Valley of the Temples, Agrigento

The Valley of the Temples (Valle dei Templi) sits on a ridge above modern Agrigento in southern Sicily, roughly 130km and two hours from Palermo or 90km and two hours from Catania. The most reliable way to reach it without a car is the direct SAIS Trasporti coach (around €9 each way) to Agrigento, then the local TUA bus line 1 or a taxi to the archaeological park entrance; drivers can park at the Porta V (Temple of Juno) car park. The site is the largest archaeological area in the Mediterranean and preserves a row of Doric Greek temples built in the 5th century BC, when Akragas was one of the richest cities of Magna Graecia. A sensible one-day arc starts in the morning at the upper eastern entrance with the Temple of Juno, walking downhill along the Via Sacra past the remarkably intact Temple of Concordia — the best-preserved Greek temple anywhere — and the tumbled Temple of Heracles, which keeps the route mostly downhill and shaded earlier in the day. The lower western zone holds the colossal fallen Temple of Olympian Zeus and a reconstructed Telamon giant, with the original Telamon and the city's finest finds displayed in the nearby Regional Archaeological Museum (Museo Archeologico Pietro Griffo). Allow three to four hours for the temples and museum combined. The walk covers uneven ancient paving and gravel over roughly three kilometres end to end. In the afternoon many visitors drive 15km west to the dazzling white marl cliffs of the Scala dei Turchi for a swim or a sunset stop. For food, the trattorias of the Kolymbethra garden area and the cafes near the museum serve Agrigentino dishes, while Agrigento's old town along Via Atenea has more substantial sit-down lunches. Aim to enter early or late in the day to avoid both the midday heat and the largest tour groups.