travel_anne

Hello all,

We are planning a trip to Sicily from Australia (two adults, one ten-year-old) in Sep 24, and have the following rough itinerary planned.

• Arrive late afternoon at Catania airport (Ortigia x 4 nights, one day Mount Etna, so two full days in Ortigia)
• Scicli area (Villa x 4 nights with family - relax, coast and Baroque towns)
• Agrigento (1 night)
• Palermo (3 nights, possibly including a day trip to Erice or Zingaro Reserve)
• Cefalu (3 nights, possibly day sailing to Aeolian, so one or two full days in Cefalu)
• Taormina (2 nights)
• Leave from Catania
• 3 days Rome. (Could change to one full day, adults been before)

We enjoy sightseeing but also just wandering around towns with no set agenda, and we don't want to be moving too much. We will have a car the entire time.
A couple of questions. Should we try to fit more of the West Coast in, or are we better saving for another trip? Would one night in Trapani after Agrigento make more sense than three in Palermo?
We can swap Ortigia and Taormina (possibly only 3 nights for Taormina (Ortigia 3) and do Mt Etna from there as we realise it's more accessible), but we felt that we'd like Ortigia better.
Previous places we've liked Polignano, Ceglie Messapica, Lecce, Matera, Cisternino, Ostuni, Speccia (6 years ago), Cagliari, Bosa, Castelsardo, Alghero, Santamaria Navarese (4 years).

Thoughts welcome! Thanks, Anne.

Michael

Don't miss Villa Casale near Piazza Armerina

travel_anne

Thank you. It’s on the list!

rialtogrl

I'd consider dropping Taormina and flying out of Palermo. It doesn't make a lot of sense to go all the way to Taormina for two days at the end of your trip. It is pretty, but it is also insanely packed with tourists.

Erice is more easily visited from Trapani, maybe instead of Taormina, add two nights in the Trapani area to visit not only Erice but maybe Segesta, the Marsala salt flats, the pretty baroque town of Marsala...

If you decide to fly out of Palermo, I would leave it until the end of the trip and drop the car off before your stay in Palermo, so you do not have to drive (and park) there.

travel_anne

Ah, thank you. I forgot to say we fly out of Catania. Would it be worth trying to get two days in Trapani, by shortening somewhere else or Rome?

nonconformist2

A car would be useful if you want to drive from Palermo to see Monreale (which is wonderful).

HappyTrvlr

I like your itinerary and number of days in each location.
Don’t eliminate your time in Rome! We have been there many times and love to return, always see something new.

HappyTrvlr

Keep the four nights in Ortigia. Two nights in Taormina is enough!I am confident that you will prefer Ortigia and be glad you have four nights. We spent a week and could have stayed two weeks!
Keep Palermo too.
One night in Agrigento is fine.

travel_anne

Thank you HappyTrvlr, it’s so tempting to try to fit more in. Or wonder whether we’ve settled on the right locations (in this instance particularly Cefalu/Palermo v Trapani/Scopello/Palermo) v Rome. I appreciate the feedback. Hopefully it won’t be our only trip.

just_tina

A few thoughts
- Personally I would save the West Coast for a future trip if you like small towns (from those you mentioned). There's a lot to see there: Trapani, Salt pans, Erice, Riserva dello Zingaro, Marsala, Mazara, even Favignana, no point spending one night in Trapani . Here's our trip report:
https://slowtravelitalyspain.blogspo...ip-report.html A car is ideal.
- A car is a nightmare in Palermo. You can easily get to Monreale by bus. Cefalù - Palermo is easy by train and you could stay in one of the two and day trip to the other. I find Palermo chaotic and tiring compared to the cities of Puglia like Lecce (and Matera in Basilicata), but there's lots to see and many people might not agree with me.
- You will find more tourists, in particular foreign tourists, for the Cefalù - Taormina (especially in Taormina) option than for the Trapani option, but I wouldn't advise you to miss them out, they're both beautiful.
- I wouldn't worry too much, which ever option you choose Sicily is splendid and you'll want to go back.....

travel_anne

Thank you just_tina for the insights. It does sound like we would not be doing the west coast justice on this trip.

christym907

I agree about saving the west coast for another trip. We went to Trapani a couple of years ago and it was not my favorite. I loved seeing Erice though and Segesta which I think you could do easily from Palermo. Cefalu is a favorite. Like others said Taormina is very touristy. We just went for the day. Ortigia was a favorite. We based there for 5 nights and made day trips. Sicily is a place I could go back to over and over and not get tired of it! Be sure and get a guide for the Villa del Casale. We got one at the entrance and it made all the different in our visit there. Have a great trip!