We are both seasoned travelers in our early 60’s, yet forming our 18-night itinerary of Sicily has been quite challenging in terms of picking the most efficient driving route. We would greatly appreciate any comments you may have on our first attempt shown below. One gaping hole is the omission of the Aeolian Islands. If we did include Lipari and perhaps Salina, or Panarea, how would we fit the route together?

Fly into Catania
3 nights Taormina (Villa Carlotta)
2 nights Ortigia (Algilia Ortigia Charme)
2 nights Modica (Cambiocavallo)
3 nights Agrigento (Villa Athena)
2 nights Castelbuono (Relais Santa Anastasia)
3 nights Trapani (Baglio Soria Resort)
3 nights Palermo (Palco Rooms & Suites)
Fly out of Palermo

Partial list of priorities: the hills towns near Ragusa, Noto, Erice, San Vito Lo Capo, Valley of the Temples, Cefalu. We enjoy walking tours in cities/towns, FOOD, beaches, and some major archeological sites (no need to see all of them). We will be returning the car prior on our first day in Palermo.

I have included hotels in case someone has better recommendations. Generally we look for the “best” hotel experience in an area regardless of cost. A quiet room is crucial for us light sleepers. One-night stays are not an option. Great food recommendations are always appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Sicily is delightful, but VERY hard to fit into 18 nights!

A few comments:

I don’t think you’ve said when you would be going, which could affect the input you get.

Taormina is beautiful, but during the day it can be painfully and very, very unpleasantly packed with daytrippers.

Note that having a car while in Taormina could pose some challenges – and please don’t plan on driving until you have recovered from jet lag! You can easily wait until you are ready to leave Ortigia to pick up a rental car.

It all depends on what you want to see and experience, but FWIW, 2 nights is not much for Ortigia, IMO. In contrst, 3 nights is definitely a lot for Agrigento. And 3 nights is very little for Palermo.

If you want to fit in Lipari, you might consider cutting Castelbuono, which doesn’t make it to most first-timer itineraries – but maybe you have some specific reason for visiting it?

Noto can be easily visited from Ortigia, but I’m not sure you currently have time for it.

Cefalu can be easily visited from Palermo, but again, I’m not sure you have time for it. Don’t miss Monreale, just outside Palermo!

The Villa Romana del Casale is not in your plans? Segesta? Selinunte?

I’ll wait to offer restaurant options until you have a firm plan.

Hope that helps!

I agree that less time in Taormina and Agrigento and more time in Ortigia would be an improvement. And definitely try to fit in the Roman mosaics.

Thanks for the quick response.

We arriving in Cantania late on May 22nd so really it's only two full days in Taormina with the intention to recover from jet lag.
The 3 nights in Agrigento would include using it as a base for trips to Selinunte area and/or Sciacca. Would that make sense?
The Castelbuono segment was due to proximity to Cefalu plus the hotel seemed nice, but I agree it might not work for this trip, especially if we do Lipari. But if we go to Lipari, then it's a long backtrack to get to Ortigia. That's why this is so frustrating. Also, I want to see places near Palermo like Monreale/Cefalu, but if I give up the car upon entering Palermo, I won't have my own transportation.

Yes, maybe I should extend days in Ortigia and use it as a base for visiting the hill towns around Modica, Noto etc.

Hmmmm

No problem doing Monreale and I would think Cefalu by public transport. Nor Erice and Trapani.

Agree, Monreale and Cefalu are both very easily visited by public transportation from Palermo.

Visiting Selinunte from Agrigento could make sense. I didn't visit Sciacca but wouldn't put it on the same priority level as anything else you are trying to see -- but then, maybe you could fit it into either the day you visit the Valley of the Temples or Selinunte.

If you really want to visit Lipari, going from Catania or Taormina would be worth considering.

I thought the Rough Guide particularly good for Sicily, including its coverage of how one can go from one place to another by public transportation. You can also check rome2rio.com, but be sure to click through to all the underlying links, as the main site is not sensitive to seasonal variation in schedules.

You can't see all of Sicily's highlights in 18 nights, so you're going to have to make some difficult decisions about what to skip. The good news is that you'll see some wonderful things no matter what, and late May is lovely there.

Unfortunately, with the exception of planes and ferries, my DW does not seem to tolerate public transportation well. I've been working around this issue for 30+ years, lol.
Your points are all well taken. Thanks.

I suppose we could scratch the Castelbuono stay and use the time to going from Taormina to Lipari. Any guess as to ferry plus drive time from Lipari back down to Ortigia?

Any comments on the above hotels and/or restaurants would be appreciated as well.

For drive times, viamichelin.com or google maps.
I already gave you the link to rome2rio, which should help with the ferry schedules.

Do think carefully before you make a decision -- you will spend a very large chunk of your limited time getting to and from Lipari.

If public transportation doesn't suit, be sure to arrange private transportation from Catania to your first stop, whether that's Taormina or anywhere else. Driving even a short distance with jet lag is as dangerous to yourselves -- and others! -- as driving drunk, and that's true whether you notice the symptoms of jet lag or not.

I would also suggest that you pick up your rental car upon leaving Taormina; your hotel can arrange for a car to pick you up from the airport. About your hotel in Taormina, it is not in the main part of the town, is that ok with you? Probably the hotel has a shuttle to take you up to the main street, but we very much enjoyed strolling up and down the street in the evening, when there were a lot less people.

In terms of visiting Monreale, you can arrange for a car/taxi to take you there, and wait while you visit. Make sure, however that you arrange in advance how much time you will have at the cathedral.

We spent one of our nights in Ortigia on a day trip to Noto; it was an easy drive, and Noto was very pretty. We chose not to visit Modica; one Baroque city was enough for us (our top reasons for visiting Sicily were the food, the Greek stuff, the Roman stuff, the mosaics and Mt. Etna). I will add restaurant names later; I found it a bit more challenging in Sicily than other places in Italy to get names of good restaurants in advance of our trip (we like to always have some ideas in hand, and reservations for the weekends, at least).

Our family very much enjoyed our stay at the Villa Carlotta on our trip in 2010. Exceptional hospitality; breakfasts on the terrace looking out to Mt. Etna were also a highlight. It’s an easy 10-minute walk to the center.

A car is an absolutely liability in Palermo.

The parking is a problem.

The traffic is a problem.

The ZTL isn’t well sign posted and unlike other Italian cities has been designed cleverly to catch you. The prohibited area includes the seafront promenade near Porto Felice. This means that there is no way to drive through the centre. You have to drive all the way round.

In Ortigia, you have to try very hard to get caught in the ZTL. It’s pretty obvious that you are entering the gateway to the old town and there is a hube ZTL sign with a camera on top

We we got caught out and are waiting for a e164 fine. The signs don’t say ZTL which is what we were looking for, they simply state in Italian that Euro cars 0,1,2 and 3 are prohibited. Goodness knows what they are !

Use the the free bus service.