11 night itinerary in Sicily
Jun 13th, 2017, 09:23 AM
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11 night itinerary in Sicily
hi ALL
I am heading to Sicily!
SPECS: 11 nights in Sicily, early november. Young couple
1. Is November a wrong time to go?
2. Will I need to rent a car? If so, which places.
3. 2 or 3 things to avoid?
4. Anything I should definitely see?
Suggestions on my rough itinerary:
-2 nights in Palermo
-2 nights Trapani, Ancient Segesta and Mountaintop Erice
-1 night Agrigento
-2 nights Ragusa
2 nights Syracuse
-1 night Catania
Or the Lonely planet suggests:
Palermo,
segesta,
selinunte,
arigento,
ragusa,
modica,
noto,
syracuse,
catana,
taormina,
cefalu,
caccamo
I am heading to Sicily!
SPECS: 11 nights in Sicily, early november. Young couple
1. Is November a wrong time to go?
2. Will I need to rent a car? If so, which places.
3. 2 or 3 things to avoid?
4. Anything I should definitely see?
Suggestions on my rough itinerary:
-2 nights in Palermo
-2 nights Trapani, Ancient Segesta and Mountaintop Erice
-1 night Agrigento
-2 nights Ragusa
2 nights Syracuse
-1 night Catania
Or the Lonely planet suggests:
Palermo,
segesta,
selinunte,
arigento,
ragusa,
modica,
noto,
syracuse,
catana,
taormina,
cefalu,
caccamo
Jun 13th, 2017, 01:10 PM
#2
hi jeseneca,
Firstly i can't help you with whether November is a good time to be in Sicily save to say that you will obviously have shorter days than, say, in May or September, and it may be wet and windy.
but where i can help you is to advise you that you are spreading yourselves far too thin. We spent 10 days in Eastern Sicily last September and really that was not long enough to see even that part of the country. your first itinerary allows you very little time for seeing things - 2 nights in place really means only one day there, and one night gives you barely any time at all. for example, you are going from 2 nights in/around Erice, and then one in Agrigento, followed by two in Ragusa - when are you going to see the Temples? it will get dark early, and will get light later the next morning. trust me, you do not want to arrive in Ragusa in the dark - the road up to the town is very windy and you need all the light you can get to negotiate it.
And 2 nights in Syracuse [are you going to stay in Ortigia?] are far too little - unless you have a very early flight from Catania, there is no need to stay there overnight.
Honestly I would consider concentrating on one side of the island or the other - not both.
Firstly i can't help you with whether November is a good time to be in Sicily save to say that you will obviously have shorter days than, say, in May or September, and it may be wet and windy.
but where i can help you is to advise you that you are spreading yourselves far too thin. We spent 10 days in Eastern Sicily last September and really that was not long enough to see even that part of the country. your first itinerary allows you very little time for seeing things - 2 nights in place really means only one day there, and one night gives you barely any time at all. for example, you are going from 2 nights in/around Erice, and then one in Agrigento, followed by two in Ragusa - when are you going to see the Temples? it will get dark early, and will get light later the next morning. trust me, you do not want to arrive in Ragusa in the dark - the road up to the town is very windy and you need all the light you can get to negotiate it.
And 2 nights in Syracuse [are you going to stay in Ortigia?] are far too little - unless you have a very early flight from Catania, there is no need to stay there overnight.
Honestly I would consider concentrating on one side of the island or the other - not both.
Jun 13th, 2017, 04:23 PM
#3
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November is, IMO, not the best time to go to Sicily, as I believe it can be quite rainy, but I’m not sure what some of these places will be like in November – please be sure to look up opening hours, etc. (I was glad to have gone in May, when the wildflowers were in abundant bloom.) Palermo, Siracusa, and Catania are not dependent upon tourism, and so should be be places you can visit in November, although again, I suspect that opening hours of many sites will be more limited at that time of year than during high season. I could be wrong.
Although it depends on your preferences, I would find your itinerary a bit too rushed. Palermo has a wealth of treasures, so you might want more time there. Likewise, 2 nights would not be enough for me for Siracusa. (BTW, stay in Ortygia.)
The list you have from Lonely Planet makes sense, but IMO, would require closer to 3 weeks at a time of year when days are longer.
Absolute gems, IMO, include the cathedral in Monreale, just outside of Palermo, and the Villa Romana del Casale, which you could, perhaps, see between Agrigento and Ragusa.
You do NOT want a car in Palermo, Siracusa, or Catania. You do not NEED a car for most of the places you mention, but you would need to allocate more time for each place to compensate for your public transportation options.
Hope that helps!
Although it depends on your preferences, I would find your itinerary a bit too rushed. Palermo has a wealth of treasures, so you might want more time there. Likewise, 2 nights would not be enough for me for Siracusa. (BTW, stay in Ortygia.)
The list you have from Lonely Planet makes sense, but IMO, would require closer to 3 weeks at a time of year when days are longer.
Absolute gems, IMO, include the cathedral in Monreale, just outside of Palermo, and the Villa Romana del Casale, which you could, perhaps, see between Agrigento and Ragusa.
You do NOT want a car in Palermo, Siracusa, or Catania. You do not NEED a car for most of the places you mention, but you would need to allocate more time for each place to compensate for your public transportation options.
Hope that helps!
Jun 14th, 2017, 01:16 PM
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If you don't mind road-tripping, I think your itinerary is fine. However, since you are spending so little time in Palermo, I would suggest skipping it and heading straight to Trapani. There is an airport in Trapani, but even if you land at the airport in Palermo, it is actually not that far from Trapani (it's actually not all that close to Palermo!)
I think if you skip Palermo you can slow down a bit on your way to Catania and also be flexible about weather. November is a time when storms blow across the Mediterranean. They usually move pretty fast, but you don't want to be committed to driving-to-the-next-destination if waiting another day would give you dry weather.
In November, for your itinerary, you will not need to book a thing in advance other than your first and last night. But overall, I would say use the 2 nights you now have for Palermo and give one to the Ragusa area and the other to the Syracuse area. But if you need to spend and extra night in Trapani or Agrigento due to rain, no biggie.
Have a great trip!
I think if you skip Palermo you can slow down a bit on your way to Catania and also be flexible about weather. November is a time when storms blow across the Mediterranean. They usually move pretty fast, but you don't want to be committed to driving-to-the-next-destination if waiting another day would give you dry weather.
In November, for your itinerary, you will not need to book a thing in advance other than your first and last night. But overall, I would say use the 2 nights you now have for Palermo and give one to the Ragusa area and the other to the Syracuse area. But if you need to spend and extra night in Trapani or Agrigento due to rain, no biggie.
Have a great trip!
Jun 14th, 2017, 01:20 PM
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PS: I had a car in Siracusa and it wasn't a problem, although you should book a place with parking or with parking nearby. Most people drop off their car at the airport or outside the city before driving into Catania proper if you are spending the night there.
You will not get a break on the weather going to mainland Italy in November. In fact, Sicily is likely to be warmer if it is sunny -- and it could be. But once you are in Sicily you should pay attention to weather forecasts. Unfortunately, when it rains anywhere in Italy in November it usually pours, and most people keep off the roads when that happens.
You will not get a break on the weather going to mainland Italy in November. In fact, Sicily is likely to be warmer if it is sunny -- and it could be. But once you are in Sicily you should pay attention to weather forecasts. Unfortunately, when it rains anywhere in Italy in November it usually pours, and most people keep off the roads when that happens.
Jun 14th, 2017, 01:31 PM
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annhg and I were posting at the same time, and I am not sure what she means by saying "Sicily has a lot of this but in miniature".
The ruins of Agrigento are bigger than most anything you will find in mainland Italy with the exception of Pompei. It has ceramics, mosaics (as stunning as anything you will find on the mainland), stupendous baroque towns, Greek and Roman theaters. There are several significant castles and hundreds of medieval towns. It has volcanoes, spectacular coast lines, vinyards, olive groves, opera houses and fabulous food markets. It has great wine, great food and its own pizza. Plus it has salt flats and windmills. What it doesn't have is the Renaissance, the Pope or polenta (or a fashion scene or gondolas).
If you were spending 12 nights on the mainland you would not see more than what you would see spending 12 in the Italian region of Sicily.
The ruins of Agrigento are bigger than most anything you will find in mainland Italy with the exception of Pompei. It has ceramics, mosaics (as stunning as anything you will find on the mainland), stupendous baroque towns, Greek and Roman theaters. There are several significant castles and hundreds of medieval towns. It has volcanoes, spectacular coast lines, vinyards, olive groves, opera houses and fabulous food markets. It has great wine, great food and its own pizza. Plus it has salt flats and windmills. What it doesn't have is the Renaissance, the Pope or polenta (or a fashion scene or gondolas).
If you were spending 12 nights on the mainland you would not see more than what you would see spending 12 in the Italian region of Sicily.
Jun 14th, 2017, 01:50 PM
#8
jseneca - if you are going in November, not sure the islands are such a good idea; probably there won't be much happening as the season will be over.
As for Sicily v the rest of Italy, it is the same [people by and large speak Italian - or a version thereof, the government is more or less the same, their culture and food is different but similar, etc] But you cannot really choose between the two in that way. The mainland has a huge variety of things to do and see - vast lakes, mountain ranges, iconic cities like Rome, Florence and Venice - miles and miles of beaches - Sicily has a lot of this but in miniature.
As for Sicily v the rest of Italy, it is the same [people by and large speak Italian - or a version thereof, the government is more or less the same, their culture and food is different but similar, etc] But you cannot really choose between the two in that way. The mainland has a huge variety of things to do and see - vast lakes, mountain ranges, iconic cities like Rome, Florence and Venice - miles and miles of beaches - Sicily has a lot of this but in miniature.
Jun 14th, 2017, 11:04 PM
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One more thought: If you haven't bought air tickets and are mainly going to Catania to use the airport, another possibility for you is to reverse your trip. Begin in Catania but when you pick up your car rental, drive to Siracusa immediately. By skipping Catania you could add a night to Palermo. It's not that either city isn't worth seeing, but that both are a bit hard to crack open to appreciate if you are only there for a few hours. By spending 3 nights in Palermo it's easier to get a sense of the city and enjoy it.
And one other thought about comparing different regions of Italy to eatch other: Sicily is only separated from the mainland by a very narrow strait of water. If that didn't exist, people would just see it as another region of Italy, which it is. The unusual thing about Italy is that all of its regions are very different and have their own distinctive food & culture & climates & style. One could write about Umbria or Emilia-Romagna or Puglia the same things that were said above about Sicily, but I doubt anyone would ever write: "Emilia-Romagna has a lot of what the rest of Italy has, but miniature." Sicily is not a "miniature" Italy. It is Italy. It is a region of Italy, and shares the common feature of all regions of Italy which is that it asserts its own culture.
And one other thought about comparing different regions of Italy to eatch other: Sicily is only separated from the mainland by a very narrow strait of water. If that didn't exist, people would just see it as another region of Italy, which it is. The unusual thing about Italy is that all of its regions are very different and have their own distinctive food & culture & climates & style. One could write about Umbria or Emilia-Romagna or Puglia the same things that were said above about Sicily, but I doubt anyone would ever write: "Emilia-Romagna has a lot of what the rest of Italy has, but miniature." Sicily is not a "miniature" Italy. It is Italy. It is a region of Italy, and shares the common feature of all regions of Italy which is that it asserts its own culture.
Jun 14th, 2017, 11:11 PM
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As already noted, you don't need a car for the stretch from Catania through Siracusa, and indeed, a car might be a disadvantage for those parts of Sicily.
More importantly, if there is <B>any</B> chance that you will have jet lag, I would strongly encourage you to take public transportation for your first night or two. Although many people are not aware of it, there is mounting evidence that driving with jet lag is just as dangerous -- to yourself and others -- as driving drunk, and nothing you can do will prevent the microsleeps (which you might not even notice) that are the apparent culprit. And please note – microsleeps aren’t dependent on getting sleep or not, they result from shifting your waking / sleeping cycle away from the one to which you are accustomed. Seriously -- NOT a good idea, no matter your other constraints and no matter your prior experience!
More importantly, if there is <B>any</B> chance that you will have jet lag, I would strongly encourage you to take public transportation for your first night or two. Although many people are not aware of it, there is mounting evidence that driving with jet lag is just as dangerous -- to yourself and others -- as driving drunk, and nothing you can do will prevent the microsleeps (which you might not even notice) that are the apparent culprit. And please note – microsleeps aren’t dependent on getting sleep or not, they result from shifting your waking / sleeping cycle away from the one to which you are accustomed. Seriously -- NOT a good idea, no matter your other constraints and no matter your prior experience!
