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15+ days in Sicily -- first crack at itinerary

15+ days in Sicily -- first crack at itinerary

Old Aug 13th, 2016, 05:12 AM
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15+ days in Sicily -- first crack at itinerary

After years of thinking about going to Sicily, we are finally going to bite the bullet. We will leave around Oct. 8-12. I have started by getting a few guidebooks and reading trip reports here. So many thanks to Dayle, images2, Bob, and a few others -- I will go back for the details later, but I am trying to put the pieces of the itinerary in place first.

I like the idea of starting in either Taormina or Siracusa without a car, then getting a car and moving southerly, then around to the west, and ending in Palermo without a car. Here is my first attempt to sort out the days.

3 nights Taormina (arriving from US, we will have to buy a separate ticket to get from Rome to Catania, I think, which means leaving enough time to make connection and take care of unexpected delays, so I think we will be arriving in late afternoon early evening in Catania. My only flight option is AA, that's the only game in my small town in Illinois, so we will go to Rome and then switch, unless there's a better way)
3-4 nights Siracusa
1 night near Piazza Armerina -- agriturismo that everyone likes
2 nights Agrigento -- saw Villa Lumia Agrigento
3 nights Selinunte
3-4 nights Palermo -- someplace like Palazzo Pantaleo

As I've seen that it's helpful to know a bit about our likes and dislikes, here is some info -- late 60s, couple, not shoppers, not beach-goers, not huge foodies, love ruins and historical sites (I am a Romanesque fanatic after years of walking solitary caminos in Spain), smaller towns (we love big cities too, though without cars), active, prefer charm in accommodations over modern.

So here are my initial doubts:

-- not sure we should even go to Taormina, I am torn.
-- Assuming we arrive in Siracusa with a car, I was thinking someplace a bit out of town, like B&B Le Saline, for our base. Then taxi/car to parking garage/bus into town, with day trips out of town being easier.
-- I had originally thought that we would visit the mosaics in Piazza Armerina as we drove from Siracusa to Agrigento, but I do not want to be worried about luggage in the car, and so I"m leaning to doing what Dayle did with leaving luggage at agriturismo and then going back after the visit to pick it up. That may seem extreme to some, I know that the odds are probably low, but I just hate having to even think about it. I've seen enough car break-ins, pickpockets, etc in Spain and Portugal To last a lifetime.
-- Would Mazara del Vallo be a better base than Selinunte?
-- I hadn't planned on any islands, given the time of year, but am open to suggestions.

Many thanks in advance, I hope that some of the Sicily experts are around.

And just a little question -- the format has changed a bit since I was last here, and I'm not confident that this thread is posted in the Italy sub-forum. I don't see an option for selecting a country, but I am not the most technologically sophisticated in the room.
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 06:24 AM
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Taormina's a good place to get over jet lag if you suffer from that. The views are beautiful, night and day. If you fear the crowds, even in October, you can stay farther uphill in Castelmola. In Taormina our hotel was the Hotel Schuler, well situated in town with the views and a back door off the garden into the center of town.

We took a clean modern comfortable train from Siracusa to Taormina/Giardini Naxos, having stayed right in the center of old Siracusa, on Ortigia. We were very pleased staying on semi-pedestrian Ortigia. Do you plan to do day trips from Siracusa? Where?

In Siracusa and Taormina we got along without a car. That might work for you too.

The only omission I see from your itinerary is one or more of the Sicilian Baroque towns, if you're interested in architecture. Noto is closest to Siracusa. That could be a half-day trip.

Be sure to see Segesta, a well-preserved Greek temple and theater on your way to Palermo. And from Palermo you can take a local bus to Monreale, a Norman cathedral with very memorable mosaics.

Actually I assume you're dropping your rental car at Palermo's airport. Better not to drive in Palermo. Are you flying into Catania?
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 08:21 AM
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Hi, Mimar,

I had seen Bob's recommendation for Villa Schuler in Taormina, and that looked very nice. What I'm less sure of is whether it's a place for a full two for us, especially if we are not inclined to spend much time on the beach. I assume there will still be crowds in October, and that's ok, I just like to avoid the knick knack streets with tons of tour groups waving flags. Jet lag is not much of an issue for me, we find that if we stay up till at least 9 or 10 on our arrival day, we get a good sleep and hit the ground running. (Going home to the US is a different story!).

I hadn't worked through the Ragusa, Noto, part, etc but we would like to go to at least one -- are these "baroque towns" very similar, so that we would be better off just spending a longer bit of time in one of them rather than dashing to two? I had thought that one possibility would be to visit one on our day leaving Siracusa and driving into Piazza Armentira, does that sound possible? Or a day trip from our place near Siracusa is also a possibility.

I had thought we could visit Segesta from Selinunte or wherever we stay in that corner of Sicily. Sound good?

Thanks so much!
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 08:44 AM
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Should be a great trip!

Although you probably won’t be able to fly dirctly from the US to Catania, you can probably book straight through, and AA probably has code shares with airlines that will get you to Catania. You might at least check your options – just enter your starting airport and list Catania as your destination and see what you find.

The views from Taormina are stunning, but I didn’t like the crowds. If you go, you might want to think through some plans to keep you away from the city during the days.

For me, one of the joys of Ortygia (Siracusa) was walking around in the evening, so I was glad I stayed on the island itself. I was very pleased with the L’Appprodo delle Sirene, which still gets great reviews:
http://www.apprododellesirene.com

With an interest in Romanesque, I think you will find much to enjoy in Palermo. Do not miss the Cathedral of Monreale, one of the most magnificent structures in the world, IMO. Although I missed it, the cathedral in Cefalu was recently added to the same UNESCO World Heritage Site inscription, so you might want to make time for it, too. (It should be easy to visit by public transportation from Palermo.) And in Siracusa, you might want to visit the Basilica di San Giovanni.

You should be able to wait until you leave Siracusa to pick up your rental car; return it as soon as you reach Palermo.

You are tagged for Italy, so whatever you did worked.

I agree with Mimar that Noto is a delight and easily seen by public transportation from Siracusa. Segesta is also well worth seeing, perhaps as a day trip from Selinunte (since you don’t want to leave luggage in your car).

Hope that helps!
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 08:49 AM
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Sorry – I was still drafting and missed your last post!

Of the Baroque towns, my understanding – which could be wrong – is that Noto is unlike the others in the color of its stone (golden in hue) and the playfulness of its architectural adornment, and Caltigirone is unlike the others in its use of ceramic as ornamentation. But I skipped the others, so can’t say from direct experience.
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 09:09 AM
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Thanks, kja, you are one of the people whose comments I've been gathering on other threads. It sounds like an option would be to stay a few nights in Taormina, take a train to Siracusa, spend a few nights in Ortygia, including a day trip to Noto from there. Then pick up the car and head to Agriturismo Gigliotto (2 nights) and continue on as previously sketched out.

What time of year were you in Taormina? Would you still expect huge crowds around the end of the first week in October?

Are the train stations in Taormina and Siracusa easy to get to (In Spain, sometimes the high speed stations are way way out of town, like Burgos, not that it's a problem, just nice to know in advance).

If we go to Noto, should we also make a point to also visit Ragusa?

Do you think Selinunte is a better choice than Mazarro del Volo for a base from which to visit Segesta and maybe Trapani and Erice or whatever else I discover once I start my more detailed research?

Sorry to bombard you with questions, but I'm starting to get in full trip planning mode now!

p.s. The moderators tagged the thread for me -- in the old days there were no tags, so you could only choose one country to highlight. Now I know.
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 09:12 AM
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You should be able to wait until you leave Siracusa to pick up your rental car; return it as soon as you reach Palermo.>>

We also arrive into Catania but in September, not October, and we too toyed with the idea of renting a car as we left there, but when we looked at prices discovered that renting from Syracuse at the end of our 3 nights there [we start there] almost doubled the price than to rent from the airport, and for fewer days. so it didn't seem to be a good option.

with 10 days we are sticking to the east of the island, with 3 nights in Ortigia, 2 in Ragusa, 2 in Piazza Armentira [planning to get to the Villa Casale first thing on our first morning there so we beat the heat and the crowds and don't have to worry about luggage being left in the car] and 3 in Taormina, where we are staying in Castelmola and using it as a base to see Etna and the northeast of the island.


another option, if you are not sold on Taormina, would be to stop for a couple of nights in Catania itself, perhaps having a day trip to Etna from there or using the Circumetnea train to explore the base of the mountain, then picking up a car and proceeding to Ortygia [or even getting the train there].

Just an idea.
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 09:41 AM
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Thanks, annhig (I think I remember some conversations between us from long ago involving Portugal?)

Anyway, I did a quick check on cars -- I find, two weeks pick up Taormina, drop off Palermo $362 (including taxes); 12 days pick up in Siracusa (not on a Sunday), drop off Palermo, $229 (again with taxes). Are your prices way different than this? I didn't do a serious search, just a quick Expedia one.

Thanks for the Catania idea, but I have to admit that there were a couple of posts that turned me off to that city -- someone said that all the grit and grime from Palermo has been exported to Catania or something like that! Have you been there?

I am still on the fence with Taormina, but I love this planning part, so I don't mind the obsession!

And a question -- what are you going to do in Piaza Armentira after visiting the mosaics? I ask because I see you have planned a second night there. Are you going to that agriturismo that everyone recommends? I saw Dayle's description of spending a night there, getting up early, leaving luggage at the B&B, doing the visit and then coming back, picking up the luggage and heading out. But if there is more to do in the area, I would prefer a second night there as well.

Thanks!
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 09:49 AM
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The plan you are describing makes sense to me!

I’m not sure what Taormina would be like in early October. I was in Taormina in the middle of May of 2007. The main street was so jam-packed during the day that I literally had people smashing my arms to either side snd no space to step ahead or back. Not nice. There’s really only one main street, but I shifted to one of the few parallel streets, which was blissfully empty, and then got out of the city ASAP. I did enjoy the city very much once the daytrippers left, and the views were stunning! For your time during the day, you could go to Castelmola or Isola Bella, maybe Catania….

The train station that serves Taormina is in Giardini Naxos. I used a taxi to and from the station, as I had a suitcase with me. I don’t remember if there was an alternative… The train station in Siracusa is easy to reach. Depending on where you stay, how much luggage you have, etc., you might want to take a taxi. You should be able to see these things on google maps, or a good guidebook should describe your options and provide maps.

Sorry, but I can’t help with your other questions – As I mentioned, I didn’t visit Ragusa (I’m not that much of a fan of Baroque, although I did truly enjoy Noto); I visited Segesta and Selinunte en route from Palermo to Agrigento; and unfortunately, I didn’t feel that I had time for Trapani or Erice (although I’m sure I would have enjoyed them).
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 10:12 AM
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Thanks, Kja, I was just being lazy about the train stations, I'll check them out when I get down to the day -to-day planning. But it seems like it makes more sense for us to take the train from Taormina to Siracusa, stay in Ortygia and then pick up the car.

I will look into what else we could do in/from Taormina, we would only have two days there, since we'll probably arrive at night on day 1. But the views and the fact that it empties out at night make it more attractive.

LIke you, I'm not a huge Baroque fan, so maybe we'll leave it with Noto or maybe add on the ceramics town you mentioned. And many many thanks for the recommendations on cathedrals in Monreale and Cefalu, I will definitely put them on my list of things to research. (And maybe Cefalu would be a do-able day trip from Taormina to avoid crowds in the day, unless we'd be going from the frying pan into the fire by going to Cefalu, I'll have to check it all out).

Thanks!
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 10:37 AM
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Perfectly understandable to want to know the ease of getting to/from a train station as you rough out a plan!

I believe that Cefalu is 4 hours by train from Taormina. It is only an hour from Palermo. Use rome2rio.com to get a quick sense of options.
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 11:50 AM
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I've been to Taormina 2 times -- once in Sept quite a few years ago where we stayed a couple nights and the other May 2015 where we visited for a few hours. It was packed both trips. Lots of tour groups crowding the streets. I went back the 2nd time because I remembered the gorgeous views and wanted to see them. I have to say I regretted it and wanted to get out quickly. On the trip last May we wanted to see the cathedral in Cefalu and what a nightmare. Town was packed, couldnt find parking after driving around and around. Don't know what it's like in October, but it was very crowded mid week in mid May.

We only went to Noto and enjoyed both a day there and then a return one evening to see it in the evening light which is quite lovely.

I love ceramics and we did a stop in Caltagironeand enjoyed the architecture. The "famous" steps that you will see photos of I thought better then the steps in person. Lots of ceramic shops if you like ceramics.

Segesta and Selinute are about an hour or less apart so could certainly visit one from the other. We didn't stay in Marza del Valle, but went one evening for dinner and a walk around and then again for a few hours one afternoon. I liked it -- thought it was a "real" Italian town as there were few tourists.

To tag a country -- at the bottom of your post there is a pull down menu. For example you are posting for Europe, at the bottom, under "Tags" you will find a list of countrie and you click on the one you want. Hope that helps.

Sicily is wonderful -- hope you love it!
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 02:03 PM
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Really, the only reason to go to Taormina is the view (well, and the theater if you haven't seen many others), but with only two weeks there is so much else to see in Sicily I would skip it. Use the time for Trapani or Erice.

I would not stay outside Siracusa, as I loved Ortygia - much better to stay there.
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 02:07 PM
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We had a car and stayed outside Siracusa in a small agriturismo. We did day trips in the area (to Noto, to Etna) and enjoyed doing it that way. Ortygia is certainly a nice, charming town and if you don't want want to do driving in the area, its a perfect place to stay.
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 02:25 PM
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I spent a night in Noto specifically to have plenty of time to see its facades in daylight, sunset, and back-lit against the night sky – loved it! But then, I don’t mind moving around a lot. You might consider going there during the day, and then staying for dinner, taking a late bus back. (Of course, do check to make sure there are late buses!)

I’d agree with yestravel that Caltagirone’s La Scala doesn’t quite live up to the photos I saw in advance. Although I’m glad I saw the town, I’m not sure I would go out of my way to see Caltagirone – for me, it was a convenient place to stop for a night.

I would disagree with thursdaysd’s assessment that the only reason to visit Taormina is the view and/or theater – once day trippers had left, I found the town charming, and I had one of the best meals of my time in Sicily there (and that says a LOT!) – it was at the Osteria Nero d’Avola, which still gets very good reviews. And it was a great base for a tour of Mt. Etna, which was something I wanted to do.
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 03:15 PM
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Thank you very much, my plans are evolving a bit. I will leave the Taormina decision for later, but I'm still leaning towards including it, even though I am not much for tourist towns. I think that part of the reason I still have it on my itinerary is because my parents were there in the 80s and celebrated an anniversary there and just raved. My mom just died recently, and I think I'm maybe being sentimental about it. Anyway...

We will definitely stay in Ortygia and pick up the car after we've finished. So now it looks like this:

Taormina (3 nights). One day in town and to Greek theater, second day either on boat, day trip to Mount Etna or something else. Train to Siracusa early morning on Day 4.

Ortygia (3 nights) (some time left from Day 4 after train ride, one full day, maybe a day trip to Noto by train, one half day in Ortygia on Day 7, then leave in late afternoon in rental car on Day 7, drive to Piazza Armentira)

Piazza Armentira (1 night)

See mosaics in morning, drive to Agrigento (2 nights)

Selinunte or Mazzaro deal Vallo (3 nights) (day trips to Trapani, Erice, Segesta).

Drive to Palermo (3 nights)

I still can add a day or two, but if it's just one night I would prefer to add it to one of the places already on the itinerary rather than add a one nighter somewhere else. Or I could add another two night stay somewhere.

So my questions now are --

I know I've already asked, but if anyone has an opinion about the northwest and whether to stay in Selinunte, Mazara or even Trapani, I'd love to hear it.

How many days should we stay in Ortygia? Since we won't have a car, there's less flexibility, but the possible day trip to Noto can be on the train if we find ourselves with extra time in Ortygia.

Any special hotels in these places that you would recommend? Many many thanks everyone.
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 03:51 PM
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Looks good to me!

I needed 2 very full days for Ortygia and Siracusa. Whether that works for you depends on what, exactly, you decide to include.

You might consider adding a night to Palermo, particularly given your interest in Romanesque architecture. And even a night beyond that if you decide to include Cefalu.

I already gave you my recommendation for lodging in Ortygia... L’Appprodo delle Sirene, which still gets great reviews:
http://www.apprododellesirene.com
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 04:28 PM
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Is there a train to Noto? I went by bus.
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 05:08 PM
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There was a train when I was there, and I believe there still is -- takes about 1/2 hour, but leaves you off further from the central part of Noto, with a bit of an uphill walk, IIRC.
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Old Aug 13th, 2016, 05:10 PM
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Hi lreynold,

I'm excited to see that you are going to Sicily!

IMO, I would not have spent more than 1 night in Taormina unless I was planning to visit Etna or the Alcantara Gorge from there. I think I expressed my opinion in my trip report.

I had 3 nights in Ortigia and would have loved a 4th. That was without any day trips out.

My Baroque town was Scicli and I really enjoyed it. At that point in my trip, I had done 4 one nighters in a row and was perfectly happy to just enjoy and soak in was I was rather than try and dash through more Baroque towns!

I would tweak your itinerary so that you have at least a couple nights in either Erice or Trapani. I loved Erice and thought it made a great base for the area.

I would take at least 1 night from Taormina, one night from Agrigento and stay in western Sicily before you drop your car at the airport.

If you can add a night, DO IT! You can never have enough time in Sicily!

My rec for lodging in Ortigia is La Via della Guidecca. Ask for a larger room. Mine was the one with two sets of French doors facing the tiny church piazza. Excellent manager, Roberta.

The winery lodging near Caltagione, Il Gigliotto, has wonderful views and is surrounded by their vineyards. Dinner is optional, long, slow, and very local. I liked some of the dishes much more than others.

Many here have stayed at Villa Clementine which looks wonderful.

Highly recommend La Foresterria Planeta Estate for your Selinute time. You might event want 3 nights here!

I took a taxi between Hertz car drop in Ortigia and della Guidecca just because I wasn't sure how long of a walk it would be with my bag. I took a taxi from the inn to the Siracusa train station went leaving for Taormina (yes, nice train). Took a taxi from Giardino Naxos up to Taormina just for convenience.



Happy planning!
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