Hi - I have 5-6 days to spend in Sicily and I am looking for an off the beaten path, un-touristy experience. I'll see some sights as I go (churches, ruins, mosaics, Baroque inspiration, the amphitheatre, culture influences), but I'm more about the experience than the photo opportunity. I'm poring over the travel reports and searching the corners of the web, but I'd greatly appreciate any recommendations that will contribute to an authentic experience (unique cities/villages/sights, food experiences, agriturismo farms, B&Bs, welcoming locals, where to find my prince, etc).

Here's the scoop. I am a female in my late 20s traveling solo. I'm flying from DC to Rome Monday morning and back the following Monday (March 7 - 14). I traveled in Italy while studying abroad in Rome 5 years ago, but only made it slightly farther south than Vesuvius. This time I plan on spending most of my time in Sicily (Tues - Sun). Since the trip is short as it is, I'd like to make the most of it and get to know the region as best I can.

On Tuesday, I'll fly into Palermo at noon (and out of Catania on Sun.). I've heard Palermo's passeggiatta is worth seeing. Is it worth sticking around for?Any other suggestions in the area or en route East? From there, I guess I'll bus or train across the island and focus the rest of the trip on the Ionian Coast with a base near Catania? (although every time I read about another region, I want to go there too). Towns that seem appealing are Taormina, Catania, Siracusa/Ostrigia, although I can't seem to narrow down, which to daytrip, which to stay overnight, or both. I may need to stop in Messina very briefly (although I haven't heard great things). I have heard good things about Noto, Ragusa, Piazza Armenina. I toyed with the idea of visiting the AeoIian Islands or Pantelleria, but I don't think I have time. Help! there are too many options.

I want to climb Mt. Etna while I am there. I'm an avid cyclist and have considered renting a bike for transportation or to ride between neighboring villages. I'm also content to just sit in a cafe, stroll through town or beach, read in the park, share a bottle of wine in the square with locals, or etc. Also, I really love great italian food and will travel for it, obviously. Activities, hidden treasures, great restaurants, etc. are welcome.

I've seen a number of affordable agriturismos or B&Bs that look reliable but I have not booked anything yet (b/c I can't decide which area). I'm not above a hostel or hotel at the right price (like Hotel Isola Bella?), but I'd prefer something with more local flavor. I'm typically a planner, but being the off-season, it seems like I could be ok without a reservation and just play it by ear. What's the off-season like in Sicily? Any thoughts? Suggestions? Reccommendations?

Thanks in advance!! That should cover everything, but if you need more info, let me know.

I wouldn't recommend it, but we definitely had an anti-tourist Sicilian experience by spending a day in the emergency room in the hospital of Piazza Armerina. Maybe you have an exceptional personality for it, if not I have difficulty imagining sharing my wine with the locals in my first five days in an area without having them laughing inwardly at the tourist.

As for an agriturismo, the two that we used were definitely oriented to tourists and had little of the local untouched farm. B&Bs are probably the same. What you are looking for is a home stay, and I am not sure that it still exists in Italy. We had it (sleeping in the family's living room) in Romania a few years back, but even there it may have rapidly evolved into the more formal B&B system.

In your first sentence you state you're "looking for an off the beaten path, un-touristy experience" and everything after that describes the typical tourist route.

I'm in the middle of reading "The Stone Boudoir" by Theresa Maggio. If you really want the "un-tourisy experience" I suggest picking up a copy of her book and following it. She visits villages, some of which are not on the map, and really meets the people living in them. I would imagine you'd need to speak Italian to have a similar experience.

I can't imagine a person wanting an "un-touristy" experience putting Taormina on their list of places to visit!

"The Stone Boudoir" is fascinating but would be frustrating to follow during a trip of only a few days. And didn't Theresa Maggio have family connections to look up?

I would say, take public transport. Trains and buses are where you will get closest to locals who aren't serving you in some tourist capacity.

And get a map, you cannot possibly visit all the places you mention even skipping the Aeolian islands, climb Mt Etna AND sit in a cafe mingling with the indigenous population.

Not sure where the Palermo passegiata would take place, Siracusa would be better.

<< "The Stone Boudoir" is fascinating but would be frustrating to follow during a trip of only a few days. And didn't Theresa Maggio have family connections to look up? >>

I didn't mean follow the entire book but to use it as an example of off the beaten track experience which the OP claims she wants. It appears that Theresa Maggio only had family connections in the one village. The other places she made friends by talking to people and spending time in each place.

With only a few days, the OP has to decide if she wants an unusual experience in Sicily or to follow the other tourists and visit the towns she's identified.

With that limited time, I wouldn't think about cycling between villages or climbing Mt. Etna if you really want to soak up some local flavour. I would split the time between two places; Palermo is pretty untouristy, Catania definitely and completely untouristy - at least one of them should be on your list since one of the large cities (with their beautiful historic architecture as well as their obvious present problems, poverty, unemployment, petty crime, urban decay, you name it) is indispensable IMO to get an impression of Sicily. A third possibility is the baroque south-east - not necessarily Siracusa if you want to be without tourists. Perhaps Ragusa would be your best bet (and you could even do some cycling there, to Modica, Noto, also Siracusa as a daytrip of course). I would suggest either Palermo & Catania, or Catania & Ragusa, which means that I wouldn't skip Catania with your specific profile as a traveler. Catania, that's a real city, real life, real problems, and definitely not a Potemkin village for tourists. (And though that's not your primary interest, there's also some interesting baroque architecture there.)

I understood what you meant Adrienne, just pointing out that the anti-tourist has only one week to cover a long list of tourist attractions and have an "authentic" Sicily experience!

If the OP doesn't speak Italian, she should forget the obscure villages in the interior. Besides, they're difficult and time-consuming to get to by public transport.

By my calculations, she has 4.5 to 5 days on the ground. Palermo and Siracusa (with a possible daytrip to Noto) will amply fill the time. And she won't run into many tourists in early March.

Hallie_A,

When you are in Palermo, do get up to Monreale and see the cathedrale there. It is simply too spectacular to miss. Then give the town of Monreale a stroll. I think it may be a bit like Pisa-everyone goes to the Tower and ignores a "real" Italian town/city.

A seaside town near Palermo is Mondella. Hub and I took city bus there. Check it out and see if it fits your trip desires.

I'm with Franco-stay in Palermo and Catania as bases for that short a time.

If you start in Palermo, visit Monreale which is about 20 minutes by bus from the city. The cathedral is amazing and the town would perhaps afford the opportunity to meet the people.

I would skip Catania because while it isn't particularly "touristy", that is for a reason.

If you want to visit the Aolian Islands, start in Palermo, go east to the islands and then south to Mt. Etna. It's not far from Mt. Etna to the Catania airport. That's all you'll have time for and it will be rushsed at that.

franco - I'm surprised you say that Palermo is un-touristy. It seems to me the most interesting place on the island along with the Baroque towns and Villa Casale. I would think it would be a tourist hot spot.

I just wanted to say thanks for all the fast replies and The Stone Boudoir recommendation, although, I should have been more clear in my original post. I am not interested in spending my trip jumping around to all the places I listed; those are simply the types of places that appeal to me (based on the information I've found online, in books, and from people who have been, most of whom were tourists though). Ideally, I plan on picking 1 place or possibly 2 towns and spending my time there, with maybe a day trip to Etna or elsewhere.

I realize that some of the things I've mentioned are tourist attractions, which is why I'm am posting in this forum in hopes that someone will be able to provide some guidance or alternate suggestions. Anyway, I do speak the Italian (albeit, not the Sicilian dialect, but well enough to manage without a problem). Thanks again for all the help.

adrienne, please note the subtle distinction between "pretty untouristy" and "definitely untouristy" that I used
IME, Palermo is simply large enough (and also not overrun enough) that you don't notice any tourism. Of course you'll meet them at the mummified corpses and the royal palace; but the overall impression of the city is not at all touristy, at least it wasn't for me. (Actually, there are some corners right in the heart of the city that reminded me of a sub-Saharan rather than a European city, let alone a tourist destination.)

Something else to bear in mind is that of course many of the tourists in Sicily are also Italian....

franco - thanks for clarifying.

Another vote for Palermo and Ortigia as bases. Palermo gives you a city experience while Ortigia is more intimate in scale.

Somebody who doesn't LIVE somewhere but visits there IS A TOURIST...please get off that issue