Syracuse in 2 days, on foot

This 2-day self-guided walking plan for Syracuse covers 20 narrated sights in an easy day-by-day order. Each day is split into a morning and an afternoon loop, and every stop has a two to three minute audio story in the Gingerguide app.

You set the pace: this is a suggested order, not a schedule. Walk it in 2 days, or stretch it out. Reorder freely; Syracuse rewards a detour.

Day 1

Morning

1. Ortigia Island: The ancient island heart of Syracuse, connected to the mainland by two bridges, with Baroque palaces, Greek temples, and the legendary Fountain of Arethusa all within its narrow medieval streets.
2. Fountain of Arethusa: A miraculous freshwater spring rising at the edge of the Ionian Sea, surrounded by papyrus plants and tied to the ancient Greek myth of the nymph Arethusa, one of the most enchanting natural phenomena in Sicily.
3. Temple of Apollo: The oldest Greek Doric peristyle temple in all of Sicily and among the oldest in the western world, dating to around 580–560 BC, its massive columns still standing on the entrance square of Ortigia after 2,600 years.
4. Syracuse Cathedral: A Baroque cathedral built around an ancient Greek Temple of Athena from 480 BC, the original Greek columns are still visible inside the walls, making this one of the most extraordinary religious buildings in Europe.
5. Piazza del Duomo: The grandest Baroque ensemble in Sicily and one of the most beautiful squares in Italy, where the Cathedral, the Archbishop's Palace, and the Town Hall create a perfect oval of honey-coloured limestone.

Afternoon

1. Greek Theatre of Syracuse: One of the largest and best-preserved Greek theatres in the world, built in the 5th century BC on the hill of Temenites, where Aeschylus himself staged 'The Persians' shortly after its 472 BC Athenian premiere and which still hosts classical drama every summer.
2. Roman Amphitheatre: A remarkably preserved early-Imperial Roman amphitheatre cut into bedrock in the Neapolis Archaeological Park, used for gladiatorial combat and wild animal hunts, one of the largest in Roman Sicily.
3. Ear of Dionysius: A 23-metre-high artificial cave with a perfectly S-shaped profile in the latomia quarries, named by Caravaggio for its ear-like shape and legendary acoustic properties that allegedly let the tyrant Dionysius eavesdrop on prisoners.
4. Neapolis Archaeological Park: The great open-air archaeological park north of central Syracuse, containing the Greek Theatre, Roman Amphitheatre, Ear of Dionysius, Altar of Hieron II, and ancient stone quarries, the single most important ancient site in Sicily.
5. Museo Archeologico Paolo Orsi: The finest archaeological museum in Sicily and one of the best in Italy, housing the Landolina Venus, prehistoric and Greek Bronze Age finds, and an unparalleled collection from the ancient Syracusan civilisation.

Day 2

Morning

1. Castello Maniace: A formidable 13th-century Hohenstaufen fortress at the very tip of Ortigia, built by Emperor Frederick II around 1239, commanding panoramic views of the two harbours and the open Mediterranean.
2. Piazza Archimede: The lively main square of everyday Ortigia life, centred on a 19th-century fountain of the goddess Diana, surrounded by cafés and palaces, and named for Syracuse's most famous son.
3. Palazzo Bellomo Regional Gallery: A magnificent Catalan-Gothic palace on Ortigia housing a regional art gallery whose centrepiece is Antonello da Messina's Annunciation, one of the most moving Renaissance paintings in Sicily.
4. Jewish Mikveh of Syracuse: A 6th-century ritual immersion bath discovered beneath a hotel on Ortigia, fed by a natural freshwater spring, possibly the oldest Jewish mikveh in Europe and evidence of one of the oldest Jewish communities in the western world.
5. Noto: A UNESCO World Heritage Baroque masterpiece built entirely from scratch after the 1693 earthquake, with streets of golden limestone palaces, the spectacular Cathedral, and the most photogenic Baroque townscape in Sicily.

Afternoon

1. Pantalica Necropolis: A UNESCO World Heritage site of over 5,000 Bronze Age rock-cut tombs carved into the walls of a dramatic canyon, the largest and most important prehistoric necropolis in Sicily, dating from 1270 to 650 BC.
2. Fontane Bianche Beach: The finest sandy beach near Syracuse, 15 kilometres south of the city, a long arc of white sand with calm, shallow turquoise waters ideal for swimming, backed by low dunes and pine trees.
3. Archimedes' Syracuse: The city that gave birth to the greatest mathematician of antiquity, Archimedes (c. 287–212 BC) lived, worked, and died in Syracuse, where his inventions, theorems, and legendary 'Eureka' moment still permeate every corner of the city.
4. Via della Maestranza: The most aristocratic Baroque street on Ortigia, lined with 17th and 18th-century noble palaces displaying carved stone escutcheons, ornate iron balcony railings, and the full splendour of Sicilian Baroque domestic architecture.
5. Latomia del Paradiso: Ancient stone quarries that supplied the limestone for all of classical Syracuse, now transformed into a lush garden of lemon trees, papyrus, and tropical plants fifteen metres below street level, home to the Ear of Dionysius.

Full Syracuse guide and all stops →