Valenciano

Hey,

I was wondering which greek ruins would you guys visit if you only had the chance to see one of them.

I'm planning on visit one of them as a day trip from Palermo, but I can't make up my mind.

Thanks!

Zerlina

If you're doing it as a day trip, you'd be wise to choose the site that is easiest and fastest to get to and from, which is Agrigento.

There are people who prefer Selinunte, but Agrigento's Valley of the Temples with the best-preserved Greek temples anywhere in the world most often rates the highest.

kja

Hi, Valenciano -

I loved all three, but agree with Zerlina that it makes most sense for you to choose the one that is easiest to visit - Agrigento. It is an amazing site, and also has a wonderful museum. Be sure to bring water and a hat that provides some shade!

Hope that helps. . . .

Valenciano

Thanks for your replies,

My bookguide recommends Agrigento over Selinunte and Segesta if you only have time for one. However, it also raves about how lovely the setting where Segesta and Selinunte are, that's why I was having doubts about which ine to choose.

Both Segesta and Agrigento are feasible day trips from Palermo by train. However, even though there's a train station at Selinunte according to my bookguide and a few websites, whenever I look up the schedule on trenitalia.com, there are no results about it, so I don't know whether or not the train station is out of work. According to some other webistes, I'd have to take a train from Palermo down to Castelvetro and then a bus down to Selinunte.

I've seen pictures of Segesta and Agrigento, and the setting of Segesta is definitely more beautiful than Agrigento with its modern buildings as a background, but I guess I'll make a decision once I'm there.

Thanks guys!

ekscrunchy

I've only been to Agrigento and Segesta and while I agree that the setting of Segesta is more dramatic in its solitude, Agrigento is much larger. Please keep in mind that, if my memory has not failed me, any modern buildings are in the distance and not visible from all angles. I don't remember that they diminished the spectacle of Agrigento at all..

kayd

The Agrigento temple complex is several miles from the modern (i.e. medieval) city of Agrigento. From the temple ridge, there are views of the sea in several directions and the hillside city is not an eyesore by any means. If there is something more modern and ugly nearby, I do not remember it.

kja

Hi again, Valenciano -

I am also puzzled by your reference to modern buildings in the background at Agrigento. As others have noted, you can see the hilltop town of Agrigento in the distance, and as I recall, there is one house-like structure in the archaelogical zone itself - but I would not describe it as "modern". I actually enjoyed seeing these things and appreciating the way society grew around these ancient sites.

If you really want to see them all, consider renting a car for 2 days. Drive from Palermo to Segesta, spend a few hours there, drive on to Selinunte and spend a few hours there, then spend the night in Agrigento. The next day, visit the Valley of the Temples and the archeological museum before heading back to Palermo.

rkkwan

Went to all three in December of 2006. If one can only go to one, I'll also suggest Agrigento, as the temples there are better preserved, and the setting/spacing of them very nice. The town behind doesn't really that away from it.

I like Selinunte a lot. Most of the temples there are only ruins, but the scale of the temples and the site itself is absolutely vast. Mind boggling. And it is still an active archaeological site.

Segesta is beautiful, but it's basically just one temple and one partially restored theater.

You can find my photographs of Segesta and Selinunte in the 2nd half of this album:

rkkwan.zenfolio.com/p990331635/

And Agrigento in the 1st part of this album:

rkkwan.zenfolio.com/p803170429/

baldrick

I visited the three sites last October.
Agrigento is the most interesting to visit, a worldclass monumental site.
Selinunte has a unique setting with the mediterranean as it is very close to the sea. A large part is in ruins.
Segesta is also beautiful and a very complete temple in a dramatic solitary setting.

The easiest and fastest to get to is Segesta, and not Agrigento.
Palermo-Segesta is 80 km, of which some 70 are on the highway going west, let's say a 1-hour drive.
Palermo-Agrigento is a 2-hour drive for some 130 km, of which hardly 5 km on a motorway.
Palermo-Selinunte is a 1h50 minutes drive, some 130 km of which some 100 km on motorways.

Agrigento is the most rated. I would choose Agrigento, if I couls only choose one site. Second choice would be without any doubt Selinunte because of the setting with the Mediterranean. Third would be Segesta... and I would be sad to have missed it.

Seaboy

Does anyone know if it's feasible to do two of these sites in a day? Segesta and Selinunte or Agrigento and Selinunte?

Thanks.

kja

Hi, Seaboy -

That probably depends on where you plan to start and finish.

I visited both Segesta and Selinunte in a single day on my way from Palermo to Agrigento; I thought the time I had in each of these two locations was sufficient (I visited Agrigento the next day). If you want to visit both on a single day trip from Palermo, my guess is that you would have to start early and watch your time quite carefully.

I think it would be difficult to visit the temples and the (worthwhile) museum at Agrigento in the same day that included either Selinunte or Segesta.

But people travel at very different paces....

Enjoy!

gfeibleman

I'd say Agrigento. Segesta is only one temple but it is fully intact. Selinunte you can walk inside all the ruins which you cannot do at Agrigento. But Agrigento also has a musuem too and easier to visit from Palermo.

Seaboy

Hi Kja,

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to visit all three on separate days and combine each outing with another excursion. This way there's no rushing. How much time do you think Segesta deserves? I'm assuming I wouldn't spend more than a couple hours there but please correct me if I'm off the mark.

Thanks!

kja

Hi, Seaboy -

As I recall - and since I was there in 2007, you shouldn't trust my memory on this matter very much - I spent about 1.5 hours at Segesta. After parking, I took a bus to the upper area near the theater. I don't think I had to wait very long, and I spent most of those few moments browsing in a nearby shop. I then took all the time I wanted in the upper area (primarly at the theater, with a few moments at ongoing renovations), walked slowly down to the temple, and then spent all the time I wanted to spend there. (Segesta was the first Greek theater and temple I had seen in situ, so I was enthralled. And BTW, there were very few other people there the day I visited - just enough to get a few pictures with human forms in them to give perspective, and not enough to cause any delays or crowds. I would think it would take longer on a crowded day.) I grabbed a quick cup of coffee, bought some postcards and a bottle of wine that I had decided upon while waiting for the bus, and was on my way.

Hope that helps!