noto
 
The real highlight of any tour of the Baroque southeast, despite the collapse of its duomo, is further afield at NOTO . Easily the most harmonious post-earthquake creation, for a time, in the mid-nineteenth century, it replaced Siracusa as that region's provincial capital. Indeed, despite its architectural identification with the Baroque towns around Ragusa, Noto is best reached from Siracusa - around half an hour's journey by bus or train. Planned and laid out by Giovanni Battista Landolina, adorned by Gagliardi, there's not a town to touch Noto for uniform excellence in design and execution. Sadly it has long been afflicted by pollution and heavy traffic. Much of the traffic has now been diverted, and most of the central monuments have recently emerged from years of restoration work, but parts of the centre are still obscured, reducing Noto's visual impact.

Now pedestrianized, the main Corso is lined with some of Sicily's most captivating buildings, all a rich honey colour - from the flat-fronted church of San Francesco , on the right, along as far as Piazza XVI Maggio and the graceful, curving church of San Domenico . And Piazza Municipio is arguably Sicily's finest piazza with its perfectly proportioned, tree-planted expanses. The Duomo, finished in 1770, but now closed due to the unfortunate collapse of the dome in 1996, is hemmed in by two palaces of remarkable decorative quality. Opposite, the Municipio (or Palazzo Ducezio) is flanked by its own green spaces, the arcaded building presenting a lovely, simple facade of columns and long stone balconies. Head up the steep Via Corrado Nicolaci , an eighteenth-century street that contains the extraordinary Palazzo Villadorata (no. 18), its six balconies supported by a panoply of griffins, galloping horses and fat-cheeked cherubs, but at present in the hands of the restorers.

Staying in Noto wouldn't be a bad alternative to Siracusa, though you'll have to move sharp to get a room at the only pensione in town, Albergo Stella , Via F. Maiore 44 (tel 0931.835.695; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48; closed Nov), on the corner of Via Napoli. Find out about rented rooms from the tourist office in Piazza XVI Maggio (April-Sept Mon-Sat 8am-2pm & 3.30-6.30pm, also Sun in summer 9am-1pm; tel & fax 0931.836.744), or else stay at Noto Marina, 8km southeast, where the cluster of holiday hotels includes the Meeting on Viale Lido 0931/812.344; L120,000-150,000/¬61.98-77.47), impeccably clean with all mod cons and views to the sea. There's a good restaurant here too. In Noto, you can eat at the straightforward Trattoria Giglio , just to the side of the town hall at Piazza Municipio 8-10 (closed Sat), where the cooking has a Spanish flavour, or try the small Trattoria del Carmine , Via Ducezio 9, which serves popular cucina casalinga at low prices.