Help with Sicily itinerary
 

My husband and I will be spending a week in Sicily in December. I would like to divide our time between two cities. We probably will be taking public transportation. After looking through the Rough Guide, I'm leaning towards Syracuse as one spot. What are your favorites?

Syracuse is one; Palermo is without a doubt the other.

There are excellent bus connection between the two and between Syracuse and Catania airport.

Fly into one, fly out of the other.

Hi Blancalita,

Palermo is a great city to spend half your time, so many places to visit, the city with its many sites, Cefalu close by on the train is a lovely town with historic cathedral and the Madonie National Park, a fanstastic natural arena for walking and sking if you like that sort of thing. We live in Cefalu and we love it !

If you need info on any of areas above have a look at our website
http://www.siciliangems.com

let me know if you need any info on buses , trains, accomodation or excursions.

Rob.

We were recently in Sicily and after hiking in the Madonie National Park and spending a couple of days in Cefalu we toured around for a week--dividing our time between Syracuse and Agrigento. Our favorite spot was Agrigento. The temples were amazing and the seafood was spectacular. Syracuse and Palermo are wonderful places with lots to do but they are both large busy towns and we enjoyed balancing the two with visits to smaller towns. The beach at Cefalu was very nice and relaxing.

There is so much to see and do in Sicily that it would be difficult to narrow it down for just a week's visit.

My favourites are Cefalu and Erice. I also loved Agrigento and Siracusa.

Palermo is not a favourite of mine but then I am a small-town girl. I tend to avoid crowds when I can (sometimes it cannot be avoided, though). However, it certainly does offer a lot of interesting things to do and see.

Monreale Cathedral is worth a trip as well.

Sorry Blanca that I add a question in your thread, and not an answer.
We also plan to visit sicily, but in october 2009.
I was thinking about staying some days in taormina, as I found it described in some guides as the most beautiful place in Sicily. I understand that it is close to Mt. Etna, and that I can go to siracusa as a day trip from Taormina.

However, it seems that most of fodorites speak more about Siracusa, and not about Taormina.

Any opinion pro / contra Taormina?

Thanks.

Hi, blancalita -

I really enjoyed Siracusa. Whether it makes sense as one of your 2 cities, and which other city to consider, depends on what else you hope to do in your week in Sicily.

And hi, Valtor -

I enjoyed both Taormina and Siracusa, but they are quite different. Taormina is more dramatically situated, and the physical setting is stunning. It really depends on what you want to see and experience while in Sicily. I would not have been able to see everything that I wanted to see in Siracusa on a day trip - even a very long day trip. I'm glad I didn't try, but I could have seen most of what I wanted to see in Taormina on a long day trip. I would, however, have hated to miss seeing either city in the evening. Hope that helps!

Taormina does have a stunning setting. Unfortunately, it is also very touristy. Ortigia, Siracusa's old town on the island, is much less touristy and feels much more "real". If you're going to do one or the other as a day trip I would stay in Ortigia and day trip to Taormina. From Siracusa you can also day trip to Noto, for instance.

Ortigia tied with Erice as my favorite place on Sicily. You could do Erice as a day trip from Palermo, although I would recommend staying there. However, a week isn't very long for Sicily.

Thank you, Kja and Thursday. Probably I'll change my plan and I'll stay in both Taormina and Siracusa. I just wanted to avoid paking/ unpacking too much times. however, I prefer to do this and do not miss sightseeings in places where I know that I'll not return.

After I'll make again my plans, I'll ask again for some advices.
Meantime, I have to find time to write a report about our vacation in italy this May - June!!

Taormina is lovely but much too commercialized and touristy for my taste. It may, however, be a good base for you as you are likely taking public transport. If I had to choose I would definitely go for Siracusa, Erice and Cefalu far over Taormina or Palermo. Of course every person has different tastes! :)