A beautiful island which is visited regularly by European tourists but rarely sees any British visitors could be the perfect place for a relaxing getaway.
Favignana Island in Sicily is one of three inhabited islands in the Egadi archipelago, with life there centring around its village harbour, which features quaint painted fishing boats bobbing on the water and side streets lined with blue-shuttered houses.
At the port fishermen take tourists around the island by boat, while there is also the option to rent a bicycle or scooter to explore the scrubby landscape punctuated with olive trees and green aloe spikes.
In the centre of Favignana is the abandoned fort of Santa Catarina, which was built in 1801 and towers over the village.
The island is famous for its caves of calcarenite rock and the ancient bluefin tuna fishing technique of tonnara.
As a result of its fishing heritage, the island also boasts the historic Tonnara di Favignana tuna fishery which dates back to 1859 and is now a museum.
The museum offers visitors a trip through the village’s fishing history using film, sound and other multimedia displays.
One visitor said in a Tripadvisor review: “Unmissable in my opinion. The history of the tuna fishery and the island go hand in hand with the era of tuna catching and the production of canned ventresca.”
The islands also have something for more adventurous tourists with its beaches being a hotspot for scuba diving and snorkelling.
And the village is perfect for a day trip from nearby Trapani, with boats running from the Italian coastal town to the island on a regular basis.
One visitor to the island said it was a “truly beautiful experience” after taking a boat trip there.
Their Tripadvisor review read: “A truly beautiful experience, certainly worth repeating, we went out with one of the best dinghies available and once we got on board it did not disappoint our expectations at all.”
