Page 186 - The Rough Guide of Sicily

The Monti Nébrodi – a sparsely populated expanse of high forest and rocky peaks –
covers a huge wedge of land between Santo Stefano di Camastra and Mistretta in the
west and Randazzo and the Etna foothills in the east. Much of the mountain range is
protected as the Parco Naturale dei Nébrodi (the largest such area in Sicily),
though it’s difficult to get a good impression of the whole by car since few roads

connect the scattered villages within the park and even the towns on the periphery
are minor attractions for the most part. However, adventurous hikers can follow any
number of trails through the hills and valleys – there are some detailed on the useful
park website, parcodeinebrodi.it – while there is a road up to the highest peak,
Monte Soro (1847m), between San Fratello and Cesarò (SS289), from which
extensive views reach to the Aeolian Islands to the north and Etna to the southeast.

There’s plenty more park information on the website, and there are also visitor
centres in Sant’Agata di Militello ( 0941 702 524), Santo Stefano di Camastra (
0921 331 199), Cesarò ( 095 773 2061), Randazzo ( 095 799 1611) and several
of the mountain villages. Most visitor centres are open weekday mornings only
(usually 9am–1pm), and are only intermittently useful – you should be able to pick

up maps, accommodation details and walking itineraries, but English-speaking
assistance is rare and there’s not much more help for hikers than can be gleaned from
the printed information. The best single visit is probably to the Palazzo Zito, the
official headquarters in Sant’Agata di Militello (Mon–Fri 7.30am–2pm, plus Wed
2.30–6pm), which contains a museum covering the park’s social and natural history
and heritage.

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE: SANTO STEFANO DI
CAMASTRA

By bus Santo Stefano di Camastra is connected by bus with Mistretta (6 daily Mon–
Sat, 3 daily Sun; 35min); and Nicosia (1 daily Mon–Sat; 1hr 30min).

By train Santo Stefano is on the train line between Palermo and Messina, but only a
few of the slower regional trains stop here.

Mistretta
Six buses daily ply between Santo Stefano and Mistretta

From Santo Stefano, a high viaduct flies off 16km inland to one of the biggest of the

nearby hill villages, MISTRETTA. The handsome old centre of eighteenth- and
nineteenth-century buildings and cobbled alleys is largely unspoiled by modern
construction: wrought-iron balconies and flower boxes overlook the long main street,
the seventeenth-century cathedral has the hoary look of a medieval monument, while
the population is largely composed of brown-suited pensioners milling around their