San Vito Lo Capo with kids: the beautiful beach town you’ll love in Sicily

Our Travel guide to San Vito Lo Capo with kids: San Vito Lo Capo is a perfect beach destination in Sicily for families thanks to its beautiful beaches, laid-back atmosphere and stunning location.

San Vito Lo Capo is one of my favorite places in Sicily for kids and a perfect destination for a family beach vacation in Italy filled with sea and sun.

I first visited San Vito Lo Capo when we went to a wedding in Scopello nearby (adorable! A must see!), and I quickly realized this small town had absolutely everything I had ever dreamed of from a beach town.

San Vito Lo Capo has a stunning sandy beach, a pleasant and local feel in the town itself, a vibe that is tourist friendly without hordes of day trippers and, of course, all the stunning views and food Sicily is so famous for!

On top of this, its location lends itself to great day trips, so if you want to mix relaxation and exploring, this is a great place too!

The town of San Vito Lo Capo is a beach destination and therefore comes into its own in late spring / summer / early autumn when you can swim and tourism services are are their full speed.

This is why my guide focuses on good weather activities and the month of May – mid-October.

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Ps Apologies for the stock photos. As you can see from the quality of my own (the one of Scopello town), the camera I had didn’t cooperate!

San Vito Lo Capo: atmosphere and feel

San Vito Lo Capo is a small seaside town in the north of Sicily.

Once a sleepy fishing village, San Vito Lo Capo is now also a popular tourism destination with all the typical element of a beach town: stunning stretch of sand and sea, outdoor restaurants to watch life pass by, trinket and souvenir shops etc.

The town is not unknown to international tourism but escaped the fate of Cefalu’ and Taormina (now at the receiving end of often excessive numbers of tourists) and this means it still has a somewhat local and dare I say ‘authentic’ feel to it.

Make no mistakes though: San Vito Lo Capo is touristy, just ‘local’ touristy as opposed to ‘international tourism’ so don’t expect to be alone there in the good season!

Just expect to hear more Italian and French than American English as you stroll its relaxed alleys!

The best things to do in San Vito Lo Capo with kids

The best things to do in San Vito Lo Capo rotate around enjoying its beaches and exploring the nearby Riserva dello Zingaro Nature reserve.

Go to the beach

The town beach of San Vito Lo Capo is wide, with soft white sand and crystal-clear waters, is very much THE reason to come to this beautiful corner of Sicily.

If you have a few days here, you may genuinely not want to to anything else than just staying here!

The beach is perfect for young kids because of the sand, shallow waters and the many other kids around and there are plenty of lidos where you can rent umbrellas and chairs.

The beach clubs are all one after the other along the main beach so you can just pick the one closest to you. A good one is Mamita’s Beach Club (good space between umbrellas, nice feel).

Enjoy the town center

San Vito Lo Capo is a typical Italian beach town, a lovely small center with white houses, walkable streets, restaurants, and shops selling anything from sand toys and flipflops to postcards, crosswords magazines and knick-knacks of various sorts,

It is lovely with kids as while mostly tourism driven, you have a lively, family friendly atmosphere, colorful shops and that sense of a self contained, pleasant beach resort town that allows you to relax and slow down.

In summer, the town also has games for kids (paid for) such as outdoor playground with bouncy area as well as some kids free playground with basic climbing frames etc.

Like in most of Italy, don’t expect great structures, the real ‘playground’ here is the beach!

Take a boat trip

The other fabulous way to enjoy San Vito Lo Capo’s beautiful sea is by taking a boat trip.

Opportunities abound but I like this one as it has swimming stops, so you have variety and fun, but lasts half day, rather than a full day like many others (my kids wouldn’t tolerate 8 hours and I myself find 4h a longer duration.

Marvel at the wonderful Kite Festival (Festival degli Aquiloni) in May

In May, the town of San Vito Lo Capo hosts a fun festival of kites! The festival is fun to experience with kids as the sky of the town and above the beach fills with colorful kites – a very special, easy event to experience for the whole family!

You can find their official site here

Cous Cous Festival del Cous Cous

Another fun and also meaningful event in San Vito lo capo is the Cous Cous festival, which is both a culinary event and a festival of integration.

Sicily, both in its past and in its present, is a place of cultural encounters, a place called home by the Greekds, Romans, the Arabs, the Normans and with strong ties with Northern Africa.

Cous Cous is an iconic Southern Mediterranean dish and celebrating it with a festival is a way to celebrate the many cultures that come together in Sicily and make it such a unique, cultrally rich, wonderful place.

The festival has several evens ranging fro cookery demonstrations to concerts. Find it here

Best day trips and place to see near San Vito lo capo with kids

Explore the stunning nature of Zingaro Reserve

San Vito Lo Capo is close to a natural of great natural beauty, the protected Zingaro Reserve.

The reserve is a vision of sandy stretches, crustal clear sea water and stunning trails and it is ideal for families who like uncontaminated nature and walking.

The reserve is easy to visit with kids but it can only be visited on foot (it’s very much a walking ‘ hiking place) so you want to make sure you have appropriate sun protection and footwear.

Lovely walks here are to Cala Tonnarella and Cala Dell’Uzzo but the reserve has several nice trails of different lengths, also dotted with mini info points with tidbits about the story of the area.

Need to know: bring your own food (and a bag for your trash) as this is a natural area so there are no restaurants etc.

Scopello and its Tonnara

Scopello is a tiny, historic center on a hilltops close to to San Vito Lo Capo and an adorable destination for a day trip.

The ‘town’ itself is hardly a town at all as it develops around a couple of piazzas and small streets aroud them but it is ab absolute jewel of a place!

The center itself is pretty, car free and has nice restaurants and cafes for a nice break in the shade.

Just beside it, at the end of a short trail (not ideal with toddlers but manageable) you get to Scopello’s stunning tonnara, an ancient tuna processing spot now turned, like many in Sicily, into a unique and fancy event space.

If you walk there and think it looks familiar, you’ve probably seen Ocean 12 which was indeed filmed here!

In summer, we found a soft play area for kids just beside the main square (outdoor: trampolines etc) but the town itself is pleasant to explore with kids even should you be here when the games are not in operation.

Segesta (ancient Greek Temple)

Segesta is home to one of the most stunning temples in Sicily.

It is the first temple I have ever visited on the island and i still rememeber that first visit with the imposing ruins emerging from a sea of poppies (it was spring).

Segesta is wonderful to visit and very much a worthy destination for a short visit from San Vito Lo Capo.

Saline di Trapani

A unique place worth visiting from San Vito lo capo are the salt pans of Trapani.

The salt plains are typical of this part of Sicily: they are large shallow water ponds with seawater left to ‘dry’ so that salt can be collected and they make for an incredible landscape of sea, water, windmills and hills of white salt!

The place looks and feels as unreal as it sounds and it is unique to visit with kids also because of the many birds and incredible biodiversity of this unique place.

Where to stay in San Vito Lo Capo with kids

We didn’t find large, luxury resorts for families hotel in San Vito Lo Capo (this is normal, in more local places such as this town) but there are some nice accommodation options suitable for families with kids

Artemide Hotel, close to the center and walking distance from the beach, it has a lovely pool with stunning views and very clean, modern rooms.

Hotel Vento del Sud, nice, simple hotel about 10 mins walk to the beach it has clean, welcoming rooms and adjacent rooms for families with older kids. Nice breakfast service. Some of the accommodation is across the road from the main building

Camping Village La Pineta, a budget option, walking distance from the beach but also with a nice pool, mini market and restaurant. Parking spot on site.

Where to eat in San Vito Lo Capo with kids

The quality of food is so high in Sicily and places are so welcoming to children, we found we didn’t need a list of places to eat well but here are some you may enjoy.

Ristorante La Battigia, in town, with lovely fresh food and the famous seafood cous cous of this area

Ristorante Agora, with a special mention for their desserts

Le Barrique, which has seafood but also bolognese and meat dishes should the kids prefer it

How to get to san vito lo capo and how to get around

Like most places in Sicily, San Vito Lo Capo is best with a car.

The car is the easiest way to get to the town and also to explore the surrounding area, since there is no train here and bus service is active but not extensive.

The closest airports are Palermo and Trapani and you can rent a car from there. I like to use Discover Cars as it gives me an overview of prices and options.

San Vito Lo Capo with kids – pin this!