Sicily, Italy

The largest and most populous island in the Mediterranean, Sicily is blessed with a gorgeous geography – long white beaches lapped by turquoise shallows, fruit-clad hills climbing towards craggy mountains, windswept offshore islets, and, two entertainingly fiery but quite harmless volcanoes. It’s an extremely colorful place, with an intriguingly mixed culture, cuisine and architecture, along with its surrounding minor islands: Lipari, Vulcano, Stromboli, Salina, Filicudi, Alicudi and Panarea.

Sicily has an abundance of history. Some of the world's best-preserved Byzantine mosaics stand adjacent to magnificent Greek temples and Roman amphitheaters, awe-inspiring Romanesque cathedrals, and over-the-top Baroque flights of fancy. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, currently 3,329 meters (10,922 feet) high, and one of the most active in the world. The island has a typical Mediterranean climate with mild and wet winters and hot, dry summers highest of 44 °C.

The undisputed ruler of this ancient and beautiful land is undoubtedly the sea, which can be enjoyed in various ways: relaxing on one of the many coastal beaches, exploring the wonderful sea beds, or windsurfing and kitesurfing with the waves and the wind over the crystal-clear waters of the coasts of San Vito lo Capo, Mondello, Cefalù, Marina di Ragusa, Taormina, the Aeolian Islands, Pantelleria, Lampedusa, and Ustica, just some of the many places where one can practice these sports year-round. 

Overlooking the two sweeping bays of the Northern Eastern Coast, the ever-fashionable Taormina attracts more foreign buyers than any other resort on Sicily. Adored by foreigners and Italians alike, Taormina has every amenity and a year-round social scene. If you were to rent to holidaymakers here, you could almost guarantee to have your property booked for at least six months of the year.

Because it’s a large place with a relatively new market, Sicily still has abundant property offering excellent value-for-money. The fact that airlines are still investing in Sicily – in the form of establishing new routes here – means that perhaps you should consider investing too.