Malta/Sicily Day 6: Erice and Marsala, Sicily

Friday, June 19, 2026

Overnight, the Sea Cloud II took us to the northwestern Sicily city of Erice. Erice is a historic triangular-shaped city situated high on a hill, with commanding views of the surrounding countryside.

The main church (duomo) was notable for its intricately carved ceiling, and was generally lighter in color and brighter than many churches in the area. Our local guide also described the convents, whose nuns had no contact with the outside world other than to observe through barred windows. Our guide also recommended we visit Pasticceria Maria Grammatico, a notable pastry shop that was started by a nun who used recipes from the local convent. Kenna and I bought a couple of genoise pastries to enjoy later.

Following Erice, we took our bus to Marsala. We stopped first at the archeological museum there, which displayed very well-preserved ships and pottery from the Punic and Roman eras. We then continued to a local winery, Cantine Florio, for a tour of the wine cellar and lunch featuring delicious Sicilian small bites. Marsala is a sweet, fortified wine so we had other wine to accompany lunch and Marsala wine with dessert.

Following lunch, we took a short walking tour of the town of Marsala and then returned to the Sea Cloud II for cocktails, our daily recap, and dinner.

This article is part of a series about our recent trip to Malta and Sicily. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.