I visited the archaeological area of Agrigento, officially known as “Valley of the Temples”, in September of 2021. This is, in essence, a collection of stand-alone highlights, of which the main one - Temple of Concordia - is a good reason to visit all by itself, being clearly among the best-preserved Doric temples anywhere.

The second-best preserved temple, Juno, still has around 30 columns standing, and in the usual context of antiquity should be considered as amazingly well-surviving. Nonetheless, here you are well into the archaeological realm of having to imagine what the place might have looked like in its heyday rather than actually seeing it.

Another major sight, Temple of Hercules, is a picturesque file of several columns among huge rocks. Other temples – Zeus, Hefestos, Castor and Pollux – remain mostly as a memory; a single portal among the piles of stones. Also within the confines of the area, there is a villa with gardens that once belonged to a British nobleman and archaeologist and then assorted burial sites here or there - all of limited interest to a non-archaeologist but not without occasional visual quality.

Valley of the Temples is quite large, with a non-trivial amount of walking required between the aforementioned main points of interest. We covered about two-thirds of it on our visit, the distance of about a mile between the Temple of Juno and the Temple of Zeus. The main parking lots happen to be in the vicinity of those two temples, which means that most visitors will cover this segment there and back. Entirely on foot and without rushing, it can be done in about two hours. There is a shuttle running between the temples of Hercules and Juno that at €3 one-way may be a good option for those looking to reduce their walking exertions.