Help planning Sicily Itinerary
 

Hi, Sicily enthusiasts. I'm hoping you can give me suggestions for refining an itinerary for a short trip my family of three will be taking there in April. We are travelling with our 15 year old son who, like his parents, enjoys experiencing other cultures, eating local food, visiting historical sites and museums, and exploring places of natural beauty. We don't tend to shop when we travel, or lay around very much. We are in Sicily for only 7 nights, so we will be cramming a lot into a short amount of time on this trip in order to see a lot of what we want to see. With that in mind, I've put together the following itinerary, realizing it is very aggressive, and not too relaxing.

April 13/14 Palermo – overnight for 2 nights (including visit by bus to Monreal on April 14)
April 15 take train or bus to Cefalu – overnight in Cefalu
April 16 – pick up rental car in Cefalu and drive to drive to Segesta and Erice, overnight Erice.
April 17 – Drive to Selinunte and Agrigento -- overnight in Agrigento
April 18 -- Drive to Ragusa then Modica; Overnight in Modica
April 19 – drive through Noto, then to Siracusa – 1 night in Siracusa
April 20 -- drive to Catania airport for 2:55 pm flight to Frankfurt, overnight Frankfurt

So, my question is, if you could cut something from this itinerary, what would it be? Should we skip the overnight in Erice or in Agrigento or Modica, and opt for spending 2 nights in another place (Syracusa/Ortigia perhaps?). And if we were to cut one or two places from this list, which would you suggest it should be -- Erice, maybe?

You will see that I haven't included Taormina. I know it is supposed to be beautiful and many people love it, but it sounds so touristy that I'm just not sure whether it is worth the effort it will take for us to include it. (We reacted so negatively to the over-touristification of Rothenburg on der Tauber when we visited Germany last summer that I am reluctant to use limited time for what may be a disappointing experience.) Please weigh in on whether Taormina is a must-see even despite these concerns.

Also, if you have stayed in any of the places on our list and have suggestions for memorable places to stay or eat that are not too expensive (we are trying to keep our accommodations under $140/night, if possible), I would appreciate your recommendations.

Many thanks!

Cefalu is only about an hour from Palermo by train so you might want to make it a day trip. It's a charming town but I don't think there is enough to see and do there to warrant changing hotels and staying overnight.

Cefalu will be a farther drive to Segesta and Erice (I believe - I didn't check the actual driving route).

Palermo for 2 nights is really only 1 day. This small and charming city has a lot to offer and deserves more time. You could do a half day in Cefalu (leave early, view the town and return with enough time to see something in Palermo).

Don't miss Agrigento and I recommend an overnight here to see the temples lit up at night - this was one of the highlights of my Sicily trip.

I haven't been to Segesta but would recommend eliminating Erice as I didn't find it as interesting as other locations.

Taormina is beautiful but with a limited amount of time you'd do better to visit other locations.

Do a search on this board for Sicily and you'll get a lot of comments on the various locations.

My trip report might give you some ideas; click on my name to find it.

I'm sympathetic to your dilemma--you want to see as much as you can (and Sicily is fabulous) and you also enjoy experiencing other cultures which requires time outside the car/checking in & out/packing & unpacking. Here's what we did with two weeks:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ecial-trip.cfm. We saw a lot and still missed a lot. Didn't didn't make it to Erice or Cefalu but agree with adrienne to either visit Cefalu from Palermo so you don't backtrack through Palermo or perhaps drive from Cefalu to Agrigento, skipping the western part of the island. It's hard to go wrong because it's all good.

I think you would be wise to cut some things from this itinerary, as I don't think you are leaving yourself enough time to actually see the places you will be visiting. IMO, Palermo and Siracusa warrant more time than you are giving them, particularly in light of your interests. And be sure to leave yourself enough time in Agrigento!

FWIW, in my 2 weeks in Sicily I skipped Cefalu, Erice, Ragusa, and Modica.

Hope that helps!

Segesta is not to be missed: we loved Agrigento, Siracusa, and you might think about one night in the center of Sicily at an Agriturismo location (Farm with meals and rooms).

I would definitely skip Cefalu, wrong direction for your drive, but not Erice or Siracusa (actually, stay in Ortigia, not Siracusa new town). Also, you shouldn't miss the Roman mosaics at Villa Casale. Click on my name for my TR.

I applaud your decision to skip Taormina. Great views, but very touristy and your trip is so short.

Hi baloney (great name by the way
Click on my name for my trip report. Theposters above plus bobthenav inspired my trip. I skipped Cefalu and I would rec skipping Taormina. My trip was 3.5 weeks and still not long enough! Villa Casale the greatest highlight. No need to see ALL 3 of the Baroque towns. Ortigia andthe Arch museum were definitly must sees. Really too bad you can't at least take 2 weeks. Maybe concentrate on just one area and plan to return!

Buon viaggio

BTW, I agree that Taormina can be skipped. The views are stunning, and there are some charming parts of the town that can be enjoyed once the masses of tourists leave, but with so little time, I think it makes sense to place greater priority on other parts of the island.

In Ortigia (Siracusa) I highly recommend L'Approdo delle Sirene:
http://www.apprododellesirene.com

I really like Cefalú, but would second the suggestion to do it as a day trip rather than an overnight stay.

The view from Erice in and of itself is worth staying there. It is a beautiful small town. The passeggiata at the bottom of the mountain from Erice in Trapani is quite nice also. I agree with the others about skipping Taormina. Yes it's beautiful but only because it's so different than most of the rest of Sicily. It's more like Toscana. Modica is a great town. We stayed there also at a wonderful place called Casa Talia. In Modica you have to get chocolate at Antica Dolceria Bonajuto...I still think about it. If you're into ceramica, there's a great town not too far from Modica called Caltagirone that's well worth a visit. Other than the huge open air markets I would have passed on Palermo. It's just my opinion but we're not really city folk. Like others have said, the Valley of Temples around Agrigento is just incredible. Have a great time and enjoy the view flying into Palermo.

Wow. Thanks, everyone. These are all very helpful comments. Sounds like we should definitely skip Taormina and possibly Cefalu, unless we make it as a day trip. May also skip Erice, unless we make a quick stop. Will also make sure to visit Villa Casale. By coincidence, my son just told me he wants to go there. He also expressed interest in visiting Catania (and seeing Mt. Etna). I was planning to skip Catania, and just drive directly to Catania airport from Siracusa on the day of our departure. Is that a mistake? We like cities, which is why I planned to spend more time in Palermo, but it wasn't clear to me how much Catania has to offer. Any thoughts on that would be appreciated.

I also like the suggestion about staying at an Agritourismo in the countryside. Would anyone have a suggestion for one where we could stay -- either some place en route between Segesta, Selinunte and Agrigento, or alternatively, some place which we could go to after leaving Siracusa, to stay overnight before going to the Catania airport for our departing flight.

One more question: I was planning to rent a car as we leave Palermo, to avoid having a car and driving while in the city. Would it be best to rent on the outskirts of the city (even at the airport) or has anyone had a good rental experience renting from a place in the city and driving out of town? Driving in Palermo sounds daunting.

Thanks, again!

Driving in Palermo is absolutely nuts! Rent on the outskirts if you can.

Forget driving in Palermo.

Do not skip Erice, better to stay there so you can wander the back streets and soak up the views, but a short visit would be better than no visit. For some incentive my (still-unedited, alas) photos are here: http://kwilhelm.smugmug.com/Travel/S...rice/i-jPRN6p5

Only made a brief stop in Catania, was not wowed.

As you realize, your itinerary is rushed. We did more or less than same thing but we had much more time.

I'd choose either the western or the eastern parts of the island.

If not, then I concur in not moving to Cefalu for one nite. It's worth seeing, but can be a day trip. The problem we had at Erice was fog or low lying clouds: totally fogged in, so we couldn't see anything after we got there. If I had to do it again, I'd skip it and spend the extra time in Siracusa, which is definitely one of the highlights of the island.

Concur in skipping Taormina. Go up on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius instead if you have time. I wouldn't take the time or trouble to go into Catania.

<< Go up on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius >>

It's Mount Etna on Sicily.

We spent a couple of days in Catania and enjoyed the town. There's an incredible seafood market that shouldn't be missed. Great food.

Very helpful to have everyone's suggestions. Thank you!
I'm going to try to fit in a detour to see the mosaics at Villa Romana del Cesale -- is there an agritourismo nearby that someone could recommend? Or alternatively, an agritourisma that is near Mt. Etna where we could stay the night before heading to the Catania airport for an afternoon flight?

The photos of Erice do make it look appealing -- thanks for sharing them. I'll see if we can fit it in.

The Catania seafood market also sounds great, but we're already cramming in so much on this trip, I think we'll have to save Catania for next time.

Thanks, again, to all of you for the helpful advice!

I picked up my rental car on the way out of Palermo at the Europcar location on Piazza Matteo Boiardo, which is by one of Palermo's train stations and is easily reached.

Is the goal to see Mt. Etna, as in, literally, to see it off in the distance? In that case, consider driving through (or even staying in) Enna on your way from Agrigento to Piazza Armerina (for the Villa Romana del Casale). Visiting Mt. Etna normally takes hours (as in the better part of a day).

And perhaps you will forgive me for another word of caution: If you actually want to spend any time in any of Sicily's wonderful places, you need to leave time to do more than drive to and through them!

Thanks, kja. Your point is well-taken. I do realize our itinerary is too rushed. Any further suggestions you or others may have for scaling it back would be appreciated. I know from my past travels that we shouldn't rush, and also shouldn't stay every night in a touristy town. Our favorite places are frequently off the beaten track,and our fondest memories are often mixing with the everyday life of town. So, when I think about making cuts from our itinerary, it comes down to the following considerations:

Cefalu may not be a must-see. What attracted me to it was the fact that it sounds like it's a lovely coastal town that manages to be a normal working town during the off-season. It's also supposed to have a nice duomo. For those of you who have been there, please weigh in on whether it's worth a visit.

Erice looks pretty, but seems to get mixed reviews, so maybe is something to save for next time.

If we cut one of the Baroque towns -- Modica, Ragusa or Noto, which should it be? (I was planning to stay overnight in Modica, based on the recommendation made in other postings that it has a more authentic feel.)

Is a visit to Mt. Etna a worthwhile experience?

<< Is a visit to Mt. Etna a worthwhile experience? >>

I greatly looked forward to going to Mt. Etna but was less than thrilled once I got there. I thought the drive up was not pretty, low scrub brush. I only went to the parking lot (lots of souvenir stands and a couple of cafes. You can go higher on the chair lift but unless it's a clear day visibility will be very limited. The area is all ashen cinders with big holes. It was the least interesting thing I did on Sicily and the two or three least interesting things I've done in Europe.

https://modigliani.shutterfly.com/sicily2011/251

<< and the two or three least interesting things I've done in Europe. >>

One of the two or three...

"If we cut one of the Baroque towns -- Modica, Ragusa or Noto, which should it be?" -- Unless you have a very serious, specific interest in Baroque architecture, you might consider visiting only one of the three. I visited only Noto and enjoyed it very much. It is the closest to Siracusa.

"Is a visit to Mt. Etna a worthwhile experience?"

I joined a day tour out of Taormina that also included the fascinating and unusual Gole dell' Alcantara. Once we reached the "base" station for Etna (which is to say after a bus and then a train and then another bus), we had to take -- as I recall -- a cable car and then a huge RV-kind of thing to get to the top, where one could join a guide for a walk. (Actually, the very TOP -- the very highest cone -- was some distance away. Some people left to try to climb it. I chose to join a guide for a tour of the almost-top.) I found the experience other worldly -- I could feel the heat through my thick-soled boots even as the wind chilled the rest of me through my layers and layers of clothes. It was very clear that the snow field was melting from the bottom, not from the sunlight hitting the top. The wind whipped particles and grit about, so I was very glad to have protective eye gear. All of this in late May, as I recall, and just a few days after Etna had spent some time smoking. It really was otherworldly. I was powerfully aware that the planet on which I live is an active thing, a "living" thing in a very real sense. The tour took a full day from Taormina. If you go, you will need to bring appropriate attire.

Oh boy, no advice. I was in the same boat when I went to Sicily: so many places I wanted to see and too little time. For what it's worth, the driving times between sights took longer than I had anticipated. I'm a fairly aggressive sightseer but I was worn out! We had two night stays everywhere except Agrigento (one night) and Ortygia (three nights).

Good luck choosing. It's all wonderful, so you can't go too wrong.

And one more not-terribly helpful comment: we loved Modica!

"Cefalu may not be a must-see.. For those of you who have been there, please weigh in on whether it's worth a visit."

It is pretty much as you describe. Lovely old streets, a decent beach, good waterside restaurants. If you are energetic, you can climb the huge rock behind the city - the views are excellent.

The Duomo is very definitely worth seeing, but it doesn't compare to the Cathedral in Monreale (None do)

On another point, I've not been to the fish market in Catania, but there is good fish market in Siracusa as well.

adrienne--of course. How stupid of me.

I'm going to Sicily too, in Early June, so I'm reading all this with great interest. We will be arriving by train from Naples and crossing the Straits of Messina. Then we need to decide what to see. We don't like rushing around and will probably try to find a couple of bases for 3 or 4 nights each. We prefer to stay in self catering apartments and if we don't feel like going out well then we don't.

Our pretty detailed Trip Report from Fall, 2012, with a Table of Contents at the front:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...tober-2012.cfm

It starts with Taormina, but you can skip that part of the report (it is indeed very touristy).

We loved the <i>Agritourismo</i> Fattoria Mosè (Agrigento).

- Larry

You have all added to the enjoyment of planning our trip. I'll be reworking our itinerary this weekend. Thanks, again!!

Thanks to everyone on this thread, we have revised our itinerary. We only have 7 nights and want to see a lot in a short amount of time, so the itinerary is still very aggressive, unfortunately. Here's what is looks like now:

April 13/14 Palermo– overnight for 2 nights
April 15 – pick up rental car, drive to Monreal, then Scopello (or Segesta area) for overnight.
April 16 – visit Segesta, then drive to Selinunte. Overnight near Selinunte or in Sciacca.
April 17 – Spend day in Agrigento/Valley of the Temples -- overnight in Agrigento
April 18 – Drive to Villa Romana del Casale to see mosaics; then to Modica. Overnight in Modica
April 19 – drive to Siracusa – overnight in Siracusa/Ortigia
April 20 – leave at 11 am and drive to Catania airport for 2:55 pm flight to Frankfurt, overnight Frankfurt

What do you think about my substitution of a night in Scopello, instead of Cefalu? Scopello is more en route to the other places we are planning to visit. Or would it be better to cut Scopello out and spend more time in Siracusa at the end of our trip, since we currently have only one day and night set aside for our visit to Siracusa.

Also, after we leave Segesta, we will be driving to Selinunte. Would there be a good place that you could recommend to stay near Selinunte? Maybe an Agritourisma? Or should we stay in Sciacca?

Finally, does anyone have recommendations for places to stay or memorable restaurants in Agrigento, Modica or Ortigia? (The B&B that was my first choice for Agrigento apparently has cats, and we are allergic, regrettably. It sounds like we may be encountering this issue in many Sicilian B&Bs!)

Many thanks, again!

I must admit that I still think you are shortchanging both Palermo and Siracusa. I think each deserves at least one more night than you are allotting them. But we all travel for different reasons.... If you do stick with your current plan, you might want to think through your priorities in advance so you can use the limited time you do have to best advantage.

In case it helps, I visited both Segesta and Selinunte en route from Palermo to Agrigento and felt that I had sufficient time at each. It was probably about noon when I left Palermo; I got to Agrigento around dusk and had time to freshen before a latish dinner. (I didn't visit Monreale en route -- I had already done that.) Just something to consider.

I was very well satisfied with my B&B in Ortygia, L'Approdo dell Sirene:
http://www.apprododellesirene.com

Restaurants: Note that these reviews are from my trip in 2007, but the current reviews on tripadvisor suggest that each place is still worth considering:

Agrigento: Per Bacco (Vicolo Lo Presti, 2) — Just off the main street of Agrigento’s old town (Via Atenea), Per Bacco offered a range of local specialties served under the friendly and attentive eye of its manager, Valeria. I enjoyed a fresh and flavorful meal (swordfish) at one of the restaurant’s outdoor tables, tucked into a medieval close. The indoor area looked pleasant, too.

Siracusa (Ortigia): Il Cenacolo (Via Del Consiglio Regionale, 9/10) — I thoroughly enjoyed my meal at this popular restaurant. Seated in a pleasant outdoor area with trees overhead, I had a delicious salad (orange, olive, & tomato - SO good!) and a perfectly cooked risotto. Service was friendly and attentive, even though the restaurant was very busy.

Siracusa (Ortigia): Ristorante Porta Marina (Via Dei Candelai, 35) — My meal at this restaurant was absolutely delicious and beautifully presented. I also enjoyed the setting: simple, elegant furnishings in a high-ceilinged room with exposed brickwork and vaulting.

Baloney
I hope you take time to read my trip report. Your plan would be a warp speed version of my trip minus the Aeolians. I would rec every where I stayed except for Camera conVista in Agrigento. Review on TA. Scopello inApril was really dead. Skip unless its A perfect day and you want to hike Lo Zingaro - highly rec.

VERY highly rec La Foresteria La Planeta Estate in Menfi for overnightnear Selinute.

Definitly rec La via della Guidecca in Ortigia to stay as long as humanly possible. Ortigia was one of my 3 most fav places inSicily.

My report also has my restaurant recs.

Buon viaggio!

kja -- Thanks for the feedback. I am still rethinking the pacing of our trip and will consider whether we can spend more time in Palermo and Siracusa. And thank you for taking the time to send such detailed restaurant recommendations. I will put them to good use!

Dale -- I had read many threads and Sicily trip reports on this forum, but somehow overlooked yours. It's a wonderful, detailed report, and will be extremely useful for our trip. Thanks so much for pointing me to it, and to your recommendation of La Foresteria La Planeta Estate in Menfi for an overnight near Selinute. It sounds like it might be worth skipping Scopello (although the Agritourisma that you discovered there sounds kind of intriguing) and build in a night at La Planeta instead. It also sounds like you agree with kja that Siracusa/Ortigia deserves more time.

I've booked the Ambasciatori Hotel for our time in Palermo. I was intrigued by the roof-top terrace, and it seems to get good reviews overall. I see that you stayed there, Dale, and it sounds like you liked the hotel. Was your cautionary note about walking around Palermo one that would apply to all of the city, or was it specific to the area surrounding the Ambasciatori Hotel? We would like to be able to walk the streets in the evening, if at all possible.

I've trimmed down my itinerary and it looks like I could add extra time to either Palermo or Siracusa/Ortigia, but not both. I currently have scheduled about two days full days to see Palermo and only one full day to see Siracusa. Since I can only spend more time in one of these cities, which should be it?

Thanks, all.

Palermo. It's larger than Syracuse and there is more to see and do.

Your call, and a tough one it will be!

You say you have 2 full days in Palermo, but your last posted itinerary doesn't seem to jive with that -- it looks like you'll lose at least some time to flying in, getting to the city and checked in, and perhaps jet lag. Maybe I'm not understanding, but it seems to me that you have closer to 1.5 days in Palermo.

If you leave Modica very early and get up early on your final day to see a last thing or two in Siracusa/Ortygia, then you might have close to a full day there. But since things don't generally open at the crack of dawn, your time there seems a bit more limited that a full day.

I think that to make a decision, you really need to sit down with a couple of very good guidebooks and think through your priorities. The good news is that you'll see some wonderful things no matter what you choose.

Baloney,

I was traveling solo and my guide, Jackie, inPalermo and the staff at Ambasciatore advised against walking veryfar around Palermo at night. If youare not solo I wouldn't be concerned at all.

The roof top terrace at the Ambasciatore is wonderful with great views. Their wine selection is limited and just so so.

I wouldtry to spendmore time in Ortigia!

I stayed in the area around the Ambasciatore (but not there) in 2007. I (solo female traveler) did walk around that area at night, but did so with a frisson of fear -- it honestly didn't feel particularly comfortable. But of course, things change with time, so I don't know how it would feel now.

Other parts of Palermo, say around the Teatro Massimo and Teatro Politeama-Garibaldi, felt very safe in the evenings and the evening passagiato in that part of town is, I believe, quite the thing.

I was fortunate to have a very different experience of Palermo than Dayle did -- I loved it! I don't think there are many places where one can get that particular combination of architectural styles in such a vibrant and dynamic city. But I loved Ortygia, too...

I'm also a solo (female) traveler (we should have a GTG!). I stayed a little out of the center in Palermo, on Corso Camillo Finocchiaro Aprile, and felt fine walking around in the evening. I enjoyed Palermo, but I enjoyed Ortygia more. However, Ortygia is the kind of place where you need time to just wander around, admiring buildings and soaking up the atmosphere, whereas Palermo is more about the sights, so if you're short on time Ortygia might not work as well.