Neve e lapilli: magic and traditions of Christmas in Sicily

There are many events that enliven Christmas in Sicily. Events that will allow you to discover traditions and culinary specialties of this great island. Are you planning a trip to Catania? In this case, you have to know that it takes just thirty minutes to get to Nicolosi on the occasion of Neve e lapilli 2016, from November 26^th to January 8^th.

A Sicilian Christmas market

Organized by the Nicolosi municipality and the local associations, the old town centre of Nicolosi becomes a mix of lights, flavours and typical Christmas fragrances: the streets resound with the melodies of bagpipers and the colourful stalls offer sweets and culinary specialties.

And about stalls and culinary specialties, the exhibitors are divided into four categories:

• Alimentari (delicatessen);
• Non alimentari (non-delicatessen);
• Artigianato (handcraft);
• Operatori dell’ingegno (literally, “workers of ingenuity”).

Sport

If you are winter sports enthusiasts and you are planning a winter holiday in this part of Sicily, don’t forget to take ski with you: in fact, Nicolosi is one of two places where you can ski on Etna.

The Nicolosi ski resort, on the south side of the volcano, is the larger of the two (the second is the ski resort of Linguaglossa) and, usually, is open from late December to early April. Nicolosi, also, is in a strategic position: from here, you can easily reach Etna’s summit craters.

How to get there

To get there from Catania, just take the county road 10 towards north and follow the road signs to Nicolosi. The journey by car takes about thirty minutes.

Further information

For further information about the 2016 edition of Neve e lapilli (full programme, opening times, any changes), you can visit Nicolosi municipality official website, Comune.nicolosi.ct.it.

Image source: Flickr.com/photos/antoon