island of black lava, ochre and green fields, brightly painted houses, and black-sand beaches, far quieter and wilder, reached by ferry from Lampedusa. The islands are remote: travellers arrive by long overnight ferry from Porto Empedocle near Agrigento or by flights into Lampedusa's small airport, mostly in the summer season. They reward those wanting unspoiled beaches and crystal seas rather than monuments, and two to several days allow time to settle into the slow island rhythm. Summer is warm and busiest; outside the season many businesses close and transport thins. Sun protection is essential on the largely treeless terrain, and respecting the turtle-nesting rules at Rabbit Beach matters on this far-flung outpost of Sicily.