Ciao Rescue: are you more into full service hotels, B&Bs, Agriturismo, wineries? 3 star - 5 star accomatations?

Wow! Twenty days in Sicily in April and May. What a wonderful trip to look forward to. We had 10 days, starting in Palermo. After 3 days in Palermo we picked up a car and headed south, eventually visiting Agrigento, Piazza Amerina, Siracusa and Taormina. You will have time for more.

Read some of the trip reports on this board - they are wonderful for getting ideas for your trip as is a guidebook. As you decide where to go, we can be of more help on hotels and restaurants, etc. Have a wonderful trip!

You might want to take a look at my trip report; click on my name to find it. Friends just showed us pictures of their trip to Sicily, and the one thing we did not plan was traveling through the center--they did, following an itinerary suggested in the Guide Michelin for Sicily.

bmking as we are also planning a trip to Sicily at about the same time as you, albeit for a shorter time - 10-12 days I think.

Michael - thanks for the tip about the michelin guide - I don't think that i knew that there was one for Sicily.

I can recommend the Lonely planet guide. it helpfully divides up the island into sections and suggests 3 day itineraries for each part - you might find that useful, Rescue.

Our family spent two weeks in Sicily two years ago. I loved it. Here's the link to my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/it-was-sicily-for-our-special-trip.cfm. On my wish list for a return visit--the Aeolians, the Villa Casale at Piazza Armerina (after a long restoration period the entire villa is now apparently open again), Cefalù, and Monreale.

UmoDiViaggio,and fellow Fodors travelers,
My wife and I love drinking wine (mostly reds). We have traveled to Italy a couple of times, and try and find a nice B&B to base our travels from. Weather its rated 3-5 stars is not as important. We consider the recommendation we get from fellow travelers more. An important consideration for a nice B&B would be parking, and a good base location to visit as much of Sicily as possible. We are considering 4-6 cities to base our travels from. We are open to any recommendations all of you suggest. Thank you again, Louie & Vera.

Rescue, we found it relatively easy to get in and out of Ortigia/Siracusa and also Modica. Most of the driving-in- Sicily advice you'll read will recommend that you avoid driving in the big cities (Palermo, Catania) at all cost. I also would not have wanted a car in Taormina.

I also would not have wanted a car in Taormina.

There is underground parking below Taormina and a free shuttle to the town.

Bon_voyage and Michael,
Thank you for both your responses. Yes we will not have a rental car for our stay in Palermo or Catania. We will only drive out of Palermo, and drop off the rental car at the airport in Catania and taxi to our hotel. I have a question about which city Noto, Modica, or Ragusa would be better to base our travels in that area of Sicily from. Or would you recommend visiting more than one. We love to explore the old cities for ceramics shops and mom & pop restaurants where the locals eat.
Ciao, Louie & Vera.

Modica is a vibrant town that blends its historic attractions with authentic modern-day life. One of the reasons that I chose to stay at Casa Talía was that it offered parking a short walk from the B & B. It also had character and charm and a terrific view of Modica Alta. Ragusa Ibla, the site of most of the Baroque attractions, is lovely but separated from the newer part of Ragusa where most people live and work. We had only a brief stop in Noto. I'd have liked a few more hours to poke around. It had a dusty, sleepy feel in comparison to the other two, but we were also there on a Sunday. It's only about 30 minutes from Siracusa and can easily been seen on the way to or from there. I'd wanted to hike in the Cava d'Ispica but there wasn't time. And then there's Scicli and the beach area. Really, with two weeks, it felt as though we'd barely scratched the surface of Sicily.

Ciao:
IMO, i fly into Catania and leave from Catania. rent a car there and head right to Taormina, use that as base for 3-4 days , explore Mt, Etna, Naxos, east coast to Messina , Tindari ( The Black Madonna). Aeolian isl. maybe if you want to fit it in.

head over toward Cefalu, use that as base for 2-3 days, explore there, go to Parco Madonie, there are two old towns here with ruins Caltavuturo (my father was from here)& Sciafani-Bagni.

head over toward Palermo , personally i would not spend much time here, use time here to see Monreale and Segesta.

head toward Trapani ,get another base there, see Marsala and Donnafugata winery. stay here for a few days http://www.planetaestate.it/?lang=en , use that to exlpore southwestern part, Agrigento is only 1hr away.

next head overto Ragusa, for a base for few days, see Caltagirone and Siracusa from there.

and finish trip with Catania, overnight (or maybe 2), return car and fly home.

CitiesAgrigento — to the south and particularly noted for the Valle dei Templi (Valley of Temples)(UNESCO World Heritage)
Catania — busy university city and economic center, great for nightlife, the gate to Mount Etna (UNESCO World Heritage)
Gela — one of the most important old greek cities, archaelogical centre e sea resort on the south coast
Marsala — interesting museum, home of the famous wine
Messina — busy city and link to the mainland
Palermo — throbbing capital, plenty of sights but not my favorite.
Ragusa — impressive baroque architecture (UNESCO World Heritage)
Syracuse (Siracusa) — attractive old town and Greek ruins (UNESCO World Heritage)
Trapani — attractive city and gateway to Pantelleria and the Egadi islands
Other destinations
The Aeolian Islands
Aegadian Islands — relaxing islands off the west coast
Aeolian Islands — beautiful group of volcanic islands (UNESCO World Heritage)
Madonie — Madonie National Park, the national Park in the Heart of Sicily
Mount Etna — the impressive 3323m high active volcano
Mozia — ancient Punic city built on the island of Mozia overlooking Marsala
Pantelleria — Arab-influenced solitude
Pelagie Islands — most southern, in the Mediterranean Sea
Segesta — another Greek temple, theatre and ruins
Selinunte — another group of impressive Greek temples and ruins of Greek city


http://www.thinksicily.com/guide-to-sicily/archaeological-sites-in-sicily.aspx

Bon_voyage,
Thank you for the info on Modica. That is exactly the info we were hoping for. So I think we will stay in Modica 3-4 nights, and visit Noto, Ragusa the Cava d'lspica, and the beaches. Also, my wife loved the red poppies on the hillsides in the Tuscany area. Are there areas in Sicily that we could see the poppies in May?
Thank you, again, Louie & Vera.

All of Sicily is in bloom in early May.

Ciao UmoDiViaggio,
Great information. All the help is making our understanding of how to approach a first time visit to Sicily easy. It definitely saves us from wasting a lot of time deciding where to go, and what is the best route to take without doing any back tracking. Thank you again, Louie & Vera.

We are also planning to fly into and out of Catania; with 10 nights or so, how would you distribute them? We like to stay 3-4 nights in each place, not moving around too much.

I am thinking, perhaps, of staying in 3 places: Ortgya, Modica, and somewhere near Agrigento. &/or possibly north of Catania near Etna, though that might be too much in such a short trip.

thoughts anyone?

If you stay in Ortygia (Siracusa), Modica is less than 50 miles from Siracusa; just a day's outing.

IMO, i would stay around Ragusa,use that as one of your bases, and visit Siracusa, Ortygia, and Gela to the west and Modica, ALL with in <1 hr.

http://www.anticabadia.com/home_eng.php

I did a reverse bon_voyage trip, except it was a bit shorter. I wished we had at least one more night in each location except Agrigento.

We flew into Palermo, stayed in Palermo a day and a half (due to delayed flights), picked up the car out at the airport and drove to Agrigento, stopping at Segesta along the way. We spent one night near Agrigento so we could see the Valle dei Templi--unforgettable. Then we were off to Modica for two or three nights, which we loved and wished we could stay longer. Drove to Villa Romana del Casale to see the mosaics one day. Had a long, Michelin-starry lunch in Modica another day. Then off to Ortygia, which was beautiful and relaxing. We thought the archaeological museum was terrific. In fact, seeing that first and then traveling across Sicily would be helpful if you're into ruins. Flew out of Catania for six nights in Rome.

We stayed at the Hotel Falkensteiner in Palermo, Casa Talia in Modica, and Palazzo del Sale in Ortygia, all of which I recommend. We got a great deal at the Falkensteiner, and Palazzo del Sale is very reasonable. We stayed at a tiny b-and-b outside Agrigento but spent so much time getting lost to/from that I only recommend it to those with a good sense of direction.

We traveled in late-March/early-April and lucked out with beautiful weather, no crowds and low-season pricing. I think April-May will be very, very pleasant.

Enjoy Sicily. It is on my must-return list.

Ann, no Palermo for you?

How very perfect! I will also finally be making my Sicily trip at the same time. Planning to fly in/out of Palermo and travel counterclockwise with 5-6 nts on Lipari and a finish in Palermo. Starting 4/26 for 3 weeks.

Is anyone having problems finding flights from the US? I was trying Delta (hub in state) and can't find anything thru to Palermo or Catania published yet! Arggghh!

Despite Umo's claims, Ortygia and Siracusa are not within an hour's drive of Ragusa. I've never read a recommendation for visiting Gela. Here's what we did:

http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/bruce-and-marija-carless-in-sicily-in-november.cfm

Dayle,
We are having the same issue with Delta. We are flying from Sacramento,CA to Sicily. We might fly into Boston first
(Parker House Hotel), and stay a few days. The flight options to Sicily are better.
I hope this helps. Either way it is expensive.....
Ciao, Louie.

I second Marija's point about drive-times. All our driving took longer than we expected--and not only because we got lost so frequently.

Dayle, I don't think I booked flights for a late-March visit until late January. Those short hops Alitalia does may not have a firm schedule this far in advance.

Marija: , Ragusa -to- Siracusa = 100k+/- , looking at my travel notes , it took me more like 1.5hr+, that inluded getting into town., still not bad and a doable day trip for me.. i enjoyed staying in Ragusa. i mentioned Gela, because i found it interesting,an ancient city dating back to around 700BC, there is an archaeological museum there,even though there is a lot of intustrial sites there now. it also played important part during WWII, this was the initial assault landing of US forces on the beach there in July 1943.

your report is very intesting , thank you for the links and posting it.

Ann, no Palermo for you?>>

Leely - probably not. our easiest route into Sicily is probably Catania and with only 10 or so days, I'd like to concentrate on the east of the island, especially as I too have fallen for the lovely Commissario Montalbano!

Marija- i just spent a lovely 15 mins rereading your TR. we will have a car - I enjoy the freedom it brings, though i appreciate that it's not for everyone. my problem is that everywhere i read about, i want to stay there! [apart from Gela - that's off my list already].

here is a site that may be usefull to those visiting Sicilia

http://www.sicilyincoming.com/index.html

go to bar on top of site and scroll over : "Sicily Guide", each Province is listed and you will get a map of area with points of interest.

annhig , i would put Taormina on your short list. i'll post some of the hotels and a b&b i stayed at there. i am looking at an appartment there for my Oct trip, but undecided on it.

UmoDiViaggio - thanks for the link. looks like a terrific source of information.

I have read mixed things about Taormina as a base - some people rave about it, others at it. i'd be interested in your view.

Umo gives wonderful info! I would, however, land in Palermo and fly out from the east. If you are interested in stunning mosaics, don't miss Palermo (The Palatine Chapel) or Monreale.

We took a local bus to Mondello and found its art deco bath house pretty nifty.

Ciao All,
My wife and I just purchased out tickets to Sicily. We fly into Palermo April 28TH and stay for two nights. We plan to do a clockwise circle of Sicily from Palermo, and fly back out of Palermo May 22,2013. Here is what we thought would be a nice itinerary. We are open for suggestions on locations, and can use help with nice clean B&B Hotels with easy car access & parking. Here is our tentative travel plan. Palermo (2) nights, Cefalu (2) nights, Taormina (4) nights, Siracusa (4) nights, Modica (4) nights, Agrigento (3) nights, and were not sure of the last 5 nights. We were thinking of (5) nights in Castellammare del Golfo. Is that too many days there? Or should we stay in Erice, Trapani, Segesta..... We want to explore the western region of Sicily, and are looking for the best city to base out of. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Ciao, Louie & Vera.

here are some of hotels and B&B i have stayed at that i can recommend.:
Palmermo http://www.bed-breakfast-palermo.com/ nice and clean, great location. good price.
Agrigento :http://www.hotelvillaathena.it/ location location location
Ragusa : http://www.anticabadia.com/home_eng.php
Segesta: http://www.angimbe.it/
Menfi : http://www.planetaestate.it/?lang=en Love the wine , magical place.
Taormina stayed at all of these, hard to choose which one was my favorite, althougth Francesca and Pino at Casa Turchetti make that my favorite : http://www.villaducale.com/ , http://www.casaturchetti.com/en/main.php , http://www.hotelvillacarlottataormina.com/villa/taormina-villa

i have been looking at this for trip next month, but itis not right in Taormina http://www.luxuryresidencetaormina.it/uk/apartments-eolie.htm

ciao, louie and vera,

you are very lucky to have so long for your trip - nearly a month. Sadly we have less than half that. I can see the attraction of Palermo - my problem is that I can see the attraction of the rest of Sicily as well!

Umo - thank you for all of those links. A plan is sort of forming, but flying into Catania and working back to Palermo, on the basis that we are likely to be doing most of our driving in the mornings, so we would have the sun at our backs most of the time.

I have in mind to stay 3 nights in Ortegya, spend 3-4 nights exploring the interior ending at Cefalu, and then ending with 3 nights in Palermo before flying home.

comments anyone? [louie and vera, sorry to hijack your thread, but our interests overlap, i think!]

Annhig,

Don't worry about hijacking the Sicily thread. We all can gain valuable information from all your questions. We are also going to stay in Ortegya during our time in Saricusa. We are looking for a nice B&B to stay at. Some are already booked...
Ciao, Louie & Vera.

We are also going to stay in Ortegya during our time in Saricusa. We are looking for a nice B&B to stay at. Some are already booked...>>

are they booked or are they not taking bookings yet? some websites that I've looked at are saying that they have no vacancies at all in April, which I think is unlikely. Even so, we won't be booking anything until we get back from our autumn trip to Sri lanka, so if they're booked, they're booked!

annhig, Louie and Vera,

I am finding some of the same, but I agree it's most likely because they are not taking reservations this far out on booking sites like venere.com.

If you contact the B&B or hotel directly via e mail, you should get a response in a few days. Remember, they are still busy with current guests and Italian hotels/B&Bs don't always respond immediately anyway.

Sicily is incredible--you will love it! In Modica we stayed at B&B Le Lumie, right in town. It was lovely. Great location, super nice host, beautiful view from the garden.

annhig and rescue - it would be nice to allocate a couple of days close to the eastern coast, in either Taormina, or Giardini Naxos or Letojanni, in this area you would also be close to Mt. Etna area - but if it were me, I would choose Taormina (that is if you do not mind the tourists and lively atmosphere - even going up to this town is an experience in itself, and the scenery is really lovely).

The Madonie mountains close to Cefalu' is a really nice area, as is also the wine country of the very north west. Erice is a lovely town. Monreale (close to Palermo), would also make a nice visit. I also like Messina as a city a visit to the clock tower which has statuettes that move mechanically at noon every day woulod be nice. This small city is relatively much quieter than Catania or Palermo - I am not sure whether it would be worth a trip is time is limited, but in the case of Rescue, I would certainly consider a visit to this city.

Just in case anyone of you is interested, there is also an airport in Trapani, Ryanair does flights to Trapani airport.

Avoid driving at all costs in the centre of Catania and Palermo, and be extra careful of pickpocketers if you visit the centre of these cities, also be careful of drivers on scooters driving past you. Saying that, Sicilians are extremely friendly, helpful, and loud people - you will see a marked difference from Italians of northern Italy (and the men real womenizers, lol. In my younger days one funny incident I remember, (on that particular holiday I was travelling with another female friend), was that after landing near the ferries and started walking to our hotel (the harbour of Catania is quite close to its centre) a police car stopped by and two policemen in uniform called us over. We were wondering what we had done wrong - they simply asked us which hotel we were staying in, then told us to get into the police car so that they give us a lift to the hotel!! So we were given a ride right to the entrance of the hotel!! My friend and myself were laughing all the time during this short ride, and imagining what anyone we know would think if they saw us in the police car - so many Maltese in the 80s used to go to Sicily for short breaks!!

I also recall strolling with friends down the main street of Catania, and we used to get literally a whole trail of men following us like in a procession, and the closest to us trying to chat us up. But at the same time they were harmless. So funny!! Of course that was when I was in my prime in my younger days, lol.

Enjoy it in Sqallija (Sicily in my language, lol)

anna, thank you again for taking the time to share all your invaluable experience. having watched the dramatisations of Commissario Montalbano on TV [another episode tonight, goody] I can well believe that you were picked up by Sicilian police in the way you describe.

my trip planning is going to be on hold for a couple of weeks or so, as we are off to Sri Lanka on holiday tomorrow, but when I come back, I'm going to be desperate to be working on our NEXT trip!

Enjoy your trip to Sri Lanka - wow - that will prove to be a really lovely, unique and unusual trip for sure. If I am not mistaken, that is where teas come from.

Have fun, and please tell us about this beautiful island when you come back.

Ciao all,

My wife and I have almost completed our itinerary for our first trip to Sicily. We need help with a nice Hotel or B&B in Erice that has parking nearby. Here is our travel plans. Fly into Palermo April 28TH, and rent a car and drive to Cefalu.

April 28-May1, Cefalu, stay at Hotel Kalura.

May 2-5, Taormina, stay at Panoramic Hotel.

May 6-9, Siracusa, stay at B&B La Via Della Giudecca.

May 10-12, Modica, stay at Hotel Grana Barocca.

May 13-15, Agrigento, stay at Colleverde Park Hotel.

May 16-18, Erice, no hotel yet???????

May 19-22, Palermo, stay at Hotel Ambasciatori.

We are open for suggestions on lodging in Erice. Also, any help with fun things to do Hiking trails, Historical sites, ceramics shopping, unique towns to visit etc at all our cites we are visiting. Also, we contacted each Hotel-B&B by email and requested a nice room, and had great success with booking each Hotel-B&B.

Thank you, Louie & Vera.

Very close to Erice town not Erice itself, (approximately 4km away) there is a brand new hotel/B&B called Ericemare in Pizzolungo (www.ericemare.it) newly-consructed and brand new, and on its site it says that it offers free parking. It is quite close to the sea, and is in the provence of Erice - since it is so close. The rates are really really affordable.

On Tripadvisor, it has only 3 reviews, probably because it is brand new, written in Italian (probably Italians were their first customers), and all of them gave it a 5 out of 5 score. Maybe you would like to take a look at it.

Have a look at TA or booking.com for Erice hotels that are in the centre. I am glad that you emailed hotels/B&B by email, I prefer to do that as well.

Are you planning to visit the eastern coast from Taormina? A visit to/near Etna mountain would make a nice day-trip.

And a day-trip to Messina from Cefalu' would also be nice (about 1hr30mins drive each way). Make sure you are there at noon as the clock tower of the church has statuettes that move mechanically at the stroke of noon.

If you prefer accommodation in the very centre of Erice, I will gladly help in researching.

There are B&Bs in Erice and one very nice hotel compound in the pines. From my trip report:

"We parked the car at the entrance and tried to find the Hotel in the Pines (http://www.lapinetadierice.com/ ) for which we saw signs. We eventually discovered that we had to drive all around and through the town to get to it. There is a tempting shorter route, but the last 30 yards or so are the wrong way on a one-way street and I would not be surprised if that is used as a revenue enhancement by the town. The hotel has a wonderful location facing the sea, set among pines with rooms in individual stone cabins; but not all cabins have views. Ours did not and that night the fog came in like in a SF summer. The cabin felt positively cold and monastical (the bathrooms have electrical space heaters). The cost of a room ranges from 60€ to 140€ for the same room depending on the season."

Anna_Galea,& Michael,

Thank you both for your reply's. We will explore the east coast, and Mt.Etna from Taormina. We love to drive and discover unique places to visit, and take photos. For a B&B or Hotel in Erice we will look at both your lodging suggestions.
Thank you again, Louie & Vera.

Louie & Vera,

I booked Erice Pietro Antiche in Erice. It looks very nice and gets very good reviews.

Hotel San Domenico was not available for both nights I wanted.

I see you booked Della Guidecca in Ortygia. Were you able to find any on line pictures of their rooms or did you just go by the rest of their pictures? I thought it looked very nice, but found the lack of room pictures a little strange. Also no way to contact them. No phone number or e mail.
Did you have a TA reserve it for you?

Dayle,
We were able to see the rooms from their web site.
http://www.laviadellagiudecca.it/contattaci.en.php. Also, we requested room 12 or 13 and they emailed us back and confirmed room 13 for 110.00 Euro a night for our stay May6,7,8,9,2013.
Hope this helps. Also, we are still waiting for a response from Hotel San Domenico,Erice. Ciao, Louie.

Rescue - you mentioned that you purchased your airline tickets. Could we ask how much they were. We are also planning a trip from San Francisco to Sicily in April and May and have been checking the prices at United and Lufthansa for a couple of months. It seems they went up a bit though we were hoping they would go down some time this month. We're thinking they will only go up after this month. Would like a little input before we bite the bullet and pay the fare. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Rescue - you mentioned that you purchased your airline tickets. Could we ask how much they were. We are also planning a trip from San Francisco to Sicily in April and May and have been checking the prices at United and Lufthansa for a couple of months. It seems they went up a bit though we were hoping they would go down some time this month. We're thinking they will only go up after this month. Would like a little input before we bite the bullet and pay the fare. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

caer, I bought tickets in January for a March/April trip to Sicily and Rome, SFO-PMO-FCO-SFO. We flew Delta/Alitalia. Did the flight from Catania to Rome separately using BluExpress.

Of course that was in 2011; we paid around $800 pp for coach. Prices from the West Coast to Europe seem to be generally more expensive this year.

We flew from Barcelona to Palermo in 2010, on Vueling. That part of the trip was around $100 each.

We flew into Madrid on ff miles on Air Canada, spent time in Spain, then on to Palermo.
Jusst throwing it out as a suggestion.

Caer,
My wife and I purchased our tickets for $1,200.00 dollars each through Hot-Wire.com. We fly out of Sacramento on United Airlines. That was the lowest rate we could find.
Good luck, Louie.

Thanks, Louie. We have purchased our tickets through Lufthansa (some flights operated by United Airlines) from SFO. Our rate was about the same. We've been watching and it seems the rate will not go lower and as we want to tie down our rental car, hotels, and flights well in advance we're happy with the price. Here's to great trips for all of us!

My husband and I really loved Scopello. We stayed at a little bed and breakfast where the owner cooks dinner everynight. We stayed for 4 days but could have stayed longer. I'd also recommend going to Hotel Raya on Panarea for several days to celebrate your anniversary! The food and scenery in Scopello and Panarea were amazing! This is especially great if you love swimming in the sea, hiking, and being among nature.

Good to hear hpluss1. I've been following Louie's thread because I will also be in Sicily for 3 weeks this spring. Scopello is one of my planned destinations, another is Lipari and the islands for 5 days.

Unfortunately Pensione Trachino never answered my emails, so I am booked somewhere else, but I'm sure I will enjoy Scopello just as much.

I may visit Panarea on a boat tour that combines night time Stromboli-watching!

i have visited Sicily on various times and always choose to visit only smaller parts each time.

My best preferred place so far was the western part. I stayed in a cottage, in a small village under Erice, in Buseto Palizzolo. It was the ideal location as a starting point to other locations such as Castelamare, Segesta, erice, Saline di traopani and most lovingly Egadi islands. I have so far been 4 times in that area and is always mesmerizing.

The eastern parts are touristic but enjoyable as well. Mt Etna and modica have a lure to them. Hope it helps.

i have stayed at the casale dell ulivo and the owners were very friendly indeed.

When we were planning our Sicily trip we originally booked to stay here, and next time if we have time to explore the south of Italy we'll surely stay here: http://www.casatalia.it/english/casa_talia.htm .

Also, I recently saw this hotel ~ Ragusa is supposed to be very beautiful. this looks BEAUTIFUL!! http://www.italytraveller.com/en/z/tenuta-cammarana
This hotel also looks nice http://www.eremodellagiubiliana.it/ And

@annhig these 2 hotels looks nice for Siracusa . I'm partial to small hotels with pretty gardens (who isn't) http://www.tablethotels.com/Caol-Ishka-Hotel/Syracuse-Hotels-Sicily-Italy/63875#right

Ciao! We spent one week in Sicily and were able to drive around the entire island, although we certainly wish we had had more time in many of the towns we visited. Here is a link with our itinerary, recommended restaurants and hotels and some photos - http://bit.ly/K4qZPp - I haven't put up a trip report on Fodor's yet, but you've inspired me to do so. Enjoy your trip and feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

My wife and I are headed back to Italy...also in May...but for a week each in/around Venizia, Firenza and Roma. We were in Sicily last year and it is a pretty place. We visited Savoca where the Godfather (wedding) was filmed....and several of the other places people have mentioned here. I'd just like to mention that Erice...and lots of these little isolated places...are difficult to get to and also require lots of uphill/downhill walking on cobblestones...so be prepared. We personally didn't think Erice was worth the effort...but that's just us. Taormina is lovely and there's lots to savor. Etna is a must see and there are lots of little villages nearby that we wish we had more time to see. The airport in Palermo is modern and easy to get in/out of. Palermo....lots to see and do...but be aware, if things haven't changed, that the economy and other factors seem to have influenced Palermo to become a pretty dirty place. There was trash everywhere in and near the streets and buildings in the city...and I mean huge piles of it. Be sure to have warm clothes for Etna...coooold!

I agree - LOVED Taormina and could have spent a whole week there, with trip(s) to Etna of course. We spent 4 days in Taormina and really loved it, there are great restaurants, hotels, and sights to visit (the roman ampitheater in particular, and we had a drink at the super fancy hotel right near it and that was a fun too!). I also agree that Erice is nothing too exciting. In all honestly the only part about it that I liked was the drive up, and not even from a "this is beautiful" perspective but more of a holy whoa, I can't believe we're driving up this crazy road, this is INSANE!!!! So that's what it's like there. Also the streets in Erice are very slippery to walk on. It's TINY. Definitely not worth staying overnight, I'm pretty sure there is nothing to do there.

Good evening to all... I would advise you to visit Milazzo. It is located on the Tyrrhenian coast with a beautiful beach, one of the largest castles in Europe. It is also the main port to go to the Aeolian Islands. Visit it!