Suzanna

Couple in our early 70s, will arrive on April 14 in Catania and leave on April 28 from there.
We love history, art, nature (no difficult hikes, mostly walks). If at all possible we would like to have a few places where we could stay 2-3 nights and do day trips. We plan to rent a car but if it makes sense drop it before returning to Catania and maybe take a train back. We would be there for Easter and have 13 full days. We will have luggage as we will be in Europe for 30 days in different climate zones. I realize (like others before me) that 13 days are not enough to see everything, so I have to compromise (and with broken heart, I left Palermo for another trip). I do not like to cram too much of anything in a day for the sake of saying that I have been there.

I'd appreciate comments about the itinerary below and suggestions for reasonable day trips from each of these places and maybe for accommodations. I used some info from progol's and a few other's trip reports and suggestions from other threads. Thanks in advance.

- April 14, arrival at CTA; rent a car from the airport; drive to Ortigia
- 4 nights in Ortigia (April 14, 15,16,17); reserved a room at Hotel Approdo dell Sirene (can be cancelled); Ortigia and day trips from there
- 3 nights in Castelmola (April 18, 19, 20); reserved a room at Hotel Villa Sonia (can be cancelled); day trips. Is the road up to Castelmola a difficult one (steep, with hairpin curves, etc.)?
- 2 nights in Cefalu (April 21, 22); hotel TBD
- 3 nights near Agrigento; (April 23, 24, 25), maybe in Sciacca, suggestions would be appreciated; crossing through Enna, maybe Piazza Armerina on the way (?)
- 2 nights in Catania (April 26, 27) after dropping the car at the airport on the 25th (?) or parking it someplace for 2 days
- departure from CTA at 11:45 am

I know we have to be careful about driving out of Ortigia during Easter as there processions in many places that block the roads. We are somewhat concerned about what we read about driving and drivers, so in some places we might use public transportation for day trips (even if we have a car), if it makes sense.

kja

Sicily is wonderful!

I’ve been recommending l’Approdo delle Sirene since I stayed there back in 2006 – loved it and hope you do, too! Having a car in Ortygia can be a bit of a problem, though, so try to wait as long as you can to pick it up.

Why Castelmola rather than Taormina? Much as I dislike the day-trippers in Taormina, I would rather stay there, and so be there in the mornings and evenings, than to stay in Castelmola (which is worth a short visit, but not much more in my opinion). And I, personally, would not want a car in Taormina / Castelmola, either; JMO.

Do NOT skip the Villa Romana del Casale! it is one of Sicily's greatest gems, IMO.

I must admit that I’m having a bit of trouble making sense of your itinerary, but maybe that’s just me. If you are already committed to flying into and out of Catania and are fully committed to visitiing these particular places, then consider making a loop – Catania to Ortygia through Piazza Amerina to Agrigento to Cefelu to Taormina / Castelmola to Catania or vice versa. Try to avoid picking up your car until you leave Ortygia.

Hope that helps!

Suzanna

Thanks for your very quick reply, kja. Sorry for confusing you, it just reflects my confusion. Everything that I planned can be modified except the arrival and departure in CTA.

I didn't pick Taormina because it seems to be very expensive and it sounds overrun w. tourists. If I use it as a base for day trips, then why should I pay so much for it? If I don't have a car there, how can I go on day trips (maybe w. a boat from Milazzo to Lipari or to Etna, etc.)?

If I don't use a car to get to Ortygia I would have to go back to the airport to pick it up later as pick-up places seem to be quite limited or they have a very limited choice of cars. Getting from the airport to Ortygia with a shuttle offered by the hotel is 70 EUR... I was told that I can park the car close to the hotel for 10 EUR/day without a problem when I don't have to use it, unless I want to go on a day trip from there.

There is so much to see that I have problems making sense out of it.... Assuming that I keep the reservation for Ortygia, how would you use the time that I have based on what I mentioned about likes? Are 4 nights in Ortygia too much (knowing that April 17 is a holiday)?

Is Sciacca a place where it makes sense to stay for 3 nights (I was reading that people do not recommend staying in Agrigento)?

Is a drive from Cefalu to Agrigento (w. stops at Enna and Piazza Armeia) a reasonable day trip?

Any suggestions/comments are very much appreciated.

kja

Taormina IS overrun by tourists during the day – or at least, that was my experience! I enjoyed it when they weren’t there, but you’re right, it is expensive, so I can now better understand your choice of Castelmola.

Whether you would need a car when there would depend on WHAT day trips you want to take. If you want to go to the top of Mt. Etna, you can’t do it by car; if you want to visit some of the wineries around Mt. Etna, you might want a car. But you can also use public transportation for many things, or you can join an organized tour for a day.

If you are looking for a car with an automatic transmission, I suspect your options are more limited than what I would have experienced. If you are willing to drive a car with a manual transmission, I'm not sure your options are as limited as you suggest. But if you are sure you have to go back to the airport and are comfortable with the parking situation in Ortygia, go for it! At least L’Approdo delle Sirene is in a corner of Ortygia that is about as close to the bridge to Siracusa per se as you can get.

For my interests, 2 full days + were perfect for Siracusa itself -- I got there about noon one day and left in the afternoon of the day after the day after that, and I travel HARD – up and out after breakfast and on the move until there is literally nothing else that is open, and then I have dinner and walk a bit. I spent a night in Noto even though it’s very close, as I prefer to relocate rather than backtrack. (Just a personal preference.) So I would think that 4 nights for Ortygia would likely be about right. The only way you can really be sure what will work for YOU of which I am aware is to plot things out on a calendar.

I didn’t stop in Sciacca. I spent a night in Agrigento and was very glad I did – I had a room with a terrace from which I could savor a view of the main row of temples back lit after sunset. (When I was there, they were preparing to build a mega-sized parking lot between the hotel and that view, so I really don’t feel comfortable recommending it anymore.) I also enjoyed a long ramble through the medieval section of the town that night. But I was only there one night. BTW, if it helps your planning, I spent about 6 hours at the Valley of the Temples (and didn't fully explore the part on the side nearest the current city) and another 1.5 or 2 hours at the museum, which I thought well worth seeing.

Per googlemaps, the drive from Agrigento to Cefalu (which I did not visit) is about 2.5 hours. FWIW, I wanted several hours – closer to 3 than to 2, IIRC – for the Villa Romana del Casale. (To my knowledge, there isn’t really anything to see in Piazza Armerina – it’s just the closest city to this villa.) I spent a night in Enna and was glad to have done so; whether you can fit it into the same day-long trip would depend on what you want to see and do. And your level of comfort with leaving your luggage in your car while visiting points of interest en route.

Some observations:

- Depending on how much time you want for Siracusa, you may or may not have enough time for the Baroque towns of the Val di Noto – which you may or may not want to include in your trip. I’m not a fan of the Baroque, and so visited only Noto (which I loved) and Caltigirone (which I’m glad I saw). Others seem to have greatly enjoyed towns I skipped (e.g., Ragusa, Modica, Scicli).

- You might have time for a day trip to Lipari, but I think it would be about 4.5 hours each way from Castelmola, and you would have to pay very careful time to the ferry schedules. You don’t currently seem to have time for any more of the Aeolians.

- I think you already know that you are skipping the western half of the island – but you are right, I think, in trying to tackle only half given the time you have available.

FWIW, of the half dozen or so guidebooks that I used when planning my time in the area, the ones I recommend most strongly are the <i>Rough Guide</i> and <i>Michelin Green Guide</i>. And IME, you would do well to consult them earlier rather than later. There's SO much to see and do in Sicily that working with a guidebook that really covers your options seems to me to be advisable.

Suzanna

Thank you so much. I do have some guidebooks, but the ones you mentioned. I will see if the library has them. I plan to rent an automatic car (we do not know how to drive a manual one). I hope that it will prove useful at least when we have to move from one accommodation to the next one.

From Ortygia I would like to have a day trip to Noto and maybe the other Baroque towns. I do not know which of the days "surrounding" the Easter holidays will allow me to travel without problems (I understand that processions block the roads in some places, on some days).

I do not want to go to the top of Aetna, but probably to the place when one can take the cable car. Maybe I will do that with a group tour.

It seems that going to Lipari might be pushing it, I will check the ferry schedules.

Thanks for all the notes about the different places and about the time you spent at some. I will do more homework to make sense about the number of days in each place and then day trips from each place. Thanks for spending this much time to share your experience.

Merry Christmas!

sundriedtopepo

Hi Suzanna, Just a few thoughts to add to kja above.

First, my husband and I have always driven in Sicily, and not had any problems, any more so than anywhere else in Italy ie narrow streets, cramped parking spots etc.

Some here have not had the same experience, and did not like driving at all. My husband is a confident driver, and I have an iPad with google maps and we buy a sim card with data when we arrive in Italy, so we feel well prepared.

Annhig, here on Fodor's did not like the drive up to Castelmola. I agree with kja that there isn't much to see up there, and there's much more happening and nice spots in Taormina.

The dates you are going are not that busy yet. The cruise ship season is just starting, for example, there is a ship arriving in Giardini Naxos on Sept 18, then the 24th then the 27th.

We find that when the tours leave, it is quite quiet in Taormina in the evenings. There are some lovely restaurants there as well. To see the Greek Theater,get up early and be there when it opens, around 9 am. The tour groups won't have arrived yet.

For your dates, hotel prices are not as high as later on. I would recommend Hotel Villa Schuler, we loved it. It is a few steps down from the main street, and is quiet and beautiful with an amazing view.

If you go to their website, the rates are cheaper than online booking sites. They also have parking available. Their staff is particularly helpful if you wanted to do a day tour or use public transit to go somewhere. It was a splurge for us, but worth it.

We have never done the drive to or from Cefalu. We visited from Palermo, and went by train.

The highways are very easy driving, but don't trust google maps times for the smaller roads.

In Agrigento, we stayed 2 nights at Collerde Park Hotel. I particularly chose it because of the ease of driving to it, and for its view over the Vallei dei Templi. There's also a lovely garden in which to relax, and a good breakfast is provided.

I would do the trip this way:
Catania airport transfer to Ortigia, or rent car 4 nights

Drive to Piazza Armerina, stay overnight, see Villa Romana del Casale,

Continue on to Agrigento, stay 2 nights

Continue to Cefalu

Then to Taormina.

From there you can drive easily to the Catania airport to drop the car and continue on your flight. About an hour drive, lots of time to get there for your 11:45 departure.

A few from here have stayed at Villa Clementine in Piazza Armerina. It has very good reviews, and is not in the city center.

I believe that leaves you a couple of days to play with. I'm not sure if you wanted to see Catania, or just wanted to stay before your flight. Catania was not our favorite place in Sicily.

annhig

Annhig, here on Fodor's did not like the drive up to Castelmola. I agree with kja that there isn't much to see up there, and there's much more happening and nice spots in Taormina. >>

lol, sundried, you're not kidding! I haven't got that far in my TR yet but clearly I have made my feelings known about it! And lovely though the views of Etna from our room at the Villa Sonia were, I would not recommend it as a hotel or a location.

Suzanne, we had 10 nights in Sicily, flying into and out of Catania, so I think that our trip was reasonably close to what you may be hoping to experience.

Firstly, the drive from Catania Airport to Ortigia was fine; DH was rather faised by the traffic when we got there but probably that was because it was our first day of the holiday and we'd had to get up at 3am to get our flight. 4 nights there would be great, and a wonderful start to the holiday. from there I would head to Ragusa or Modica and stay for 3 nights. then onto Agrigento for 2 nights, then a night at Piazza Armerina for the Villa Casale [a real must see] and finally 3 nights in Taomina [the Villa Schuler has got really good reviews here]. Easy driving in the main until you get to a hill town, and even that you can get used to [apart from the road up to Castelmola which still gives me the heeby jeebies when i think about it]

yestravel

On Taormina - our first trip to Sicily we stayed there and it was very crowded during the day, but as mentioned less so during the evenings and early am. Second trip last year in May I wanted to see the lovely views again but did not want to stay there. I searched for a Agriturismo to stay within easy driving distance and that's what we did. We drove to the huge parking lot with no difficulty, spent the day walking around, had a nice lunch and drove away thru the countryside with absolutely no trouble. It was pretty crowded, but we expected that. We stayed at Tenuta Edone which was about a 20-30 minute easy drive to Taormina. We stayed 2 nights and had great dinners there both night.

I agree not to miss Villa Romana del Casale -- fabulous so much so that we visited it both trips to Sicily. Again we stayed about 30 minutes away in a agriturisomo and used it as a base for a couple days.

On driving as one person said, no problems for us. We enjoyed crusing the countryside, minimal traffic and easy to drive outside the citites. the cities can get to be challenging because of the one way and dead end streets. We generally parked ont he outskirts and walked in. We did leave luggage in our car, not in any big cities, and again had no problem, but many are uncomfortable doing that.

Suzanna

I do not know what's happening, I tried twice to post my thanks to everyone who commented and offered advice and what I wrote was not posted.... I hope it will be now.

In the mean time, with so much great feedback I changed my itinerary and the hotel reservations. Here is my revised itinerary:

- April 14 - 18 (4 nights- F,Sa,Su,M) at Ortygia at L'Approdo dell Sirene; day trips to Noto and other places nearby- TBD
- April 18 (Tu) - drive to Piazza Armerina- Villa Romana del Casale; sleep 1 N at Villa Angela
- April 18 (W) - drive to Agrigento through Enna; sleep 1 N at Colleverde Park Hotel
- April 19 (Th) - drive from Agrigento to Castelvetrano (stops on the way, Selinunte); sleep 2 N at at Villa Sogno
- April 20 (F) - day trip Erice, Segesta, maybe Castellamare; back to Castelvetrano (different road)
- April 21- (Sa) - Castelvetrano - Cefalu; waving on the way to Palermo; stops toTBD; sleep 1 N at Lirma B&B
- April 22 - (Su) - Cefalu to Taormina; stops TBD; maybe take hydrofoil from Milazzo to Lipari (?)
- April 23-27 - 4N in Taormina at Hotel Villa Schuler (which competed w. Panoramic Hotel...); day trip to Etna and maybe other places
- April 27 - drive to Catania; sleep near airport at Sciara Biscani; if time allows maybe go into Catania in the evening (?)
- April 28 - flight to Brussels

This was not easy but I could have not done it without all the help I got. Usually I spend months planning, but this time, due to circumstances beyond my control, I didn't have the luxury of time. I hope that now it looks better. If not, I can still change it (all hotels can be canceled). The only thing I don't like is that we will sleep in 7 places. Details re. places to visit, stops, day trips are still TBD, but that can wait. Taormina is a splurge, but I am sure we will not be sorry. Panoramic Hotel had better rates than Hotel Schuler, but everyone recommended it. Thanks again for all the help and if you have any comments, please let me know.

kja

Seems much better to me!

I'm not sure what caused your problem posting, but for a very long time many of us had trouble. I haven't heard people mentioning difficulties for a while, but that doesn't mean it isn't still happening! Here's a relevant thread:
http://www.fodors.com/community/foru...m#last-comment
Basically, the advice is to type your post outside of Fodor's in some kind of word program, then cut and past into the preview box until you get to a point where it won't preview, and then tweak the language until you can. There are an incredible number of really strange combinations of characters that caused the problems, and the characters could have been really far apart.

Thanks for persisting until you were able to post!

Dayle

Suzanna,

Your current plan does look very good. Just two comments.

I really doubt you would have time for a day trip to Lipari if driving from Cefalu is involved. The Aeolians are wonderful and have so much to do and see that they are really a destination on their own. I spent 5 nts on Lipari and visited some of the other islands too. I wished for 2 more days at least!

Personally I would cut a nt or 2 from Taormina and spend that time in the Aeolians! The scenery there is just as good IMO.

Also, Villa Sonja is very near to Selinute so you could just drop your luggage before visiting the temples. I did leave my luggage in the car at a couple places, but I would not have beeen comfortable leaving it at the Selinute parking lot for several reasons. Again, just my feeling.

You will love Sicily. Buon viaggio!

Suzanna

Thanks kja and Dayle. The luggage is a real concern all over because I would like to do sightseeing on the way to the next destination. That's an additional drawback when not staying in less places. Leaving them at Villa Sonja is a great idea, at least there they will be safe. I do not know if the rental car will have a trunk or not (they do not tell you the exact model you get)...

I did not know that there were problems posting messages, I will do what you suggested, kja.

As far as Lipari and Taormina goes, I will think about it.

Best and thanks again!

yestravel

Your new plan looks good! I agree to cut from the 4 nts in Taormina. Havent been to the islands so can't comment on that. I just dont think Taormina is worth 4 nts.

Near Castelvetrano is Mazara del Vallo which is a nice small town with an interesting museum, Museo del Satiro Danzante, to visit. We had a good dinner there recommended by the agriturismo where we stayed.

Sicily is the spring is gorgeous with all the wildflowers blooming. Have a great trip!

kja

I'm sure you know the "usual" guidelines for leaving luggage in a car, but here's my list:
- Don’t ever leave anything in the car that can be seen through its windows
- ALWAYS keep key documents including your passport, cash, and bank cards with you (preferably in a under-the-clothes passport pouch, with only what you need for the day outside of that pouch), and be sure that that pouch also has a copy of any key documents you might need on one or more days
- Don’t ever move things from the interior to the trunk in the place that you will leave the car – do that somewhere else, even if it means pulling off the road briefly a mile or so from your destination
- Try to park in a well lighted area where other people might have eyes-on (not so much because they might act, but because their presence might discourage thieves)
- If possible, park your car in a way that would make it difficult for thieves to gain anything – for example, consider backing the car up to a wall to make it difficult to open the trunk or remove anything from it
- Be sure you know how to contact your rental car agency and insurance agency as soon as possible after any incursion
- Only leave your car with things in it if you are willing to come back and find that they are gone

I spent only an afternoon in Lipari en route by ferry to Naples, but thought it lovely. Shifting a night (or even two) from Taormina to Lipari might be worth considering.

yestravel

All good advice by kja.

kja

@ yestravel:

sundriedtopepo

At Villa Sogno we had home made ricotta which was like ambrosia! Have never had anything so good since, so make sure you try it

I agree to take a night away from Taormina, but I think I would add it to Cefalu. Otherwise, to me, it would seem a long drive just to stay overnight there.

I read quite a few trip reports here when planning our trips to Sicily. When we went at end of May and mid-October, we had great weather. But I remember reading a trip report of some-one who visited a bit off season, and ended up spending several days in Milazzo waiting for the wind to die down so the ferry to Lipari could start running again. Just something to consider...maybe someone else has been in April and could give some advice about this.

Hope you have a great trip!

scrb11

Spent a few nights in Salina and did a day trip to Lipari.

It was worth doing but not sure if driving to Milazzo, then parking there for a few hours while you go to Lipari, is worth it.

You will have the luggage in trunk problem.

Getting an automatic transmission wasn't a problem for me but there are a lot of warnings about some of the car agencies in Sicily, especially at the airports. There are many reports on TA of people being scammed, being charged for damage to the car which didn't occur during their rental periods.

Better to rent with Hertz and some bigger international agencies than local ones like Europacar (made to sound like Europcar) or Maggiore.

That schedule still seems to have a lot packed into two weeks.

I liked Piazza Armenrina but it's a long ways from other things unless you make a stop to Caltagirone. Never been to Enna so that is close and may be worthwhile.

But from Ortigia to Piazza Armerina, you would be skipping by Ragusa and Modica. If you prefer antiquities over the Baroque, that's okay. But Ragusa is also pretty nice at night too, especially looking at the lower town from the upper town. So is Noto.

Seliunte and Segesta are great (antiquties again) but I liked Erice a lot, when it's clear up there, even though I've only day-tripped up there (long drive up winding roads).

Cefalu is in a great location but it seemed like other seaside towns, except for the mountains towering over it.

kja

"There are many reports on TA of people being scammed, being charged for damage to the car which didn't occur during their rental periods."

It can be a really good idea to take photos of the car at pick up and at drop off -- preferably using a camera that records the time. I usually try to capture the sides and top from various angles, and I also take a shot of the dash with the gauges lit (documenting levels of fuel, mileage, etc.).


BTW, Cefalu's cathedral has recently been added to the UNESCO World Heritage Site listing for the extraordinary cathedral in Monreale. I didn't see the one in Cefalu, but hope to do so one day.

Suzanna

Thanks for the feedback and suggestions.

I assumed (based on previous advice) that Taormina might be great for spending 1-2 days to enjoy the place (with potentially less crowds in April than otherwise) and use the rest for 1-2 day trips like a trip to Aetna (to go up with the cable car) or a day trip to Lipari (instead of stopping there on our way to Taormina). Obviously everything is weather dependent.

Similarly I anticipate day trips from Ortygia like those mentioned by scrb11.

I am little bit reluctant to shift too many things around as I do not want to pay more or not have good accommodations. For example in Taormina if I had reserved only 3 nights I was told that they had available only rooms starting at $222/night. When I changed this to 4 nights, the garden room I reserved (only for $188) became available... Also I do not want additional places to sleep at. Too many already.

Even like this, as mentioned by scrb11, is packed. I checked distances on Michellin, I hope they take into account the type of road and the estimates are reliable. The average driving time from place to place would be around 3 hours (Cefalu to Taormina being the longest stretch - 3.5 h), which would allow time to be at the destination on the day of arrival.

Since we plan to drive, there is no "shortcut" to get from the West Coast to Taormina and one needs to stop and sleep somewhere. Cefalu seemed to be a decent place to stop. According to ViaMichellin: Castelvetrano-Taormina is 4h25m through Cefalu; it is 5h42m going S and then through Catania; it is 5h45m going "across" and then through Catania. I didn't think that going on smaller roads and a different way would save us time or that it would be more fun... Castelvetrano- Cefalu is 2h:27m, we should have time to look around in Cefalu.

I usually do what kja suggested regarding the car and theft avoidance. We rented the car from Dollar-Rent-A-Car. I would hope they are not into scamming people.... There is one thing I don't know how to do: "Only leave your car with things in it if you are willing to come back and find that they are gone". This would mean that we could never stop any place on the way to our next destination.... We will be careful and just hope that they will not break into our car - they will pick a nicer one .

Thanks again.