Favignana - day trip or stay over? How many days do you need in Favignana?

Favignana is a beautiful little Mediterranean island located just a couple of miles off the coast of Sicily. Favignana is a popular destination for tourists and has some very beautiful landscapes and a cozy yet pretty village with some great restaurants. The island features a rocky coastline and usually very clear water with good visibility. It is also home to a botanical garden and has some very old historical ruins and sites.

Because of the excellent waters around it, Favignana is well known for ocean activities and has many great spots for swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving or just for relaxation and a cool down in the Mediterranean sea. On land, popular activities include hiking, biking or riding a scooter around to explore the island's sites. Then there's the incredible food with some amazing eateries and restaurants.

Favignana also has a rich history of tuna fishing which dates back to medieval times, maybe even longer and has been a site for quarries as early as during roman times and again from the 17th century because of it's excellent lime stone quality.

Its beautiful landscapes and myriad of different ocean activities, excellent food, overall vibes and rich history make Favignana a great destination for a visit. But how long should you go? Is a day trip enough or should we spend more time on the island?

A minimum of 3 - 5 days is recommended to fully explore Favignana, as day trips do not allow for a thorough and relaxed exploration of the island. It is worth spending more time in Favignana to truly get to know the beautiful island.

Option One: A day trip from Trapani

Day trips from Trapani are certainly possible and a popular option with locals and tourists alike, but they are a somewhat rushed way to experience Favignana which is why we do not recommend the day trip option.

Still, if you consider doing a day trip, ferries leave from Trapani imbarco for Favignana pretty much all day. For a day trip with decent time on the island, we want to leave early in the morning of course. You can leave as early as 06:50 a.m. in the season with the first fast ferry of the day in which case you arrive about 40 minutes later on Favignana. If you are not an early riser, you can leave at 9:10 from Trapani and still make it to Favignana 30 minutes later at about 10 in the morning.

For the way back to Sicily, Ferries leave regularly between 7 pm and 9 pm. There are usually four to five different options to choose from at night depending on your needs, with the latest option leaving at 8:45 pm during the season.

For a day trip, we can spend 12 to 14 hours on Favignana. That's enough time to explore one or two things. Anything far from from the ferry landing requires good on transportation on the island, like a scooter rental or at the very least a bicycle. If you want do to something walkable, you could go to Lido Burrone for a swim (don't forget to pack sunscreen!). That's 2.2 km from the ferry landing, about 30 minutes walking.

The much more beautiful location of Bue Marino is an hour walk from the ferry or 15 minutes by bike and even closer by scooter. Make sure to allow enough time to get back to the ferry on time before departure. We would not want to be stuck on Favignana for the night without shelter.

Option Two: Staying over. How long should you stay in Favignana?

Because there is a lot to do and explore on Favignana, you should consider staying over. Favignana has a lot to offer so that a single day is just not enough to do it all. Amy and I went to visit the island for 4 days last month, which was a decent amount of time to explore the place. We hired a scooter to get around quickly and could see pretty much everything we wanted.

Because of our own experience with the place, we think that a minimum of 3 days gives you enough time to see everything here, explore properly and take in the island completely. Spending more time, say 5 days, would make the whole process much more relaxed. Staying even longer and spending even more time here is possible of course and Favignana is so beautiful, that I could even live there and not get bored. So we think that aiming for 3 to 5 days is a great bare minimum length of stay on Favignana for travelers to Sicily who have some time constraints and also want to move on and see other parts of Sicily or southern Italy during their Holiday.

If you do not have time or budget constraints, and you want to make Favignana your main stay, two or even three weeks here can be very enjoyable for anybody who likes Sicilian vibes and enjoys bathing, swimming or snorkeling and does not mind returning to the same location a couple of times.

Must see spots on Favignana

At this stage, you might be on the fence between a day trip and spending a couple of days on Favignana. For you, we have discovered the most amazing places on the island. What are the must see spots, which would cause you to stay over and spend a couple of days on here? We have made a list of the best places to visit. Going through this list will help you decide how long you should plan your trip for.

The most beautiful spots for swimming and snorkeling:

There are many options to swim on Favignana. The (arguably) prettiest of them all is Spaggiga Bue Marino in the east of the Island. Nothing comes close to the combination of exquisite landscape and pristine waters. Second place goes to Scogliera di Cala Rossa, which is also located in the east and third place goes to Scogliera Cala Azzurra. For a very child friendly option Spiaggia di Lido Burrone is the best bet because of the ease of access to the water, which is a little harder in our top 3 spots.

The caves of Favignana

There are some very impressive caves on Favignana. These caves are artificial in nature and were made by human labor and seen through that lens, are quite impressive to see. Favignana was used as a quarry in ancient history and from the 17th century and some of the caves are in convenient locations for visitors. In Bue Marino, they allow us to find some shade in the heat of day and to cool down during a hot summers day (it can be quite cold deep inside). Other notable caves are Sospiri, the Innamorati Caves and Grotta Preciata.

Hiking on the trails

Favignana can be explored on foot by hiking the trails. The most notable hike is a visit up Monte Santa Caterina from the village with views all the way to mainland Sicily. The hike ends at Castello di Santa Catrina with an elevation of 314 meters (1030 feet) after 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles). It is well suited for hiking, trail running and birding and is not very busy. Most people stay down below. Flatter trails without too much elevation changes are available in the eastern part of the island.

Cruises from the harbor

Cruises and day tours from the harbor of Favignana are a popular way to explore what the local Mediterranean sea has to offer. From fishing trips (there's Blue Fin tuna here seasonally) to snorkel explorations, there's something on offer for everyone. Talk to the local tour guides around the ferry landing area to organize your day on the water.

Visit other Aegadian islands

Favignana is just one of five Aegadian islands (Isole Egadi in Italian). There are also Levanzo, Marettimo, Formica and Maraone. Why not take a day to visit one of the neighboring islands?

As you can see, there's so much to see and do on Favignana that one day is not enough time if you want to do most of what the island can offer.

Getting around the Island

For transportation on Favignana you have got a couple of different options.

Walking & Hiking

Walking around the island is easily possible especially around the ferry terminal and the adjacent village. But if we want to see the nicer spots on Favignana, walking surely turns into hiking. If that's your thing, more power to you, knock yourself out.

Biking & E-biking

With a bike, we can get pretty far pretty quickly on Favignana. So much so, that it is a much better option to hiking. Bikes are available from local renters close to the ferry terminal. Electrically assisted bikes have made their way to the island too for those of us who like or need a little help.

Scooters

Scooters are an even quicker option to bikes. They're the ideal choice from a mobility perspective. You can get anywhere on Favignana with them, even to places that cars can't reach. Scooters are available from the same stores that rent bikes around the ferry terminal.

A taxi

If you prefer the safety of a car, then a Taxi might be just for you. Local transportation businesses operate on Favignana. Just make sure, you get a return trip if you venture out far from the village.

Your own car

And finally, you have the option of bringing your own car over from sicily on a ferry. We've seen many non-italian license plates on Favignana, mostly from Switzerland, Germany and France. Cars have obvious advantages regarding safety and storage capacity but they come with some severe drawbacks here because a couple of the more beautiful places on Favignana are not reachable by car. The "roads" (more like paths) are not suitable for them. Scooters on the other hand are fine.

Getting to the Island

Ferries to Favignana leave from Trapani imbarco daily during the tourist season. There are currently two different passenger only ferry operations competing on the route and one car ferry company.

You can purchase a ticket online ahead of time and you should if you want to be sure to get to Favignana. The Island is popular and ferries can end up fully booked. Another bonus if you buy your ticket online is that you do not need to wait in line at Trapani imbarco. The place can get quite busy and hectic.

When boarding the ferry, your ticket is scanned using a QR code scanner. Make sure your phone has good battery percentage if you've got an electronic ticket. That part is especially important for the way back on a day trip.

What to Pack for a Day trip.

So you have decided to do a day trip to Favignana and do not want to sleep over. What should you pack for your day trip to Favignana?