foggy27

My wife and I just got back from 12-day trip in Turkey a month ago, plus a 3-day stop in Munich on the way. We had a wonderful time, and could not wait to start planning for our next trip. Currenly we are considering Sicily, for April 2010.

A little background: We are in our early 50’s, enjoy history, arts, walking, photography, food and wine, but not keen on beaches and nightlife. We have been to Italy a few times, but not Sicily. Our rough draft itinerary is as follows:
• Fly from US to a European gateway (London, Paris, or Amsterdam) for a 2-3 night short stay, depending on airfare.
• Fly into Palermo (via Rome or Milan) and out of Catania. We should be over the jetlag by the time we reach Sicily.
• Palermo: 3 days, include a day tip to Monreale.
• Rent a car: to cover Segesta, Selinunti, Agrigento, and Piazza Armenna
• Return car in Siracusa: 3 days, include day tip to Noto.
• Train (or bus) to Taormina: 2 days before leaving Sicily.
• We can be in Sicily for a maximum of 2 weeks.

Now we need help for:

1. We love historical ruins, and would like to include Segesta, Selinunti and Agrigento in our trip. In our recent visit to Turkey, we enjoyed the smaller sites (Priene, Miletus, and Didyma) as much as the more famous Ephesus, due to the lack of crowd. I am wondering how crowded these Sicilian sites are in April.
2. On the other hand, we are not sure we want to visit several baroque towns (Ragusa, Modica, and Noto) near Siracusa. Are they significantly different? We do plan to visit Noto as day trip from Siracusa.
3. We decided to have a rental car for a segment of our trip, based on info we have gathered so far, including this board. Still, we just do not like driving, and would like to minimize it. Can Segesta be done as a day trip via public transportation from Palermo? We have not included Trapani/Erice in our itinerary, unless it can be done easily with public transportation. What about Ragusa/Modica from Siracusa?
4. For the driving segment: Palermo -> Segesta -> Selinunti -> Agrigento -> Piazza Armenna -> Siracusa. How many days/nights should we allocate? Where should we spend nights?
5. We do not eat meat, but love seafood, vegetable, cheese and pasta. I suppose that would not be a problem in Sicily. Hey, we “survived” 2 weeks in Germany, where the menu is really heavy.
6. Would it be logistically easier to start from Catania and end at Palermo? Does it make any difference? We have not researched on flights.

Thanks,

Foggy

Ian

Read my report. We just did a similar itinerary in Sicily. Also search for Bob the Navigator's Trip Report & rkkwan's. That will answer most of your questions. Then we can help you fine tune it.

See http://members.rennlist.org/imcarthur/sicily.htm

Ian

bobthenavigator

nd after you read my trip report you can enjoy these images. We liked Sicily and may go back next year.

http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=3828

Zerlina

You'll probably like Segesta and Selinunte better than Agrigento.

There's really no easy way to do Palermo-Segesta-Selinunte-Agrigento-Piazza Armerina-Siracusa except by car. Bus service is generally very good in Sicily, but there are blind spots where "you can't get there from here", and there are at least two of those blind spots on that itinerary.

As for the Baroque towns, Noto is the easiest to reach and a prime example if your appetite for Baroque is limited. Ragusa Ibla is as notable for its position as for its architecture, and the same goes to some extent for Modica Alta.

abbydog

Wow! You sound just like my husband and me -- and we just spent nine days in Sicily in April. I love your itinerary, and the only thing I might add is Erice. We drove into Trapani, parked the car, and took a cable car up to the village. Very fun and beautiful.

No need to worry about crowds. We were in Palermo for Easter and that was a bit busy, but otherwise every ruin we visited was populated mainly by busloads of little schoolchildren, and they're just cute. Re: meat, no problem. Swordfish, tuna, shrimp, and calamari are pulled right out of the sea.

Since my trip was shorter than yours I didn't get to visit the little villages, and that's my only regret. Based on other trip reports here (and the recommendations of my B&B host in Siracusa) I would not skip them! They will add some nice variety for you.

Driving was no problem for us. The only disaster was trying to get to Monreale from downtown Palermo -- you are very smart to just do a day trip on public transportation. I didn't find the highway drivers to be terribly aggressive. The only weird thing is watching the car in front of you invent its own lane, but everyone seemed pretty accommodating.

Can't wait for more queries. Good luck!

foggy27

As you can see, we are in the early stage of the planning. These trip reports will help us a lot.

I was browsing the board, and Erice came up quite often. If we do have 2 weeks, we would probably add it.

thursdaysd

You might also find my TR - http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-sicily.cfm?62 - helpful. Although I did the center (of the island and trip) with a group tour, I was on my own at the beginning and end, which included Trapani and Erice, both of which I recommend. I took a bus from Palermo to Trapani, and another up to Erice. There is also a local bus to Monreale, so you don't need to pick up a car until you're ready to leave Palermo. I was there in April last year, and Taormina was the only place I would consider crowded - and I would only allocate one day there (take the train from Siracusa, otherwise you'll have to change buses in Catania).

foggy27

We really enjoyed these reports. I must have read Bob's report before, as that got us interested in Sicily in the first place.

A question for Thursday: I see you have been to Turkey. Can you compare the mosaics in Sicily vs Istanbul? We did not know we would enjoy it that much until we visited Aya Sofia and Kariye (Chora). Our previous exposure to mosaic is in Venice, and both of us were underwhelmed.

thursdaysd

It's been a while since I saw the mosaics in Istanbul, but as I recall they were Byzantine - more like those in Venice (although the best are in Ravenna). The ones in Sicily are Roman, quite a different feel.

I haven't edited my Sicily photos yet, and the lighting at Piazza Armerina is lousy, so the ones from there aren't very good, but I put them up for you here: http://kwilhelm.smugmug.com/Travel/519560 - Mosaics, password mosaics

Zerlina

Let's distinguish between mosaics and mosaics. The mosaics at Monreale, La Martorana and Cefalu are Byzantine and resemble those in St. Mark's in Venice. They are not as "emotional" as the ones in Hagia Sofia, but why anyone would feel underwhelmed in St. Mark's and overwhelmed in Hagia Sofia by mosaics in much the same style escapes me.

The mosaics at Villa Romana del Casale are late Roman floor mosaics.

thursdaysd

Oops, good point Zerlina. I was thinking about the Villa, completely forgetting the marvelous mosaics at Monreale! (Which, are, of course, Byzantine.)

approachguides

Hi foggy27,

The mosaics in Palermo are fantastic and compare favorably with the mosaics in Istanbul as they were mainly done by Greek mosaicists.

Given your interest in mosaics, I highly recommend viewing the Palermo mosaics in chronological order so that you can see the stylistic changes as the artists became more comfortable working in a Western-style church (apse instead of a cupola). The order is: Cefalu Cathedral, Palatine Chapel, Martorana, and Monreale Cathedral.

Also, we have posted a map of our favorite sites - although your itinerary is fairly advanced already, it may help you narrow down some of your choices.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...963623&t=p&z=7

Mimar

My husband and I are planning an almost identical trip for this October. Down to 2 nights in Brighton on the way there.

I am kinda regretting not going in spring. The wildflowers are supposed to be beautiful. So good planning, you.

The minor differences: fewer days, less time in Palermo; we plan to drive past Siracusa to Noto, then return to Siracusa to drop the car and stay 3 nights. And we plan 3 nights in Taormina as a sort of rest stop.

Here are some fruits of my research: to get to Monreale from Palermo, you take AMAT bus # 389 from Piazza Indipendenza.

I will report back after our trip.

zeppole

Before settling on Noto as your only Baroque town destination, you should find out if its major monuments are still under scaffolding. Ragusa may be a better choice, or Modica -- but I also urge you to consider that those of us who really enjoy these towns often are fans because of the overall ambience (hardly any tourists), their affluence, local culture and great, great food. I find the architecture lovely and surprising, but it's not the same wow as the Greek theatre in Taormina, or the duomo in Ortygia.

If you were underwhelmed by the mosaics in Venezia, I can't predict how you'll react to the mosaics in Sicilia. Monreale's are to me quite a jaw-dropper, even if they are histoically something of a fake. You might appreciate the Norman architecture -- the cathedral is one of the greatest existing examples -- if nothing else. If you go, it's good advice to take public transportation and be sure to have your pockets full of euro coins, because they don't leave the lights on and if you are the only tourists there, you'll want to feed the light boxes.

bobthenavigator

Here is Monreale--awesome !
http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...23291&cat=3828

Ian

thursdaysd

Nice pictures! I will admit I ‘hacked’ my way into the other galleries.

I agree with zeppole about the tri-town area in the southeast. Research which of the three towns would best suit your expectations. Modica suited us to a T but your results may vary.

Ian

thursdaysd

Thanks Ian - the galleries are only (minimally!) protected to keep them out of google searches until I finally get around to cleaning them up!

txtree

You are going to have a wonderful trip.

1. We were there around Easter 2008. Based on my experience, the sites won't be too crowded. Even at its peak, Sicily does not receive the kinds of crowds that other places in Italy do.

2. We loved Ragusa and Noto. Both are gems. We did not make it to Modica. But you will be happy to see just one of them.

3. I don't know the answer to this, but we felt we needed a car in Sicily.

4. In my opinion, you can do Piazza Armerina when you are en route from Agrigento to, for example, Ragusa. I would spend the night in Agrigento because the temples are amazing at night and in the morning. Piazza Armerina in daytime. Then Ragusa (or Noto) the next night.

5. You will be hard pressed to find meat in Sicily. It abounds in fresh fish, vegetables and fruit. And nuts. The food is AMAZING. Please, whatever you do, have a meal at Antica Marina in the fish market in Catania. It is extraordinary.

6. I do not think it matters. When we traveled there in spring 2008, we flew to Catania and left from Catania (we had been on the western side of the island before). Our friends flew to Palermo and left from Catania. The flights seemed to be interchangeable. But I do think you can do Palermo without a car. You probably wouldn't do Catania without a car.

Buon viaggio!!

.

Ian

I'll have to disagree about finding meat. Veal is very common. Served as steak, in mixed grills with pork, in roullades etc. We ate it across the island. Hamburgers too. Salamis & prosciutto cotto or crudo at breakfasts. We're carnivores although we did dip into the sea at several meals.

Ian