kirstenrdh

Hi,
I am planning a trip to southeast Sicily. Thinking of renting an airbnb in either Noto, Modica or Ragusa. I am a little bit confused: Would either one of them be a good home base for day trips? I am looking for somewhat easy access by car, pleasant scenery, and nice dining options for the evenings ( already looked at some Michelin starred options in Ragusa.) If anyone has been to all three, which one is the nicest to stroll around in the evenings and dine. All recommendations are appreciated

kja

I haven't been to all three -- I'm not that big a fan of Baroque architecture. Nonetheless, I adored the playfulness of Noto's architecture.

Are you committed to one of these 3 towns? I adored Ortygia....

Enjoy!

kirstenrdh

Thank You kja. Going for the baroque architecture

kja

In that case, you should find a slice of heaven in these places!

I encourage you to find time for Noto's beautifully golden and playful facades (perhaps best seen near sunset) and the contrast of Ortygia's Baroque facades with interiors in various different styles and with elements dating back to ancient times.

Hope that helps!

scrb11

I've stayed in Ragusa and Noto (just one night).

Car access is tough in both towns.

I would think evening strolls would be easier in Noto because if you stay in the upper part of Ragusa, it's a long way down those steps to the lower part or vice versa.

The lower part of Ragusa, which has the two cathedrals, have a sloped main drag. Not too difficult. But my hotel, while relatively close, still required going up and down some stony steps to reach it. I guess it depends a lot on where you stay.

I would ask the hotel, before you book, about the parking situation near the hotels. Some hotels are in the ZTL so you have to park away and hike a bit. Even dropping off luggage in front of the hotel could get you a ticket so ask specific questions about where to park.

I'm not the biggest fan of Baroque either but the duomos in these cities are in great condition.

Ortygia is tricky because most of the island is one big ZTL, so you may have to pay to park in the parking structure near the bridge connecting the island to the mainland. And then a good amount of hike depending on where you're staying.

Some places do have arrangements to get their clients into the ZTL without getting a ticket and they have parking set up.

You can play around with Google Maps and Viamichelin.com to get an idea of how long drives from these cities to the places you want to visit are. That could help with your decision making.

julies

I thin Modica has more to offer of the three you have listed. However, I am with kja in that Ortygia is really much nicer. And, as much as I enjoy seeing various kinds of architecture, the Baroque does start to become repetitive quite quickly, and the towns tend to run together in my mind.

frencharmoire

The Baroque towns, in particular Modica, can feel much less toursty than Ortygia, if that is a consideration. Lots of interestng local life and I enjoyed them immensely. Also check out Scicli

http://www.atasteoftravelblog.com/go...que-in-sicily/

frencharmoire

here's a good article about Scicli

http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/sicily/scicli.html

kirstenrdh

thank you all. I have some planning to do I guess I appreciate all the advice so far !

massimop

There was recently a wonderful article about the Sicilian baroque towns in the Financial Times. I don't know if it's behind the paywall. Hope not.

https://www.ft.com/content/4a4828d0-...7-59b4dd6296b8

Mimar

Sicily doesn't lend itself to hub-and-spoke travel. Something more linear instead. I loved Ortigia but threading your way in and out of Siracusa for day trips would be a bore. (But do visit the cathedral on Ortigia with a Baroque façade on a Greek temple to Athena.)

Given your interests, pick one of the 3 Sicilian Baroque towns, depending on accommodation location, parking, convenience for daytrips and walkability.

kja

Although I turned in my rental car immediately upon reaching Siracusa, I didn't find getting in to at all difficult. I'm sure it would depend on where, exactly, you park and where you stay....

annhig

of the three you mention, I think that the easiest option would be to stay in Modica bass - that would mean not having to negotiate the hills on the way out and way back every day, which is a definite advantage in my book. you will need to do some hill climbing of course if you are going to see Ragusa or Noto [or Modica Alta] but it's not the same as having to do it every day which we had to when we stayed in Ragusa. Don't get me wrong, it is a lovely place but getting to and from our accommodation every day was a real pain.

Dayle

I stayed 2 nts in Scicli and loved it. I was there at end of April and I was literally the only non Italian tourist in town. Believe me it was easy to tell! Hotel Novecento is in a great location and I was allowed to park right in front. Its in aZTL, but evidently they have very limited parking for guests. I had two fantastic dinners while there and loved the town. Didnt feel the need to visit the other Baroque towns.

From there I went to Ortigia where I immediately dropped my car and took a taxi to my hotel. I didnt try to do daytrips out, so no parking or traffic issues for me either. Driving thru Siracusa to Ortigia to drop the car was ridiculously easy although there was a lot of traffic on the main road to the island. Only saw on crazy driver and he didnt bother me at all,but then im originally from So. California......

TravelinFeet

What a great thread and so much great advice --

So... if the driving isn't great -- how are they for train-ing? From say Catania?

Which ones feel more city-ish and which more village-ish?

What is it that makes one "better" that the other? For example the description of the Ortigia architecture is tremendously helpful and makes me want to head there right now. But then the touristy comment changes my mind. Very confusing. Can someone "rate" them by touristness?

I'm with the OP, I would like to know which one has a place for the passeaida (Ooooh that is very bad spelling) but going out for the nightly stroll, looking at architecture and store windows, plenty of people out -- friendly people who smile when you do,

OH and a piazza for the earlier evening before dinner aperativo (anyone know what the aperativo of the area is?). Architecture is wonderful and I simply adore baroque... but people are what bring a place alive.

From my personal point of view, a place with a literal upper and lower town is probably out, unless the climb is only once a day, because a lot of up and down is just more than I can handle. OTOH I don't want to stay someplace boring, just because it's taxing. And because I don't want to be on my feet more than say 5 hours a day, a place with a big piazza (or other things to do sitting) would be wonderful)

FWIW I am pretty much able to get by in Italian and hand-speak, in case that makes a difference (from what I hear no one understands Sicilians anyway... so as long as they understand me...)

Many thanks!

TF (not trying to hijack the thread but to embellish thereon, but leaving for southern Italy in about 10 days... yikes!)

massimop

Opinions about driving anywhere while traveling are always divided. But if you only plan to go to cities like Palermo or Catania a car is not an asset. But if you mean to travel about at your own pace, there is no reason to avoid driving in Sicily.

People's reaction to the tourist impact on a travel destination is very "goldilocks". Some people claim not to care one whit about places where tourists outnumber locals, and will actually get angry when other people try to discuss it and make choices based on how "touristy" a place might be.

But since you bring it up, and it is a consideration for you, a few objective things can be said about various towns in Sicily and what kind of impact tourist crowds might have on your experience of that town and Sicily, and you can decide what is "better" for your travel purposes.

In towns like Modica and Scicli, tourist dollars make up a very tiny part of the local economy, so very little about the local life of the town has been changed to cater to tourists, especially foreign tourists. Modica makes a special chocolate which attracts group tours, and the city gives tax incentives to locals who want to start up B&Bs. Scicli is partly a local arts colony of real sophistication. But if you want to observe the life of a prosperous Sicilian town with its own integrity, these 2 towns are great for that, and so is a city like Catania. Italians like to visit these towns as tourists, and you will find fancy restaurants catering to that trade, but you will also find plenty of traditional eateries that have been in the same family for generations.

Locals still outnumber tourists on the small islet of Ortygia but noticeably large quarters of the town have been turned into boutique shopping for tourists, and you are much more likely to find tourists and group tours on the streets, in the piazza and in the restaurants, which may not have been in business for very long. Increasingly the local economy is more about tourism than fishing and other craft. Ortygia is part of the larger town of Siracusa, which has important historic monuments & museums, but step 100 feet away from the sights, and you will find yourself in a thoroughly Sicilian town with no tourist profile, and everyday family restaurants for working people. The same is true for Agrigento, which attracts loads of tourists to its Greek temples at the edge of the small city, 90% of whom never set foot in Agrigento proper.

For many people, the sea-breezes of Ortygia & the exceptionally beautiful & lively central piazza outweigh having to share it with many other tourists, and the customs of the local market still are traditional enough to make you not feel like you walked into a tourist trap (like you can end up feeling in Taormina and some of the more tourist-tweaked street markets of Palermo). But for many others, having one's expectations of Sicily upended in a town like Modica or Scicli makes it worth going. Many people think of Sicily as dusty and poor, full of sheep and donkeys -- and some of it is! But small elegant cities like Modica, aesthetically sophisticated but still maintaining many features of a strong traditional Sicilian culture, are very striking and memorable. You feel the difference, and if you like that when you travel, you won't mind if it isn't the most "picturesque".

Some of the most beautiful parts of Noto & Ragusa have been deliberately rescued and preserved for tourism and history, at great expense, and many of the locals actually live elsewhere (although not far), so if you decide to stay in these towns be sure to go walking in the not so obvious parts of town if you want to see what makes the towns truly tick.

Aperitivi is not really a custom in the south. For much of the year it is too hot to drink alcohol. Heading out in the cool of the evening for the passeggiata is traditional in Sicily and lively, but whether or not people smile at you may vary. In my experience many Sicilians are very aware that others have a stereotypical view of them that is more insulting than not, and they maintain their dignity. They are also remarkably busy people, so that's a factor too.

kja

@ TravelinFeet – Sounds like you would benefit greatly from a good guidebook or two, even if (and perhaps particularly if) you are leaving in 10 days. When you ask about “them” and “which ones,” are you asking about the Baroque towns of the Val de Noto? If so, Noto itself is less than an hour by train or bus from Ortygia; the others are further afiield. You can use rome2rio.com to identify your public transportation options, but check on anything you learn there, as it does not capture seasonal variation in routes or schedules. Ortygia is basically flat, while most (all?) of the others will likely require going up and down hills. (Most of Noto’s gems are on a single, generally flat street, but there are lots of stairs to entryways and several areas worth visiting that are uphill from that main street.) When I was there, Ortygia had a very pleasant passeggiata and many, many delightful squares with cafes and interesting architecture (not just Baroque), etc.

TravelinFeet

In reverse order... kja, I have quite a few books, but they all deal with "sights" and I'm trying to find out about things that they don't discuss -- how places feel, how warm places/people are (say Rome vs Paris) -- all the things that massimop was so kind to write about.

Massimop -- what a marvelous description -- fabulous information!! I will go to Palmero and especially Catania as potential places to work in the future, but now I feel that I have a base from which to go back to the books and read.

I posted on TripAdvisor looking for unknown small towns in the southern part of Sicily but basically got no answer. (The northern ones get SNOW and I sure don't want that!!) But it sounds like there may still be real life in some of these towns as well (tho I was looking for villages really or smaller along the lines of what you find in Calabria -- a particular fetish of mine lol.)

And definitely gotta check out that chocolate!!!

Thanks again so very much -- a really great anthropological expose!

TF

kja

@ TravelinFeet: I tried to answer some of the questions you asked, and if my answers didn't satisfy, well, how very kind of you to make that clear.

TravelinFeet

kja, Sorry that you felt that way -- I felt that you were telling me to go away and not come back till I had read some books

Your answers about stairs were VERY helpful -- sorry that I did not point that out, but was answering about 4 am Italy town...