Friday 24th April 2026 Modica and Marzamemi
Our parkup was a freebie in a coach car park at the bottom of Modica old town. There was one motorhome already there when we parked up late in the afternoon.
Though we had some youngun’s trying out their new electric scooters early evening, there was nothing to disturb us for the rest of the night. The car park is just below the train station but we didn’t really hear anything from there.
This morning the sun was back out as we headed up to see the delights of this lovely place.
There are a lot of hills and steps, but thankfully what goes up must come down 
.
The first sight was the old castle perched on a hill above the town with a huge clock. No excuse for being late in this town!
You could be forgiven for thinking you have come across the cathedral a number of times, there are so many Baroque churches here.
Parker was grumbling about the amount of steps we were encountering, until I shared a camino tip with him. It was indeed a lightbulb moment that saw us both zigzagging up the steps, reducing the height of the step , resulting in a happier Parker.
Our mission was a viewpoint, not exactly at the top but nearly 
. In our path was Modica Cathedral. There is a great double curved staircase leading to the Cathedral, at the bottom you can just see the beautiful building peeping above. It’s a lovely sight.
Reaching the top, we had a laugh as you then have the steps of the Cathedral itself 
. As you can guess the views are fab even from here.
I popped in to have a peek and was asked if I wanted to go up the tower. I declined .
Onwards and upwards, wandering through the residential areas – very tight but still encountering cars! we finally reached the Belvedere viewpoint. Wow! It was hard to believe we had walked up so far, pinpointing the Cathedral below us.
After a rest and a water break for Meg we wandered the backstreets again, now heading downhill. You have to be fit to live here, that’s for sure.
What was strange was that we didn’t pass a coffee shop until we got down to the Cathedral. This one was having work done outside and was far too noisy for our delicate ears, so onwards we trod.
Modica is famous for it’s chocolate. They cold press it so that the sugar stays granulated, meaning a crunchy texture. Next door to the Cathedral is one of the famous chocolate houses – Sabadi.
Of course we went in, had a few tasters and came out with €40 worth 
. It is safely stored in the back of the van to prevent nibbling!
Back down on the main throughfare we stopped in a cafe bar. I asked the very smiley assistant if they sold Sciacca – a bit like pizza but in folded wraps – and Gareth asked if they sold Caponata. She answered yes to both, making us very happy and we had a lemon soda each while we waited for our food.
I had read that Sciacca was a speciality of Modica and of course Gareth has fallen head over heels for Caponata – the aubergine sweet and sour salsa.
Both were delicious though the portions were big, so leftovers were taken back to the van.
And so we left beautiful Modica, there’s lots more to see in the new town so really worth a visit and headed to a campsite near a small coastal fishing village called Marzamemi.
Our ride was about 45mins taking us to a rural area. The campsite is small, with a nice pool, pizza restaurant, camping, yurts and cabins to rent.
A little scruffy but we are used to this as we normally travel out of season. They do provide a large dog area which, weirdly Meg loved. There were a couple of site dogs who she wanted to play with but they were having none of it 
.
We were quietly parked up with about 2 other vans near us when a large local family turned up for the weekend. Lots of noisy littleuns and biguns , we then discovered that this weekend was a public holiday, celebrating Liberation Day. The guy on reception had told me there were only 5 spots left for the weekend so we expected more to arrive later.
After showers we headed into the village, walking down an unusually busy road to the beach. Meg was off lead and had a good run, ragging seaballs as she went.
Sadly the beach leaves a lot to be desired and it didn’t look as if there were any seasonal preparations taking place.
Near the entrance to the village we did read a sign explaining the presence of the seaweed and seaballs, they mean that the sea is of a good quality and is healthy.
Our slight disappointment was the presence of flotsum and jetsum amongst the seaweed that was being ignored. There was quite a lot of it.
Anyway on into the village we came upon the lovely square. All of the old buildings now eateries and bars except for the church. We stopped for a drink in a bar/restaurant that had been awarded ‘Michelin Recommended’ four years on the trot – 2019-2022.
Without looking at the menu, I ordered a Limoncello spritz and Gareth asked for a local beer. We couldn’t believe that we were charged €16 including a cover for service! Another thing we have noticed is that the usual snacky bits haven’t been offered as in previous trips 
. Oh well, sign of the times maybe.
Walking round to the harbour side we noticed a very quirky restaurant and thought, why not?
We ordered the specials, starters with oranges, anchovies, olives and capers, mains were spaghetti with clams for me, and seafood spaghetti for Gareth.
We were going to have a half carafe of wine but they only did bottles, so we just had a glass each.
Now the food was lovely as was the wine but it was not worth €90. We weren’t disappointed with the meal but were very disappointed with the establishments for taking advantage, as we see it.
Needless to say it’s not a place we would recommend.
After dinner we strolled the 1.5km back to the van. The Italians were still up but unexpectedly all went off to bed at 10pm sharp!
We enjoyed a peaceful night’s rest.
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