That gemut.com link does not work kja

We spent 18 days in Sicily in May -- our second trip there. There is much to see. I would check with AutoEurope for your car rental. I have used them for almost every rental in Europe and never had any problems with them. They will match any lower rates that you may find. As noted, they are based in Portland, ME and you can either call or use their website.

I agree to skip Catania. Also agree that you shouldn't miss Villa Romana del Casale. It was the highlight of both trips & the only ruins we repeated on our second trip. Instead of staying at Castellammare del Golfo look into nearby Scopelo which is a small town and has beautiful views. Castellammare del Golfo looked big and congested though we only drove by a couple times. Not sure what you plan to do there, but from Scopelo it's an easy day trip to Erice which is a lovely medevial town. While Taormina has lovely views its jam packed & I hated it this trip. We went for an afternoon and I couldn't get out of there fast enough.

We stayed 5 nights at Agritursimo Limoneto
http://www.limoneto.it/open.asp?lang=eng
It was about about 20 minutes in the countryside outside Siracusa and also an easy drive to Noto. We even did a day trip to Mt Etna from there. It was a very central location to use as a base for day trips. It is a very reasonably priced place, serves dinner and has very hospitable owners.

We had more time than you and did drive from Naples to Sicily - some gorgeous scenery and places to stay along the way and no tourists. But we did a leisurely drive down staying along the way and taking the ferry to Sicily. I hope you spending some time in Naples. The National Archaeological Museum of Naples is fabulous & cmplements a visit to Pompei.

There is one poster on TA who is fabulously helpful and knows Sicily well so definitely check over there too.

A couple years ago in the fall we spent time in Puglia & Matera and loved it also. You can click on my name for our TR there.

have a great trip -- you're going to wonderful places in Italy.

If you intend to drive all the way back to Catania, you could spend two days in Cefalù which is a lovely beach town en route. More interesting than Castellammare del Golfo, IMO. The nicest beaches, however, are in San Vito Lo Capo.

From Agrigento, visit Eraclea Minoa (with Capo Bianco) and Scala dei Turchi in Realmonte.

I really didn't care for Catania, nor Taormina. Too touristy.
The southwest of the island (Palermo, Trapani, Marsala, Sciacca) is my favourite area. Anyway, it's impossible to see the whole island in two weeks.

whew - thank you so much for all these replies. There's lots to go through but what is great is that most of it feels like what we are tending towards anyway. We originally were not going to spend any time in Catania but other forum people persuaded us that we should try it - if only for the market. But we're happy to leave it out, and it gives us another day for better places.
Again thank you so much for all your time and effort!

whew - thank you so much for all these replies.

There's lots to go through but what is great is that most of it feels like what we are tending towards anyway.

We originally were not going to spend any time in Catania but other forum people persuaded us that we should try it - if only for the market. But we're happy to leave it out, and it gives us another day for better places.

Again thank you so much for all your time and effort!

Agree with all above about Auto Europe. They will often match competitive quotes from legitimate competitors btw.

You mention staying in an agro. Just one caution: that usually locks you into one restaurant for dining since you probably won't want to drive the narrow twisty roads at night. An in-town B&B will always allow more options.

Ian

So now I will remember AutoEurope is in Maine.

Eating in the same restaurant every night in Italy is most often a plus, not a negative, even if you are staying in a town. And few restaurants can compete with the home cooking on farms in Sicily, for quality, charm and price.

In general from my experiences in Italy I would agree with sandralist. Plus its nice to walk a few feet and be at your dinner place. Also no worries about drinking wine and driving home. Although I would disapree with the comment about the twisty roads. That is certainly not always the case. This trip for example we ate 2-3 meals at Limoneta. Each meal had a different price based on what was served. We did not know in advance what was being served. This worked fine except for their Pizza Night. It seemed lots of their family & friends join in for this weekly(?) meal. We thought the pizza not particularly good and that's all that was served - various types of pizza as much as you wanted. I don't recall the exact price, but at the time we thought it was grossly overpriced for a bunch of mediocre pizza & relative to the other meals we had there.

tommmo and kathy,

On my 3.5 week trip, I visited:

Erice
Scopello
Segesta
Salt Pans & Museum
Selinute
Menfi
Agrigento
Valle dei Templi
Arch Museum
Villa Romana de Casale*****
Piazza Armerina
Catalgirone
Scicli
Vendicari Nature Preserve
Siracusa & Ortygia
Arch Park & Museum
Taormina
Aeolian Islands (Lipari, Salina, Panarea, Stromboli)
Palermo

My favorite locations were Erice, Ortigia, and the Aeolians.
My least favorite was Taormina.

Favorite lodging: Erice Pietre Antiche apartments (only 4),
La Foresteria Planeta Estate (Menfi), La Via della Guidecca (Ortigia) and the villa at the top of Lipari.

Best meals: Scopello, Scicli, Ortigia and Lipari. All restaurant names are in my report.

Greatest highlight of the trip - Villa Romana handsdown. No pictures can capture the mosaics. You just have to see it in person. Beautiful and absolutely amazing. Can't even really describe it adequately.

I have used AutoEurope on 3 trips in France & Italy. All excellent experiences. I picked up in Trapani and dropped on Ortigia and because of my location choices, AutoEurope booked me with Hertz (which is not their go-to provider in Sicily). At first the price was a bit more when I booked months in advance, but later Hertz had lower prices. When I called AutoEurope, they matched the direct Hertz prices. I was traveling solo so booked the smallest car category, knowing from past experiences that I would probably get "upgraded". That's exactly what happened and I ended up with a zippy Fiat compact, brand spanking new right out of the car dealership where I picked up. Perfect service, no problems. Reasonable prices.

If Sicily has now become your main focus, I would highly encourage you to spend your full 20 days there! I would go back in a heartbeat. Gorgeous scenery, lovely people, delicious food and wine, incredible history and architecture both ancient and not so ancient.

Buon viaggio!

Great advice Dale.....thanks so much for the help.

I hope you have a wonderful trip. So much to see and enjoy! All your destinations, Greece, southern mainland Italy and Sicily sound great.

Many thanks from me too!
more questions though - we would like to spend 2 nights in the Baroque towns (Modica, Ragusa, Noto Scicli) which would be the best to stay in? We'd come from Ortygia and be going on to Agrigento, so 2 nights would give us a nice day to visit the area - maybe even get up to those famous mosaics everyone talks about at the Villa Romana del Casale...

"we would like to spend 2 nights in the Baroque towns (Modica, Ragusa, Noto Scicli) which would be the best to stay in?"

I stayed overnight in Noto and was very glad I did - I loved the playfulness of Noto's architecture, and enjoyed seeing it in different lighting conditions. I also spent a night in Caltagirone -- another of the Baroque towns on the UNESCO World Heritage Site inscription for the "Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto" and enjoyed it, too. Some of the public ceramics there are quite impressive. I didn't go to Modica or Ragusa, and so can't speak to their merits.

"maybe even get up to those famous mosaics everyone talks about at the Villa Romana del Casale..."

Seriously, make the time! You can see Baroque architecture in a LOT of places. Those mosaics, and the remains of the villa that held them, are in a class by themselves.

We didn't spend the night in Noto, but did spend a late afternoon and evening there and it is quite lovely in the evening.
Caltagirone is a very nice town. We spent a few hours exploring it and had a great lunch there.

Agree with Kja, about making the time for the mosaics. You won't regret it.

I did exactly the same thing -- go from Ortygia to Agrigento with the "baroque towns" in between. I ate lunch in Ragusa, had a gelato in Noto and spent the night in Modica, which I really enjoyed. It has such a low foreign tourist profile, you really feel the rhythm of a small but wealthy Sicilian city. Most people will not call it is city because it is so compact, but it is one, and fascinating for it. I would have enjoyed two nights, and think I would have enjoyed spending more time in Ragusa, which is larger. But to tell you the truth, were I to do it again, I might stay in the countryside in agriturismo just outside of Modica or Scicli or Noto, because it is quite lovely countryside and I like farm food/wine. But it would be a tough call, because I enjoyed the towns as well.

I agree that the Sicilian countryside is beautiful. I chose spring for my trip because I wanted to see all the wildflowers (and there were carpets!) and enjoy the island in beautiful green.

Part of the reason I loved staying at La Foreteria Planeta Estate was being in the country, surrounded by vineyards, with a view of the sea in the distance. Sigh...

As for the Baroque towns, I chose Scicli, mostly because of the Hotel Novecento, which turned out to be as outstanding (and not expensive) as reviewed. I spent 2 nights in Scicli and enjoyed it for the true Sicilian experience it was. The only other tourists (and believe me you could tell) were a British couple who checked out as I checked in, and 4 Italian women traveling together. The architecture and food was fantastic. I had no desire to rush along to visit the other 3 towns. I just enjoyed where I was!

Be sure to visit Villa Romana. The single most outstanding sight of my trip.

Buon viaggio!

Oh so many decisions - nice that I'm trying to decide between one wonderful place and another though... Can't really complain about that.

As everyone said from the beginning we just don't have enough time. That being the case I am thinking it's best, rather than rushing through every place we can fit, to try to stay in fewer places longer and leave the others for another trip. If it's as good as it is sounding there WILL be another trip.

So here's the plan for now:

Catania near airport for the first night after we arrive late
straight to Etna the next morning and stay either Randazzo or Nicolosi.
next day to Ortygia for three nights
then one night Ragusa/Modici (I hope we can just drive around and saty where we feel like it)
then one night Piazza Armerina
down to Agrigento via Enna two nights
on to Erice (or Trapani) via Salinunte 2 nights
next day visit Palermo and Monreale and stay near airport for 06.30 flight to Bari the next morning

That's 12 nights and I note that I still have 4 single nights but what to do?
I am quite excited about this itinerary and couldn't have done it without Fodors - many thanks!

If you want to cut down on one-night stays, consider visiting the Villa Romana del Casale en route if the timing works. Just a thought.

yes we'll keep that possibility. It was the original idea and then it looked good to simply stay up there and come down to Agrigento through Enna.