Page 157 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

fading murals. Despite the veneer of tourism – a handful of hotels, restaurants, diving

outfits and souvenir shops – it’s not hard to see that life here has always been pretty
tough. Most of what passes for entertainment – chatting in the open air, having a coffee
in the couple of bars, impromptu games of soccer – takes place in and around the three
central squares, piazzas Umberto I, della Vittoria and Vito Longo, which merge into
each other, tumbling down the hill from the church.

Museo Archeologico

Largo Granguardia Tanino Russo • 333 357 4242 • Free

Ustica’s museum, the Museo Archeologico, is a low-key affair, its collection a motley
assortment of crusty anchors, shipwreck oddments and excavated Bronze Age objects.
It has recently moved to a new site on Largo Granguardia, near the hospital. To visit,
it is necessary to phone the museum guide, Tanino Russo, in advance.

Castello Saraceno

To get a sense of Ustica as an island, climb up to the remains of the Castello
Saraceno, which gives you a good initial view of the island’s layout: from the top of
the square to the right of the church, the path runs left of the fancy cross at the end of
Via Calvario, an easy twenty-minute walk to an old fort pitted with numerous cisterns

to catch the precious water.

Guardia dei Turchi

From the Castello Saraceno you can see Ustica’s highest point, the Guardia dei
Turchi (244m), at the summit of a ridge that cuts the island in two, and topped by what
looks like a giant golf ball – in fact a meteorological radar system. You can also climb
up to the summit from the town, in about an hour or so: take Via B. Randaccio to the

right of the church, turn left at the top and then right, and you’ll come to the Municipio,
where you turn left along Via Tre Mulini for the summit – keep straight ahead on the
cobbled path, cutting off to the left when you reach the stepped path.

ARRIVAL AND GETTING AROUND: USTICA TOWN

By boat Siremar ( siremar.it) ferries (€18; 2hr 30min) and hydrofoils (€23.50; 1hr
15min) run to Ustica daily from Palermo (from the Stazione Maríttima); summer
departure times from Palermo are 7am, 8.15am, 1pm and 5.15pm, though are liable to
change. Note that there’s also a summer Ustica Lines ( usticalines.it) hydrofoil
service connecting Ustica with the Égadi Islands, Trapani and Naples. The R&S
Militello ticket agency, just off the piazza at Via Cap. di Bartolo 15 ( 091 844 9002),

dispenses all tickets; there’s also a ticket kiosk at the harbour, open just before
sailings. The island’s only port is at Ustica Town, with the town centre up the flight of
steps leading from the harbour.