“It’s here that you can see the real Sicily,” says Miri Salamone, staring into the abyss. Clouds swamp the valley below and fog floods mountain gullies, dissolving even Sutera’s hilly peaks from view.

Far from the crowds of Palermo, Taormina or Syracuse, Sicily hides a bevy of quiet towns and villages where history, stone and the sea come together with rare intensity. Here are six secret stops to ...