City guide
Steep Baroque town in the Hyblaean Mountains, famous for cold-worked chocolate; central for the south-east, slow to reach without a car.
Photo: Sabas88 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Modica, a town of about 53,000 people in the Hyblaean Mountains, was rebuilt after the 1693 earthquake and has been part of the Val di Noto UNESCO site since 2002. It is known for cold-worked chocolate, with Antica Dolceria Bonajuto the best-known name. Trains from Siracusa take 1h42–1h54 (€9.70); Etna Trasporti runs a few morning coaches to Catania airport (about 2h05), the train takes three hours or more, and Comiso is the nearest airport.
For work, Hub4Minds in the Modica Sorda district, the training centre of ICOTEA, has a coworking floor with generator backup, open daily 8:00–18:00. Its published prices (€149 a day, €499 a month) look like room rates, so ask about a single desk. No laptop cafés were verified. A car helps in this steep town and for Cava d'Ispica and Sampieri beach. Best months: April to June, September to October.
Photo: Pasquale Relvini · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Maurizio Moro5153 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: Davide Mauro · CC BY-SA 4.0
Photo: trolvag · CC BY-SA 3.0
Modica · Modica Sorda
Coworking floor inside Hub4Minds, the Modica training and business centre of ICOTEA, in the Modica Sorda district outside the baroque centre. Rooms of 45–50 m² with PC desks and meeting tables, free wifi, generator backup, relax and food areas and plenty of parking. Open daily 8:00–18:00. Published prices are high for a coworking (€149/day, €499/month); it is mainly a training/office hub. Open house on the first Saturday of each month.
Food and drink
Modica's best-known chocolate maker, producing cold-worked Modica chocolate since 1880 according to its website. The range runs from 70% to 100% dark bars to flavoured ones (orange, lemon, cinnamon, vanilla), bean-to-bar, pralines, dry pastries and aranciata, a candied orange-peel nougat. The 'Fattojo' bean-to-bar tour lasts about 30 minutes for up to 25 people, tasting included, in Italian or English. A good day-trip goal from Ragusa, Siracusa or Noto.
Year-round (chocolate travels badly in summer heat)
Food and drink
Bar in Modica named in Gambero Rosso's July 2026 selection of Sicily's best granitas, singled out for its 'cremolate', a fruit-heavy granita style made with generous amounts of fresh fruit pulp. It is on Via Risorgimento in the lower, southern part of town (Sacro Cuore), away from Corso Umberto, and its website says it has made granite, cremolate and gelato since 1984. A reason to look beyond the chocolate shops if you are staying in Modica in summer.
May–October
Day trips
Three of the eight late-Baroque towns of the Val di Noto inscribed by UNESCO on 25 June 2002 after their rebuilding following the 1693 earthquake. Modica (about 53,600 people) is known for its traditional chocolate; Scicli (about 26,900) has a monumental Baroque centre; Ragusa sits on a limestone hill between two deep valleys, with Ibla as its old quarter. They make a weekend circuit from Siracusa by train, or a base in their own right for slower months.
All year; spring and autumn are ideal
Experiences
A 13 km river gorge cutting the Hyblaean plateau between Modica and Ispica, lined with prehistoric necropolises, early Christian catacombs, rock-cut oratories, hermitages and cave dwellings used from the Early Bronze Age to at least the 14th century. Old Ispica stood at the head of the valley until the 1693 earthquake; the castle remains are at Parco Forza. A good half-day walk through macchia for anyone based in Modica or Ragusa.
October–June