Where you can legally marry in Sicily

Ortigia, Siracusa: baroque masterpieces

Ortigia is Siracusa's old heart, and its cathedral square may be the loveliest in Italy. The comune marries couples in its own buildings, most a few minutes' walk from the square: the chandeliered hall and the mayor's own room in Palazzo Vermexio, a former convent church now hung with twentieth-century paintings, and, from April to October, arcaded courtyards such as the ex Liceo Gargallo's.

See photographs of a selection of venues, with the comune's 2026 fees.

Best for: couples who want baroque Sicily and a town they can stay in, with the ceremony a short walk from everything.

Trapani: a palazzo on the piazza, or a tower above the sea

Trapani is an old port town below medieval Erice, with ferries to the wonderful Favignana. Its comune offers Palazzo D'Alì, the nineteenth-century town hall on the main piazza, and the most popular, Torre di Ligny: the esplanade by the seventeenth-century watchtower on the very tip of the sea wall, water on three sides. The tower needs a specific additional authorisation, which we arrange as part of the booking. Palermo airport is about an hour and a quarter away, Trapani's own twenty minutes.

Best for: couples who want the sea at the ceremony without a beach venue, or a dignified wedding on the town's main piazza.

Erice: a medieval town above the clouds

Erice sits on a mountain top above Trapani, a walled medieval town of grey stone lanes with views over the salt pans and out to the Egadi Islands, often literally in the clouds. The venue everyone wants is the Castello di Venere, the Norman castle built over the ancient temple of Venus. It doubles as an exhibitions venue, so its calendar is committed months ahead and summer dates are close to impossible. The cable car up from Trapani is part of the day.

Best for: couples who want the medieval town and sweeping views, and do not mind a little mountain weather.

Marsala: a fourteenth-century cloister

Marsala holds its civil ceremonies at the beautiful ex Convento del Carmine, a fourteenth-century convent whose arcaded cloister now houses the town's picture gallery. The town is twenty-five minutes from Trapani airport, and the Stagnone lagoon with its windmills and salt pans is just up the coast.

Best for: couples who want cloistered quiet and a setting with seven centuries behind it.

Palazzo dei Duchi di Santo Stefano, Taormina: the famous one

Taormina is probably the most famous place in Sicily, and its comune's ceremony venue matches the billing: a fortified fourteenth-century palazzo in dark lava stone and pale Syracuse limestone, set in its own garden near Porta Catania. It is currently the only location in Taormina authorised for civil ceremonies, and in recent years its exhibition programme has taken out much of the summer, so realistic dates sit outside high season and go early.

Best for: couples who want history and architecture, Taormina on the doorstep for photographs and celebrations, and a ceremony with real sense of occasion.

Castello del Solacium, Siracusa: a winemaker's castle

Nine kilometres north of Siracusa, inside the old borgo at Targia, the castle belongs to Cantine Pupillo, a family winery going back to 1909. The comune has approved it for weddings, so the registrar comes to you and the legal ceremony can take place in the historical garden, under a ficus the size of a house. Dinner is in the courtyard under the towers, for up to a hundred and fifty, until two in the morning, and there are four double rooms on site for the couple and family. Catering comes from outside caterers, and the hire depends on the season and the size of the wedding, so we ask the castle for a figure for your date. See it in our film from Siracusa.

Best for: couples who want the ceremony, the dinner and the dancing in one walled borgo, a short drive from Ortigia.

Thalos, Augusta: a garden estate beneath Etna

Thirty minutes south of Catania airport: citrus gardens, pools and a stone amphitheatre with Etna on the horizon, and in late spring the scent of zagara, the Sicilian orange blossom. Augusta has accredited Thalos, so the legal wedding happens in the gardens themselves and the reception follows on site, where there is accommodation for the wedding party. Exclusive hire starts around €3,800, and smaller groups can often agree a reduced rate.

Best for: couples picturing a garden ceremony with mountain views, a full reception in one place, and easy airport logistics for guests.

Blasé, Marzamemi: a legal ceremony on the beach

Marzamemi is an old fishing village on Sicily's south-eastern tip, a few kilometres from Noto. Blasé sits directly on the sand and is authorised for civil ceremonies, one of the few places in Sicily where the legal marriage can happen barefoot on a beach, with dinner on the terrace and the sunset over the water. Hire runs from about €1,000 to €2,300, and it is open roughly May to September only.

Best for: elopements and smaller weddings, couples who want the sea underfoot, and summer dates.

Deja vu, Furnari: the beach facing the Aeolian Islands

The beach at Furnari, between the promontory of Tindari and Capo Milazzo, looks straight out at the Aeolian Islands. Deja vu sits on the sand with a pine grove behind it and a terrace over the beach, and the comune has made it part of its casa comunale, so the ceremony held there is the legally binding one. Catania airport is about an hour and a half away.

Best for: couples who want a sea-facing ceremony and sunset over islands, with dinner a few steps from the sand.

Villa Garufi, Biancavilla: vows among the vines

Ten hectares of vines, olives and citrus on Etna's south-western side with the volcano behind, about fifty minutes from Catania. The estate is convenzionata, under formal agreement with its comune, so a ceremony among the vines is the legally binding one. Its weekend minimum is higher than its weekday one.

Best for: couples who arrived dreaming of an Etna vineyard wedding and want the ceremony there.

Borgata Baldazza, Linguaglossa: an estate in the chestnut woods

An eighteenth-century estate on Etna's northern slopes, just under an hour from Catania: chestnut woodland, an olive grove, a pool and fifteen rooms, so the heart of the party sleeps where the wedding is. Menus start around €100 a head. It publishes no minimum guest number, which we confirm with the venue before you book.

Best for: a mountain setting with rooms on site, and smaller parties, since it publishes no minimum.

Casa Modò, Riposto: the old wine press

Forty minutes from Catania, between Etna and the sea: a restored palmento, the old wine-pressing house, light and modern inside, with a garden, a pool and a winter garden room for cooler months. It publishes a range of 20 to 180 guests.

Best for: smaller weddings of twenty or more that want the reception on site, and cooler months.

Casale Graffetta, Ispica: open country in Noto's corner of the island

Twenty hectares between Modica and the sea: courtyards, terraces, olive trees, a pool, and six rooms plus bungalows sleeping a dozen or more on site. Its menus are among the most reasonable on this page, and Noto, Modica and the baroque south-east are within reach. About an hour and a half from Catania.

Best for: couples set on the Noto corner who want the legal ceremony and the celebration on one estate.

L'Agorà di Segesta, Calatafimi-Segesta: a Greek temple across the valley

Half an hour inland from Alcamo Marina, L'Agorà di Segesta looks across the valley to the Doric temple of Segesta, alone on its hill as it has been for nearly two and a half thousand years, with the ancient theatre above it. The terraces face the temple and the sun sets behind it. A larger-numbers venue, with gardens, a pool and menus from about €100 a head.

Best for: big weddings that want a view no other country can offer.

Alkamar, Alcamo Marina: a ceremony built on the sand

Between Castellammare del Golfo and Palermo, forty minutes from Palermo airport: the easiest arrival of any beach venue here. Alkamar is a casa comunale on the sea, so the ceremony is set up on the sand at the water's edge with the reception steps away. It works with couples coming from abroad a great deal.

Best for: couples who want the barefoot ceremony with the least travel for UK guests.

Palm Beach Banqueting, Casteldaccia: a palm grove east of Palermo

Casteldaccia is about forty-five minutes from Palermo airport. Palm Beach is a casa comunale of Casteldaccia: a sea-view hall opens onto a palm grove, the ceremony is set down by the sand, and a small pier runs out into the water that some couples use for their arrival.

Best for: bigger celebrations with easy Palermo logistics.

Hotel Club La Playa, Marina di Patti: the whole party under one roof

A beach hotel on the north coast facing the Aeolian Islands, with around seventy rooms, so the entire wedding party stays where the wedding is. Patti's first civil union was celebrated here. It works to a higher minimum than most, and Catania airport is about an hour and forty minutes away.

Best for: large weddings where guests staying on site matters most.