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In the heart of the Mediterranean there lies an ancient island, an immense melting pot of civilizations and cultures, where magnificent cities, enchanting coastlines, and menacing volcanoes are to be found: an ancient island called Sicily.

The ancient Greeks, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Normans and the Aragons all left traces of their passage through Sicily, from Messina to Palermo, from Agrigento to Siracusa, in the form of temples, gardens, churches, castles, and, at times, entire cities, in which centuries of art, culture and popular traditions now merge. As a modern day tourist destination Sicily is, above all, famous for its clear, blue sea, for the shimmering warm waters which lap the shores of the Italian island's small coastal villages and splendid seafront cities. From these waters any number of tiny islands emerge: the volcanic islands of the Aeolian archipelago, Favignana, and the remote Pantelleria and Lampedusa.

Then there is Etna, the lava spurting volcano which dominates much of the Sicilian skyline, and the spectacular nature reserves of the Madonie and Nebrodi Parks. Elegantly turned out in Liberty style when in Palermo, dressed to the nines in flamboyant Baroque when in the Val di Noto, despite her age Sicily continues to boldly flaunt the decadent beauty which Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa immortalized in his The Leopard; written some four hundred years after Antonello da Messina first committed his translucent Renaissance perfection to canvas.

Wild, primitive, seductive, glamorous, sophisticated, always wonderfully and irresistibly sunny: this is Sardinia.

An island where nature is, inevitably, awarded the role of lead protagonist. Starting with the crystal clear sea lapping Sardinia's long sandy beaches, from the Emerald Coast with its luxurious hotels to Villasimius, from Alghero to the La Maddalena, from Asinara to the island of Sant'Antioco. Then there is the bluntly honest and obstinately reserved Sardinia, that of the shepherds and crop farmers of inland Barbagia: the Sardinia home to spectacular natural landscapes which stretch as far as the Gennargentu massif.

Sardinia is an island of truly ancient origin: the island of the Shardana, a bellicose, seafaring people, and of the Nuraghic civilization, whose temples and tombs still litter the landscapes. An island which proudly conserves its Sardo language, along with all of its most authentic popular traditions. The merging of seafaring, agricultural and pastoral traditions has resulted in Sardinia's incredibly varied cuisine and in highly-prized products such as Sardinian ewe's cheese, wafer thin "carasau" bread, powerful red wines, Myrtle liqueurs and the delicious "filu 'e ferru" grappa.