The small town in one of Italy’s hottest regions is seen by travel experts as Europe’s answer to Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro.
Overlooking the calm waters of the Tyrrhenian Sea, San Vito Lo Capo is in northwest Sicily, where temperatures regularly hover in the high 30s during the summer months.
Home to a few thousand people, San Vito Lo Capo has a different look to many other seaside towns in Southern Italy.
Its long, sandy coastline has clear waters and beautiful bays, but those who compare the city to Rio will likely picture the impressive, imposing mountains that rise up behind it.
Just as Mount Monaco towers over the city, the famous Sugar Loaf Mountain rises above Rio’s port on a peninsula at the entrance to Guanabara Bay.
Rio is a few hours away from the UK, while San Vito can be reached by a three-hour flight from London.
The closest airport to the town is the Trapani-Birgi civil aviation hub, about an hour’s drive from the beautiful beaches.
However, vacationers can also get to San Vito from the airport in Sicily’s capital, Palermo, which is about an hour and 20 minutes away from the town.
Although the town’s main attraction is its 1.8-mile long golden sand beach, considered one of the best in Italy, San Vito has much more to offer.
With long coastal cliffs and several bolted climbing routes, rock climbing is an especially popular activity among visitors to the region.
San Vito is also home to many cultural sites, including the Mangiapane Caves, an ancient settlement that has been converted into a museum that shows how people once lived within the caves.
