Does anyone know of a good website that lists driving times between cities in Sicily?
I found one that shows most of them in miles or km:
http://www.initaly.com/ddistml.htm
...but I'd love to have one expressed in hours, because I have a feeling the mileage can be deceptive - that it takes much longer than it looks to get from one place to the other.
Alternatively, if people can tell me how long it took them to go between these places, that would be very helpful, too:
PALERMO - AGRIGENTO
PALERMO - TAORMINA
AGRIGENTO - SIRACUSA (ORTIGIA)
SIRACUSA - TAORMINA

And...has anyone attempted the Aeolian Islands as a daytrip from Siracusa, or is that crazy?

PALERMO - AGRIGENTO... Distance: 127km including 5.5km on motorways
Time: 01h43 including 00h03 on motorways

http://tinyurl.com/5cffa [viamichelin.com]

Siracusa - Taormina: one and a half hour in normal circumstances. It took us more than twice as long (accident + road works in Catania! (June 2006).

Viamichelin is a good site for this sort of thing, but based on my experiences of driving in Italy and Sicily, I would asy you need to add 10-15% to the times.

I have driven Siracusa to Taormina in just over an hour on a saturday morning with virtually no traffic.

Aeolian islands as a daytrip from Siracusa would mean a 200km drive to Milazzo, then another hour to cross to Lipari. Whether it is realistic would depend on the ferry timetables.

As an alternative, there is a hydrofoil that runs from Palermo , via Cefalú out to one of the aeolian islands (possibly Filicudi).

Hi there! For those willing to spend some days in Agrigento (Valley of the Temples!), I suggest the B&B Terrazze di Montelusa: located in the historical center, huge panoramic terraces, bedrooms with airconditioning and private bathrooms, ambiance 5 star hotel but B&B rates!!! The owner is very friendly and gave us all information we needed. We really loved it!

We drove to Taormina from Palermo. We left about 8:30 am, made a quick stop in Cefalu, had a leisurely lunch in Capo d'Orlando and arrived in Taormina around 4 pm. We did a daytrip to Lipari from Taormina. It wasn't bad, again leaving Taormina before 9 am, driving to Milazzo, catching the hydrofoil and having most of the day in Lipari. Took the late afternoon hydrofoil back to Milazzo. Siracusa would be too far to do a daytrip to the Aeolian Islands.