A Day Among the Clouds in Erice, Erice, Italy

Some of my favorite travel experiences have been daytrips, and in Sicily nearly every day felt like a daytrip as we drove around the island, sampling a fraction of the many riches it has to offer. One day in particular that stands out to me was the day we visited the medieval hilltop town of Erice. It felt like we had been transported to a land far, far away from the beaches (and heat) that had occupied the previous few days.

Located near Trapani on the northwest coast of Sicily, the star attraction in Erice is the Castello di Venere, a 12th century Norman castle that juts over the side of the mountain like a siren on the bow of a ship. Built on top of a temple to Venus, it’s long been a site of importance that’s outlasted several different civilizations (including a cult that practiced a form of sacred prostitution!). The town has had various names of the years, its current name coming from the Greek hero Eryx, and what I found particularly interesting is that it was one of several Italian cities that was renamed in the 1930s under Mussolini in honor of its ancient past.

We arrived in Erice by car, driving up the winding road of hairpin turns until we reached the parking lot near Porta Trapani (pay with coins at one of the machines near the lot by entering your license plate and selecting the amount of time). You can also take a bus from Trapani or another popular option is the funvia (cable car) that climbs nearly 2,500 feet above sea level between Trapani and Erice. The town itself is triangular in shape, with Porta Trapani at the westernmost and the castle at the easternmost point. We walked along Viale Conte Pepoli between the two until we found ourselves standing before the castle’s entrance. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).