3 Best Sights in Sicily, Italy

This lively street that runs the length of Lipari Town from the port blends the tourist and local worlds. You'll find the requisite souvenir shops selling trinkets and postcards, but it's also where residents go to visit their butcher, to pick up daily bread, and to buy fishing tackle. During summer evenings, it's closed to cars and becomes the primary stretch for making the evening passeggiata (evening stroll) past cafés that reverberate with energy late into the evenings.

The Four Corners is the decorated intersection of two main thoroughfares: Corso Vittorio Emanuele and Via Maqueda. Four rather exhaust-blackened Baroque palaces from Spanish rule meet at concave corners, each with its own fountain and representations of a Spanish ruler, patron saint, and one of the four seasons.

With the ever-looming volcano perfectly framed at the end of the road, this main street is lined with cafés and stores selling high-street jewelry, clothing, and shoes. At sunset, it plays host to one of Sicily's most enthusiastic passeggiatas, in which Catanesi of all ages take part. It is closed to automobile traffic (other than buses, taxis, and police) until 10 pm during the week and all day on weekends.