Petralia Soprana is the highest town in the Madonie, perched at around 1,100 metres on a rocky spur, and it has the reputation of being one of the finest hill towns in Sicily. Its twin, Petralia Sottana, lies just under two kilometres away, a little lower and larger, with about twice the population. Soprana is the smaller and older of the two, and it keeps a medieval layout of steep stepped lanes, small piazzas and stone houses with wrought-iron balconies. Its Norman history is deeper than most: Count Roger I is said to have made it a base in the eleventh century during the conquest of the island from the Arabs.
From the main square, Piazza del Popolo, you can look across the whole range, and on clear days toward the cone of Etna in the east. Churches are plentiful, including the Chiesa Madre with a carved wooden crucifix and the church of Santa Maria di Loreto, which has a terrace with a long view. It is a town to walk slowly, in part because the streets are steep and in part because there is little to do but look. In the summer there are festivals, and in winter the town can see snow, since the Madonie are the snowiest mountains in Sicily.
The ride up from the coast is a delight in its own way. The road climbs through cork oak, then chestnut and beech, and you pass from the dry Mediterranean scrub of the coast to cool upland woods. The Madonie are a regional park, home to the rare Nebrodi fir, the Abies nebrodensis, of which only a tiny number survive in the wild. The surface is variable, with some very good stretches and others broken, and sheep, cows and dogs wander on to the road without warning. Mist can come down suddenly in the forests, and in winter ice is a real hazard.
Fuel is thin on the ground in the hills, so take it in Cefalù or at Petralia Sottana, the larger of the two. In both towns, you can find simple trattorias serving local sausage, ricotta, mushrooms and pasta with wild greens, the kind of food that suits a cool mountain evening. The late afternoon light on the stone is lovely, and a coffee on the terrace is the proper way to end the ride.