RealtorRose

My husband and I, along with another couple, will be touring Sicily for 14-16 days the end of September. We will be landing in Palermo and renting a car at the airport. I found this itinerary on another site and liked it very much. Land in Palermo and then to Cefalu, Segesta, Erice, Trapani, Marsala, Selinunte, Agrigento, Piazza Armerina, Ragusa, Noto, Syracuse, Catania, Taormina, Milazzo as well as visiting Vulcano & Lipari returning to Milazzo and then back to Palermo to fly home. That was the order that was suggested for this itinerary. We would like to move as infrequently as possible (3 times max) and would like to know where would be best to stay to visit these areas on day trips. We like staying in agrituriso's and like touring 'off the beaten path'. Any suggestions with 'must see' things as well as places to stay would be helpful. This site is a wealth of knowledge so thank you in advance
Rose

Michael

You might be interested in my trip report. Click on my name to find it.

bobthenavigator

Hello Rose, That is very ambitious. I would not get the car until you leave Palermo, and I would fly back home---via Rome---from Catania. As above, I have a 2 week trip report from 2005 you can find by clicking on my name above. You will love Sicily.

dutyfree

Fly into Catania and out of Palermo or vice versus to save your driving times. I just did a 15 day drive trip back in October with my daughter and you definitely don't want to backtrack.
We have been to Sicily before as my daughter had lived there for a semester in college.
However, I would pick these cities as bases:
Taormina(even though I won't spend alot of time there as it is so touristy)
Ortigia(Siracusa)and stay IN TOWN so you can enjoy the little city by the sea with all its magic!You could use as a base for Noto,Ragusa,etc. if you want?
Agrigento
Marsala(love the salt flats and wineries beside the sea
Trapani (great for Segesta and Erice)
Palermo-got to Cefalu as a daytrip on the train from there which is perfect!
I found staying 2-3 days at each of the above cities made it more interesting and less like a baggage drill!
Try and book a diesel car and be sure to get a GPS system if you can for the out of the way places-we bought a European Tom Tom so had the Sicily maps already loaded which worked out great.Roads are great outside the cities but would recommend dumping the car in Palermo or Catania if you can.

RealtorRose

Thanks Dutyfree, can I get a train from the Palermo Airport into Palermo and same in Catania. If not, how do we get from airport to where we will be staying in Palermo and back to the Catania airport. I considered leaving from Catania, you & Bob may have just convinced me.

bon_voyage

There are buses from the airport to different points in Palermo. We wound up taking a taxi for our family of four. There was a flat rate from the airport to the city.

bobthenavigator

Yes, bus into Palermo--let your hotel coach you where to get off. In Catania, the airport is out of town south with easy drving access---or, drop it in Taormina if you stay there and have a driver to the airport.

RealtorRose

Dutyfree...why a diesel?

RealtorRose

Michael, I read your trip report already. I couldn't believe the misfortune you had on that trip. I'm not sure I would have been able to deal with the situation as well as you did. I guess one never plans on those types of things and making the best of it must have been a real challenge.

dutyfree

Diesel will save you quite a bit on gas prices.
There are buses and trains that can get you into both Palermo and Catania from the airport.Bus was the easiest option for us into Palermo as we had a hotel that was a block from the main stop.There is a hourly bus down to Ortiga/Siracusa from the Catania airport too.

RealtorRose

Looks like we may need to move more than I thought. How does this sound:

2-3 nights Palermo area (Montreal & Cefalu)
2 nights in Trapani (visit Erice & Segesta)
2 nights in Marsala (visit Selinunte)
1 night in Agrigento (Valley of Temples)
2 nights in Piazza Armerina (see Enna, Caltagirone
2 nights in Siracusa/Ortigia (see Ragusa, Noto, Modica)
1 night in Taormina (visit Mt. Etna
1 night in Lipari
1 night in Vulcano (should I stay overnight in Vulcano?)
2 nights in Catania (where we will fly home)

Is this a nutty pace? What should I cut out, if anything?

bobthenavigator

Yes, it is nutty.
Cut that in half.

nkluedke

Woah!! That is quite an itinerary. I haven't seen all of Sicily, however, my family (2 parents, 4 adult children) was there in the summer of 2009 and we spent one night in a little hotel on the beach in Punta Raisi and then a week in Cefalu. From Cefalu, we day-tripped to Erice, Trapani, Agrigento, and Brolo (the ancestral home of my great grandparents). We stayed in a gorgeous house with a pool and had time to relax, swim, make dinners, and drink wine under the stars. We LOVED Cefalu. The travelling can get exhausting. You'll enjoy your trip so much more if you take time to just BE there. The next time we go, our hope is to see the eastern/southeastern/southern parts of the island.

RealtorRose

Thanks nkluedke.
I think it's back to the drawing board again. I'm almost sorry I found the Frommer's suggested 2-week itinerary which is what I based the above on. Just got a DVD on Sicily from the library which was very helpful. Think I will cut out a few stops. How long did it take for you to get to Erice, Trapani & Agrigento from Cefalu? I have considered staying in Cefalu for a few nights to see Monreale and Palermo. Perhaps we could stay there longer and see Erice, Trapani & Agrigento on day trips. Then take the 2nd week on the eastern/southeastern side.

valtor

You can visit Erice as a day trip from Palermo.
I do not think that you can stay 2 nights in Siracusa (so you have 1 1/2 days) and visit it, plus 3 towns.

Change the order and have the last nights in Siracusa or Taormina. From any of there it is easy to go to Catania (for your flight home), no need to stay in Catania.

nkluedke

I just asked my husband how long it took to get to those cities and we're drawing a blank, so it couldn't have been too traumatizing And that's after he drove my crazy family in a 8 passenger van through the streets of Palermo - wild! I want to say a couple of hours each way. We did Trapani/Erice in one day and Agrigento in one day. I did not feel "shorted" with these day trips, although there were surely things we did not see. Erice and Agrigento were truly highlights of our trip. Maybe you could base yourselves around Cefalu/Palermo for one week and then in the southeast for another week?

nkluedke

By the way, don't get down about your trip. It is going to be incredible no matter what you do. You're smart to research it and come on here and ask around - there are some really experienced travelers here! You should know your travel style and fit your trip to that. Maybe you don't mind moving a lot? I just always think that a trip to Italy isn't complete unless you experience a little of that la dolce vita...disconnecting, breathing the air and just thinking about how far you are from "normal" life. Ahhh, just typing this I'm ready to book a flight back!!

RealtorRose

Thanks nkluedke, I feel better already. I know I will breathe a sigh of relief when the itinerary is done and locations are booked. I'm now thinking 4 days in Cefalu, 4 days near Trapani/Marsala, 5 days in Siracusa and a few days in the Taormina/Catania area. If we manage to get to Lipari, that will be a bonus. At our age, with so much to see in the world, it's hard to imagine we will be back to Sicily so I guess we're trying to soak in as much as we can without burning ourselves out. Actually this trip got started because one snowy day I took out our movies from our 3 week trip to Northern Italy in 1999 and I knew it was time to go back.

touringlady

Hi Realtor Rose, I think your itinaerary sounds great. My husband and I are going inSept. and our itinerary is 13 days and is very similar to yours. We are not visiting Catania except to stay there the night before we fly out. We will stay in Erice for one night and then on to Seliunite and stay in the area between there and Plaza Armerina From there we can see some of the other little towns before staying in Ragusa for 2 nights. We hope to see Siracusa at that point also. We may stay a night there or add on 3 nights in Taormina. We will also spend 2 nights on Lipari before flying out of either Catania or Palermo. My husband and I like to keep going and see as much as possible so staying in various locations does not bother us. I know you will enjoy yourself - Buen Fortuno. Sorry forgot to mention using Palermo as our first stop ad staying there for 2 nights to see Cefalu and Monreale.

kja

For travel times, check

http://www.viamichelin.com/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm

http://en.mappy.com/itinerary_homepage#

Add in a little time for getting lost, stopping for gas, etc.