VILLA DUCALE, Taormina

The aristocratic Villa Ducale lies just outside the hurly-burly of Taormina. Rooms are filled with Sicilian terracotta, painted ceramics and wrought iron, and each has a private terrace with views over Etna’s majestic cone and the sea. Service is charming and there are free shuttles to the beach.

From £127; 00 39-0942 28153, www.villaducale.com

VILLA MELIGUNIS, Lipari

The largest of the volcanic Aeolian Islands, Lipari rates high on fashion’s Richter scale. A few minutes’ walk from the bijou port, Villa Meligunis is an 18th-century baronial manor with sleekly designed rooms and a rooftop terrace, home to a summer restaurant and a pool.

£180; 0909 812426, www.villameligunis.it

RELAIS SANTA ANASTASIA, Cefalu

In a superb position in the Madonie mountains, 4 miles above Cefalu, this exquisite, atmospheric establishment has medieval vaults, stone walls and a chapel that recalls its 12th-century origins as an abbey. The bedrooms and the reading, music and billiards rooms are all elegant, the pool has wonderful views and the gourmet restaurant serves the hotel’s own wine and produce.

£133; 0921 672233, www.santa-anastasia-relais.it

GROTTA AZZURRA, Ustica

The island of Ustica is famous for the jewel-like colours of its sea, ideally contemplated from this luminous little hotel, cut into the black cliffs near Ustica’s most beautiful sea cave. The airy rooms all have sea views; a pool glitters on a seaside terrace; and a walkway zigzags down to a rocky beach.

£107; 0918 449048, www.framonhotels.com

TONNARA DI BONAGIA, Valderice, near Trapani

The Tonnara di Bonagia is a stylish, sympathetic conversion of a 17th-century tuna fishery amid the salt lagoons and windmills of Sicily’s west coast. The Tonnara’s Saracen watchtower is now a tuna museum; there’s a lovely pool and a restaurant specialising in ... guess what. The beautiful village of Erice looms just above, and Cartha-ginian Motya is close at hand.

£169; 0923 431111, www.framonhotels.com

GIARDINO DI COSTANZA, Mazara del Vallo

Lovely, baroque Mazara is one of Italy’s best-kept secrets, but word is slowly leaking out about this hideaway, styled after Sicily’s Arab-Norman pleasure domes, with fountains, gazebos, a waterfall, and indoor and outdoor pools. Rooms have a contemporary Sicilian design, and the immense spa employs only natural Sicilian fruits, flowers and salts.

From £207; 0923 675000, www.kempinski.com

BAGLIO DELLA LUNA, Agrigento

In a 13th-century tower house, enlarged by Emperor Charles V in 1555 to repel the Saracens, the Baglio della Luna is a romantic hotel, cosily furnished with antiques and art to match. The gardens overlook the sea and the Valley of the Temples, magically illuminated at night. There’s use of a private sandy beach, five minutes away, and the hotel restaurant, Il Dehors, is one of Sicily’s best.

£157; 0922 511061, www.bagliodellaluna.com

AGRITURISMO GIGLIOTTO, Piazza Armerina

Founded in 1296, the hilltop Gigliotto estate enjoys splendid views over eastern Sicily and close proximity to the spectacular Villa del Casale and the hill town of Caltagirone. The current owners have added 15 charming, traditionally furnished rooms in a reconstructed stone lodge, and a restaurant that uses their organic produce.

£53; 0933 970898, www.gigliotto.com

EREMO DELLA GIUBILIANA, Marina di Ragusa

This is an architectural palimpsest — built by the Arabs long ago, then converted into a hermitage, then a fortified convent for the Knights of Malta, and now one of Sicily’s top boutique hotels. There’s a private airstrip, for aerial tours of southeastern Sicily’s baroque gems — Noto, Ragusa, Modica — or even North Africa. The former cells have been luxuriously furnished with antiques; the hotel’s organic farm supplies the restaurant.

£160; 0932 669119, www.eremodellagiubiliana.it

VILLA DEI PAPIRI, Syracuse

Syracuse was the New York of the ancient Greek world, but it has a touch of Egypt, too, in Europe’s only wild papyrus groves. Immerse yourself in this exotic setting at this elegant agriturismo in a nature reserve, only two miles from the city. Its delightful suites are part of a 19th-century citrus farm near the River Cyane.

£63; 0931 721321, www.villadeipapiri.it

Getting there: Ryanair (0906 270 5656, www.ryanair.com) flies from Stansted to Palermo; from £53 in September. Air Malta (0845 607 3710, www.airmalta.com) and British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) fly from Gatwick to Catania; both from £150. Opodo (0871 277 0091, www.opodo.co.uk) has Alitalia flights from Birmingham and Manchester via Milan; from £162. Flightline (0800 541541, www.flightline.co.uk) has charters to Catania from Gatwick and Manchester; from £69.

Getting around: with Holiday Autos (0870 400 4461, www.holidayautos.co.uk), a week’s car hire starts at £140. Ferries to Lipari leave from Milazzo; it’s best to leave the car. Book with Siremar (00 39 081 317 2999, www.siremar.it; passengers £5 each way, small car £11. Palermo to Ustica costs £7/£15).

Dana Facaros is the author of the Cadogan Guide to Sicily (£12.99)

Times recommends

• Dubai cheaper than Doncaster as room rates tumble
• World Cup 2010 - how to follow England
• Copenhagen: Europe's greenest city