Virtu Ferries has done it again – it has slashed fares this September to enable you to finish the summer off with a bang.

It has been a hot dry summer and the open spaces of Sicily beckon. True, temperatures are much the same in Malta and Sicily but there is a subtle difference, in Sicily temperatures drop as the sun goes down - not just in the mountains but all over the place; there just isn’t that mass of buildings to radiate heat all night.

September is the time to take advantage of the drop in prices. Not just Virtu’s fares, but prices in general all over Sicily. With the best part of Ferragosto over by 15 August prices just plummet in September. In the good old days of the Emperor Augustus the Feriae Augusti (Holidays of Augustus) lasted for the whole of the month of August. Not so in this day and age, by end August the northern Italian who have flocked to Sicily for their Ferragosto are well and truly back home nose to the grindstone and prices are not what they were.

This is where you step in and take good advantage of the situation and what’s more you will be very welcome. Children still have some time before they get back to school and a motoring family holiday is just what is needed. No need to plan ahead, you will have no problem finding the sort of accommodation at the price you have in mind. The beaches are there waiting for you, gone are the crowds and the cool mountain air just minutes away. It is the ideal time for a memorable few days combining lazy mornings on the beach with a nice inexpensive light lunch and an evening country walk to enjoy the mountain scenery and fresh cool air. Winter is not yet in the air but the shady town piazza is just ideal for a lingering dinner washed down with vino di casa, it will cost you a great deal more this end of the Malta Channel.

With a little thought, in five carefree days you can enjoy beaches, mountains, lakes, some end of season bargain shopping in an air-conditioned centro commercial of your choice, a visit or two to a Greek or Roman archaeological site to get the children’s mind back on track and yes, eating out without making holes in your pocket.

That is what September in Sicily is all about and you’re only 90 minutes away on the Virtu catamaran.