My Sicily itinerary has been definitely complicated by my indecision. But those who have been, how does this finally look?

1. Fly into Palermo: Two nights.
2. Pick up car on Saturday before Easter and stay either in Trapani (looking pretty booked unless we go AirBnB. I am a little wary about them but can). Otherwise, we have an apartment in Marsala. 2 nights. (Seems a bit short to do all we want to do). But hiking on Easter--Selinunte or Segesta. Maybe Erice Saturday afternoon before Easter.
3. Agrigento (stay near there for one night to also see Villa Del Casale on way to Siracusa the next day)
4. Siracusa 4 nights. too many? We have an apartment. We want to see the archeological sites, and visit Noto and Ragusa.
5. Stay in Catania the night before our morning flight out.
6. Fly out Catania.

Happy for feedback as we everything but flights can be moved.

If you like ceramics, make a stop in Caltagirone.

https://flic.kr/p/8yzy61

We are in the midst of planning a Sicily trip also, so I have been reading your posts with interest. I will be interested whether anyone comments on your stop at Villa del Casale on the way to Siracusa. I had read on tripadvisor that it is not a good idea to leave luggage in your car. Would love to know whether that is accurate.

Once you're in Agrigento, visit Scala dei Turchi in Realmonte (20 min. drive).It's very special!
Scala dei turchi | Visit Sicily official page

I read this in another thread and it made alot of sense: you could use a cable lock to attach all the bags to each other, as an additional inconvenience to a grab-and-go thief. Not thief-proof, of course, but it might cause one who pops open the trunk, and sees a cable weaving through all the handles, to move on to easier pickings.

Ideally would love to find a bus station or somewhere to lock it all up. Especially since our car might be a wagon.

Not for my interests! YMMV.

Hi Rubytwins,
This is a very, very short trip and you are going to be driving from one side of Sicily to another. It's a big island and takes longer to get places than you realize now. I haven't read all your threads over the planning process, but I'm sure you have been told this already.

Are you arriving at the Palermo airport on Thursday? Time? That gives you 1 day in Palermo. Hopefully that gives you enough time to see 2 or 3 of your chosen highlights.
Next, you will return to the Palermo airport on Saturday and pick up your rental car. I didn't pick up there, so can't say how long that will take you. Then you head to either Marsala or Trapani which is still undecided.

My own trip was 3 1/2 weeks long and I was able to do all my top priorities. I only made it to 2 second priorities. One major consideration for me was NOT leaving my luggage, as little as it was, in the rental car while sightseeing so I arranged my itinerary around that for the most part.

I picked up a car in Trapani (staying in Erice for 3 nts). It was super easy and was booked through Autoeurope which I always use. I drove for 9 days and skipped Marsala for two reasons: can't stand Marsala wine so had no tasting planned. Also considered driving to Selinute along the coastal route through Marsala but was told by the experts and Michelin mapping that the coastal route was long and very slow going. Didn't work for my plans. It might not be the most convenient location considering what you want to do in the area.

Hike on Easter, where? Selinute or Segesta? Are the sites open on Easter? Not really a big hike at Segesta. Some long walking at Selinute if you choose, but you can just drive out to the most distant part of the site next to the sea. I spent a good 3-4 hours at Selinute. Really liked it. Spent about 3 hours at Segesta on a separate afternoon after picking up car in Trapani. Very easy and quick drive. Gorgeous in the spring! Some of my best photos were taken here. There is no place to check your luggage at either site.

Staying over 1 nt at Agrigento is a good idea. The Valley of the Temples is a huge site so takes some time to cover if you are really interested. The archeology museum is excellent! You can easily spend another 2 hours there. There is left luggage in Agrigento, but that won't apply if you stay overnight. Unfortunately, it is rather a long drive to Piazza Armerina and the Villa Romana from Agrigento. Again, there is no left luggage at the large parking lot. Doubt if you will have time to visit Scala dei Turchi. I didn't have time.

4 nights in Ortigia/Siracusa is NOT too much especially if you are going to leave for 1 or 2 of them. There is a lot to see on the island of Ortigia itself. I stayed for 3 nights and would have loved at least 1 more. If you drive from Agrigento, visit Villa Romana and drive to Siracusa, that will be your entire day. No time to visit Catalgirone for ceramics.

Sounds like your flight out of Catania is very early so perhaps staying the last night there is a must.

If you choose to take the risk of leaving your luggage in the car while you sightsee, a cable lock in the trunk will only be a minor deterrent. Up to you how much risk you are comfortable with. I was traveling solo and would not have been able to replace even just clothing in Sicily. Sicilians wear tiny little sizes and I am of Scandinavian decent, so I don't. I also am nearly impossible to fit in any shoes so that would have been an even bigger problem. I did take the risk at two locations that I really wanted to see and there was no other choice even with all the one nighters I planned to avoid this situation. Left my bag in the car trunk at Caltagirone and Vendicari Nature Preserve. Took all valuables carried with me. Turned out OK, thank goodness. There are never any guarantees so if you do it, go mentally prepared to loose everything you leave in your car.

I chose Scicli for my Baroque town experience and stayed 2 nts there. It may not be necessary to visit two of the towns unless you have a huge interest in Baroque architecture. A lot of Ortigia is Baroque too, FYI. The piazza del duomo is really one of the two most beautiful I have seen in all of Italy!

At this point you are late in booking for Trapani, especially for Easter. The owner of the Erice Pietri Antiche apartments also owns a B&B in Trapani. I would not hesitate to stay at his B&B as he is an outstanding host/owner. Try contacting Massimo through booking.com and ask him about his availability in Trapani. He responds quickly. Good luck!

You are going to love Sicily and her people. You will probably want to return so don't worry that you can't see it all this trip.

Yes, we arrive Thursday morning in Palermo. Unfortunately, that really leaves us really just a half a day Thursday in Palermo and all Day Good Friday and I really want to see Monreale and not sure it will be open for tourists on good Friday. I don't see the hours posted yet for April on the site. My husband doesn't really want to go to Palermo so hence the short stay there. Yes, we go to the airport Saturday and grab the car and head to Trapani if I can find a place so late or else Marsala because we have a place in town.

We see there is a lot of driving but have tried to break it up into no more than two-hour increments a day.

I was just told by an Italian tour guide that there is a guard at the Villa Romana parking lot. Sure hope that is true.
We are pretty flexible. When we feel we are overdoing it... we do drop planned activities in favor of sanity.

But is it time-consuming driving up and back in Erice to go sightseeing? We are still thinking about what to about the Trapani area since we are getting a late start. We need an apartment. we have a diabetic son.

Not interested in staying in Catania but since we have teens that HAVE to get up so we don't miss the plane... we want the car dropped off the night before and a place near the airport.

Erice is less than half an hour (drive) from Trapani. One hour from Marsala.

I didn't find driving up and down from/to Erice a difficulty at all, but I wasn't recommending that you stay there. I was recommending you email the owner of the place I stayed to see about availability in his Trapani B&B. If he doesn't have anything for you, I'm certain he will make a good recommendation. I think staying in Trapani will be a much better option for you than Marsala.

You won't really know where you'll want more time until you get there, but given the number of two-night stays, I'd take a night from Ortigia/Siracusa and move it...somewhere. Palermo or Trapani (I've not been to Trapani). Just to have a bit of a longer stay somewhere in addition to Ortigia. Don't get me wrong, I loved Ortigia, but two-night stays don't give you much time to see what you say you want to see. And the drives feel longer when you're rushing on a tight schedule. JMO.

For what it's worth, we got rid of our car upon arrival in Ortigia and hired a private driver to take us to the airport in Catania. Our flight was in the afternoon, however, and we were just headed to Rome.

Here is something to keep in mind. On Good Friday, I was told by a guide that it would not be possible to visit the churches in Palermo. I found this out while planning a trip over the week leading up to Easter last year. I changed my plans and took a day trip to Erice on Good Friday and saw the procession there, and spent the Saturday before Easter in Palermo when the churches were open. In searching for information just now, I can't say if that was completely correct, but it is true that there are many processions in the city and we did encounter road closures and a lot of traffic getting into Palermo on the Thursday evening of Easter week and returning to Palermo from a day trip to Erice on the Friday.
Personally if you have limited time I would not bother with Trapani or Marsala. I would stay in Erice two nights and maybe visit Segesta either en route to Erice or as a short excursion from there. Erice was very charming. If you can't find any place to stay in Erice you could also stay in Castellemmare del Golfo and drive from there. Segesta is a short drive from Castellemmare. The hiking at the riserva dello zingaro is supposed to be beautiful We did a lovely hike around Monte Cofano - took about 3 hours, and that is an easy drive from either Erice or Castellemmare.
I only had a week on three separate occasions so I had to pick and choose. I wouldn't have enjoyed four nights in Ortigia (Siracusa). I liked it, but two full days would be enough in my opinion. Everyone has their own preferences.

I did rearrange some of my day trips so as not to leave luggage in the car at the Villa Romana. It is possible to do the Villa Romana as a day trip from Ortigia, although it is a long day. On one trip we did a day trip there from Ortigia, and on another trip we visited Noto and Ragusa from Ortigia. We stopped at Caltagirone on the way to the Villa Romana but it wasn't that charming for us. Travel is kind of serendipitous - sometimes you have a great experience, and other times you hit a place at the wrong time and you wonder why everyone else loves it.
But while on Ortigia definitely do go by Caseficio Borderi / Fratelli Burgios and eat lunch there - those shops are located at the end of the market nearest the water.

Good luck. By the way, we used Giorgio Paonita as a guide in Palermo and he was fabulous.

Regarding the "guard" at the Villa Romana parking lot. There is a little building at the driveway entrance to the lot where you pay to park. People sit in there, but do not patrol the lot. They dont even have visibility of the lot from the office. Not what I would call a guard.

My trip was in 2013 so perhaps more recent visitors would have different info.

Argghh I thought I was done. What would be a good base to stay to see Agrigento and Villa Romana Del Casale? Could be by the ocean. Could be agritourismo? Maybe we do have too much driving. My eyes are popping out staring at guide books and I am just not sure. THANK YOU

And is Erice a good base if we want to go out and hike and sightsee around Trapani? Isn't there limited parking in the town.?

Yes, Erice has limited parking. As I mentioned beore, I think Trapani would be the most convenient considering the places you want to visit.

We stayed in the Gigliotti Agriturismo near Piazza Armerina to see Villa Casale and Caltagirone. We went there after visiting Agrigento.

https://flic.kr/p/8hMXJP
There is a very negative review on Trip Advisor, but that was preceded our stay and is a little old (2007).

Interesting Michael. That is where I stayed too. I liked it and thought it was a beautiful estate with gorgeous views. Very nice for a one night stay. My visit was in 2013.