If you need cheap flights from North America or other parts of Europe to Sicily before booking, please ask me.(Yes, you can fly direct from USA to Sicily sometimes!) I have been finding bargain travel deals for my own trips to Sicily over the past ten years, and I would be happy to share my expertise with you. I might be aware of certain airports, airlines, routes, and special offers that don't pop up on the major seach engines.

Also if you are interested in a longer stay during the cooler months (Jan., Feb., early Mar., Nov., Dec.) let's talk and see if we can arrange for you to stay at this quieter time of year in Cefalu, when you can feel snug and warm inside the house while looking out at a constantly changing sea, sometimes furious and other times perfectly calm and full of fishing boats.

WELCOME TO CASA DEL FARO! This beautiful home is uniquely located directly across the street from a rocky Mediterranean beach and has a steep backyard of 80 square meters (800 square feet) leading to a 200-m (700 feet) massive cliff. It is one of several townhouses carved out of a restructured stone spaghetti factory in 2005.

The house has a total area of 60 square meters (600 square feet), evenly split between two floors. Downstairs you will enjoy a single large room with two sofas, TV and DVD player, coffee table, dining table with six chairs, and fully-equipped kitchen with hand-painted tiles from Caltigirone, along with a half-bath. Do you like antiques? Well, in Dec. 2010 we just brought in 3 matching pieces of living room furniture manufactured in the 1890s in Palermo by the Dacrot factory, including two matching end chairs, and a marble-topped lamp table. The large living room window looks directly onto the Mediterranean, while the back-door looks out onto the famous Cliff of Cefalu. Upstairs you will also enjoy waking up to crashing surf and an unobstructed view of the Mediterranean from the master bedroom, with large double bed, armoire, and chest of drawers, decorated with nautical motifs. Enjoy the collection of lovely hand-painted, traditional Sicilian ceramics from the nearby town of Santo Stefano! There is also a junior bedroom decorated with Sicilian puppets, with two twin beds, armoire, and view of the cliff. The full bathroom has a shower, toilet, bidet, and sink.

Outside CASA DEL FARO boasts two beautiful areas for your dining enjoyment. Immediately outside the house is an outside kitchen, with gas grill, sink, and food preparation counter. Help yourself to fresh herbs you might find growing there! There is a picnic table with six chairs and umbrellas here, and it is a great place to enjoy a summer breakfast. Further up the hill in the backyard you will enjoy dining under the gazebo on the beautiful hand-crafted table of black Sicilian volcanic stone, decorated with an enamel surface painted with a fruit fantasy. From here you can look out over the top of the red-tiled roof toward the historic center of Cefalu or outward toward the Eolian islands, a volcanic archipelago most easily visible during the winter months.

Several kinds of beach experiences are available. Directly across the street from CASA DEL FARO is a stairway leading down to a rocky beach, which is a good place to sunbathe away from the madding crowds even in the summer. It is OK for swimming when the sea is calm. I personally prefer to go a half-kilometer (third of a mile) into town to the Old Port, where there is a small free public beach behind a jetty, where the water is always calm. Beyond this point lies a plethora of private beaches, where you pay to rent your chair and umbrella. The beach season lasts roughly from April through the first week of November.

Aside from good restaurants, Cefalu offers great opportunities for those who want to cook on their own. You can enjoy a cafe and wineshop in the same complex of buildings as CASA DEL FARO or you can walk 200 meters into town to satisfy most of your culinary needs.

CASA DEL FARO is a 15-minute walk from the train station, with frequent connections to Palermo. In the summer several ferries a day go from Cefalu harbor (only 200 meters from the house) to Palermo and the Eolian Islands. Parking is always available at the new harbor, but in many ways it is easier to enjoy Cefalu without a car, since the streets in the medieval quarter are quite narrow and tend to have heavy pedestrian traffic. No parking is available directly in front of the house. In town you can find many agencies happy to organize tours to Agrigento, Mount Etna, Monreale, and most other points of interest in Sicily. Don't forget to visit Cefalu's lovely twelfth-century cathedral with its famous Byzantine mosaics and the lovely Osterio Magno, with its Arab architectural influence!

Parking in Cefalu is tight in the warmer months. The city has some free guest parking spaces, painted white, up the street about 80 m from Casa del Faro. Additional free public parking is available 200 m downhill at the marina. NEVER PARK IN A YELLOW SPACE! They are reserved for locals.

PLEASE NOTE! THIS HOUSE IS NOT SUITABLE FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE TROUBLE WITH CLIMBING STAIRS, but it should present no problem to someone with normal health.

Keywords: Townhouse