Fodor's Expert Review Scauri

An appealing village in two parts, Scauri's upper part is set around a church with a clock tower high above the sea and has a couple of good places to eat, a fishmonger, and a small grocery store as well as gorgeous views down to the sea from the wiggly maze of tiny streets behind the church. You could drive straight down to Scauri Porto, but if you like walking, leave the car in the car park and follow the main road down hill past La Nicchia restaurant, until you reach a minor side road called Via Sopra La Scala. This becomes a track that leads downhill through meadows to the intriguing remains of a Roman or Byzantine settlement with the ruins of lava-stone buildings scattered among prickly pears, wild grains, and capers. The path continues along the coast, passing a tiny rocky bay with a natural hot pool, before arriving at a tiny quayside where you’ll find the La Vela restaurant-bar and usually some kayaks to rent. From here a small road crosses a low headland to the rest of Scauri, with a handful of picturesque places to eat or rent boats set around a well-protected harbor. The wind-lashed west coast is not alluring, and in places has been marred with shoddy beach villas and hideous hotels, though anyone interested in archeology may want to see the Sesi Grande, a huge dammuso-like structure, with 11 spooky tunnels leading to 12 oval cells, created as a burial mound by the island’s prehistoric inhabitants.