Sicily is home to some of the best Greek and Roman ruins you’re likely to find. Well preserved, throughly cared for, and somewhat off the heavy tourist trail in Greece, these ruins are accessible, cheap to visit and so impressive that I thought I’d write a post about them.

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The Ancient Greek city states (think Athens, Sparta, Corinth etc etc) were prodigious mariners. Scouting the Mediterranean and Aegean seas for centuries, the Ancient Greeks were extremely good at setting up colonies from modern day Turkey to Tunisia. Sicily, in its turn, also copped a fair few Greek communities during this period. While these colonies were largely destroyed by subsequent warfare between Carthage and Rome, the remnants of the civilizations remain, most notably at the archaeological sites of Selinunte and the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento, both of which are located on the south coast of Sicily.

Selinunte and Agrigento contain some of the best kept Greek temples outside of Athens. We spent a solid day exploring both sites, enjoying the amazing temples, well kept ancient cities and archaeological ruins in each area. It was truly mind blowing to be able to walk amongst temples that had been erected nearly 2500 years ago, and all for less than $20 USD.

Heading to Syracuse? Read our guide on visiting here.

Depending on which way you’re travelling through Sicily, the order by which you’d visit both sites will change. The Valley of the Temples is located just outside the town of Agrigento, and the ruins of Selinunte are located just outside of Selinunte. Both of these towns are on the south coast of Sicily and are connected by the coastal motorway, SS115. The drive between sites will take about an hour and a half, but the way is extremely scenic, so you won’t get bored en-route. In my opinion, you’ll need about at least hour at each site. While both locations are extraordinarily impressive, neither of them need a full day.

WHEN TO VISIT

We visited both The Valley of the Temples and Selinunte in the middle January, in the heart of the Sicilian ‘Winter.’ After wandering the ruins in t-shirts we can attest to this being the best time of year to visit. The temperature is unlikely to drop below 20°C, the skies will likely be sunny, and you won’t have to deal with the crowds. In summer, both sites receive anywhere up to 3000 visitors each and every day, yet we were lucky enough to have Selinunte all to ourselves, and only had to share the Valley of the Temples with a handful of other tourists. Moreover, Sicilian summers are incredibly hot, dry; less than ideal conditions to be standing outside for the whole day looking at old Greek things. Go in winter, you won’t regret it.

selinunte

Selinunte is a far bigger site at 240 hectares (the biggest archaeological site in Europe, or so I’m told), and you’ll need a car to access certain parts of the site. However, Selinunte only has one standing temple, Temple E - the rest are in ruins - very impressive ruins though, might I add.

The Selinunte site is located about 500m from the centre of the Selinunte town and has a massive carpark, so you shouldn’t struggle to find a park. A visit to Selinunte will start with you purchasing tickets at the main office (6 euro, per person). After entering you’ll just need to wander up the path towards Oriental Hill. Up here you can see Temple ‘E,’ which is the best preserved temple on site. However, Temple E is actually a re-built version of the original, a controversial decisions made by the park in the 1950’s. Once at the top of the hill you’ll be treated to some amazing views of Temple E, and the other ruined temples that lay about it, Temples F and G. You’ll then want to continue following the path northwards up to the Acropolis and Temples E, F and G. This route will be about 2 km of walking, and will take an hour. The views that you get from the Acropolis, however, will be extraordinary. The ancient columns still stand, and cast some very, very impressive shadows at midday.

After you’ve had your fill at the Acropolis and the tumbled ruins, make your way back down the path towards the entrance. Hop in your car and follow the road deeper into the park. There’ll be a woman who checks your ticket before she lets you proceed. Follow the road for 3 km until you reach another guard house and parking lot. Walk up the pathway and you’ll reach the Sanctuary of Malophoros and Manuzza Hill. This location contains the remains of the Carthaginian city that was built here, and commands a very impressive view of the sea below. The remains of the city are really fun to explore and will captivate you - you can see the remains of houses, shops and places of worship, absolute fodder for the imagination. All in all, we spent about 2 hours wandering this route, and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the temples and dusty streets - it was easy to imagine the place as a bustling and vibrant city in it’s heyday.

THE VALLEY OF THE TEMPLES

The Valley of the Temples is located close to the town of Agrigento. While there is a bus that runs from the centre of town to the site, we chose to park in the carpark on site. The Valley of The Temples is located a few km away from town, so unless you feel like walking before your walk, I’d recommend driving. The carpark costs 3 euro flat for the duration of your stay and the bus is supposed to cost 2 euro each way. Once you arrive, there are a few gates that you can enter the park by, either way, you’ll be paying 12 euro to enter the park, or 15 euro for the park and the museum combined.

Exploring the Valley of the Temples is actually a lot more straightforward than exploring Selinunte, however, as any visitor will testify, probably more impressive. The path through the valley winds west to east, so no matter which way you enter, you’ll start your visit at the The temple of Castor and Pollux (Dioscuri), which nowadays has only four columns left. This temple has become the symbol of Agrigento, and you can wander right up to the columns, taking in the glorious sight with the view of Agrigento in the background. Afterwards you can start walking through the valley. There is only really one main road that trails through the valley - the Via Sacra. You’ll take this past the Temple of Heracles, which only has a few columns left, then up through a winding gorge and over a small bridge that leads you to one of the main temples in the site, The Temple of Concordia, which was built around the 5th century BC, and definitely the best preserved temple in Agrigento. While you can’t wander among the temples of Agrigento like you can in Selinunte, the exterior is incredibly impressive - hopefully you can time your visit for the late afternoon, when the colours deepen and bloom somewhat.

After staring agog at Concordia, continue to follow the Via Sacra through the valley. You’ll pass by a series of graves that were dug into what looks like an old wall - continue past these and wind your way through a small garden until you reach a set of small stairs. Take these up and you’ll reach the The temple of Juno and the easternmost part of the hillside. This temple housed the cult of the goddess of fertility and still contains the visible traces of fire, from when the temple was destroyed by Carthage.

SHOULD YOU GET A GUIDED TOUR?

You can organize to get guided tours for both Selinunte and The Valley of Temples. However, the cheapest prices that I could see for these was around $150 USD, which seems fairly steep. My recommendation; do your reading before you go. I did heaps and heaps fo reading about both locations the night before, so I had a fairly good idea what I was looking at and why it was special the whole time. In my opinion, guided tours are generally over priced in Europe, and don’t value-add overly to your visit, especially when all the information that you’ll get from such a tour can be found at links such as: here, here, here and here. As long as you keep your phone on you, you’ll be able to keep track of where you’re up to in the parks, and you should be able to figure out what you’re looking at. My vote; skip the tour, spend the money on a decent meal afterwards.

Any questions about visiting either site? Hit me up in the comments below!