Sleeping in Sicily

The small Sicilian towns of Bagheria and Santa Flavia are not really known as "hip" holiday destinations. And yet you here can experience almost everything that makes Sicily special - the only thing missing is a small volcano.

So, with holiday lettings in Bagheria or Santa Flavia, you can easily avoid mass tourism.

The holiday lettings offered by Solemar Sicilia are particularly suitable for foreign visitors - not least because of the staff's multilingualism.

Below you will find an overview of all the holiday lettings that Solemar Sicilia offers in Bagheria and Santa Flavia.

There is a short profile for each holiday letting. Detailed descriptions, prices and occupancy rates can be found on the respective Solemar Sicilia webpage.

The bicycle symbol in the photos indicates holiday lettings for which you can optionally hire high-quality bicycles. If the holiday letting is also close to a train station, this is perfect for a holiday in Sicily without a car.

Too good to be true? Not at all! The old town of Santa Flavia actually offers both - a holiday in Sicily without a car and away from mass tourism.

Tourism is an important source of income for many regions around the world. However, the flip side is now also obvious: the growing number of holiday lettings is reducing the supply of affordable rental accommodation for locals.

However, this does not apply to Bagheria, Santa Flavia and many other Sicilian towns! The reason is the millions of people who have left Sicily over the last 130 years. And the abandoned houses? They are standing around and rotting away.

Abandoned houses

For this reason, houses whose owners can no longer be iden­ti­fied are now being taken over by the municipal authorities and sold for a symbolic euro, in some areas.

If the owners are still known, some are motivated to sell their properties. The family-run company Solemar Sicilia is particularly active in this area. It supports northern Europeans in buying and renovating abandoned houses.

Ruins into holiday lettings

Many of these northern Europeans would like to live in the warm south after retirement and in the meantime rent out their pro­per­ty as a holiday home. Solemar Sicilia also supports them in this endeavour.

Therefore, in Bagheria and Santa Flavia, holiday lettings are not taking housing away from anyone. On the contrary: tourism ensures that abandoned houses are brought to new life.

So it's no wonder that tourists are very welcome in Bagheria and Santa Flavia.

Yes - there's not much left of the original Airbnb idea - the short-term exchange of flats between private individuals. On the con­tra­ry: on Airbnb and other platforms, professional managers offer holiday lettings all year round. And this leads to a shortage of affordable housing for locals.

Guides for "travelling without a guilty conscience" therefore recommend avoiding professional property managers of holiday lettings.

However, this advice has no basis in Bagheria, Santa Flavia. Because, as described above, holiday lettings do not take up any living space here.

And the general question is whether this advice is really wise:

Doubts are allowed...

... and questions are good:

• Is the holiday letting legal?
• Does the owner of the holiday letting follow the administrative rules for the guest's stay?
• Can the owner help with issues getting around?
• Does the owner offer rental bikes?
• Can the owner help with activities?
• And does the owner speak English at all?

Private owners?  Yes - but...

If the answer to all these questions is "yes", booking with a private owner may work. Otherwise, renting from a professional local(!) property manager may be the better choice.

Solemar Sicilia

For Bagheria, Santa Flavia we recommend the holiday flats offered by Solemar Sicilia.

Solemar Sicilia is a local family business that not only offers holiday lettings, but also helps foreigners to fulfil their dream of a home in the warm south.

These three characteristics are perfect for a holiday in Sicily without a car:

• Location of holiday lettings
• Rental bikes available
• Good train connections

In fact, there is one place in Sicily that combines all three characteristics for a holiday without a car: the old town of Santa Flavia.

Santa Flavia is a typical small Sicilian town with little tourism and a big heart.

The station is located on one of the most modern railway lines in Sicily. It stretches in both directions towards Palermo and the airport and to Cefalù.

Bicycles are also important for a holiday without a car. Santa Flavia offers particularly high-quality rental bikes (pedelecs). They are suitable for everyday activities and also for excursions - even up to the surrounding mountains.

And as promised - the old town of Santa Flavia is completely free of mass tourism. The few holiday lettings are almost lost in the town.