I have had a number of trips this year enriched by Foderite advice, so here goes with another one!

My husband and I are going in late April to Sicilty for about 13 or 14 days including travel time from the US east coast. We enjoy history, archeology and most importantly the people and culture of places we visit. My husband is a fairly serious amateur photographer. Could you please comment on this itinerary:

Day 1 - arrive Catania, rent car and transfer to Taormina
(or should we stay in Catania and visit Taormina as a day trip the next day? My husband is not a shopper and we are not beach folks.

Day 2 - Taormina

Day 3- drive to Siricusa

Day 4 - drive to Noto, Ragusa and stay over

Day 5 - drive to Piazza Armenia and maybe Enna and stay over

Day 6 - drive to Agrigento and stay there

Day 7 - drive to Selinunte and stay in Marsala -- found interesting b&b called casa di Mish

Day 8 - drive to Erice and on to Segusta -- anything else to do on this day?

Day 9 - drive to Monreale and then to Palermo, dropping off car. Walking tour of Palermo

Day 10 - Palermo

Day 11 - bus to Cefalu

Day 12 - home

We realize that this is a rather full itinerary and is typical of our trips. We would love to have any special places to stay with wonderful hosts. On our recent trip to Portugal, that was a highlight, staying on rural farms and wonderful city hotels.

Thanks, as always to all of you.

Bonnie

I mentioned in my trip report of my recent driving tour of Sicily that I'd have loved to stay in Taormina rather than Catania:

fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2&tid=34921562

Anyways, we covered just slightly less than what you are planning in just 5.5 days. I think you'll be okay. But I'd do Marsala - Erice - Segesta - Palermo in one-day, and then just do Monreale as a half-day excursion out of Palermo (it's just a few km).

This way, you can add a day in Southern Sicily to have more time in Noto, Ragusa, etc. And add Modica too.

Check out my photos at: rkkwan.zenfolio.com/f431981631

Hmmm ! You must have seen my trip report--looks pretty close. If so, you must have seen my photo gallery, but just in case.
http://www.slowphotos.com/photo/show...y.php?cat=3828

My first reaction is that you must enjoy packing and unpacking and checking in and out of hotels. You could save yourself a little aggravation by combining a couple of stays. Taormina is not one of my favorite destinations, but if you are going there, you should skip the stay at Catania and spend two nights in Taormina.
Selinunte, Erice, Trapani and Segesta are all within a short drive of Marsala. If you are going to stay in Marsala, visit Erice and Segesta from there. If you have time for a day trip to Favignana (a short ferry ride from Trapani), I strongly recommend it. Also in Trapani there is an excellent restaurant called Cantina Siciliana, via Giudecca, 36 http://www.cantinasiciliana.it/
Monreale is a half hour from Palermo, but it really merits at least a half day. If you do go to the cathedral in monreale, have lunch on the terrace at Trattoria Dietro L'Angolo, via Chiasso Piave, 5.
http://www.duespaghi.it/ristoranti/s...-l'angolo/ I'd do the Palermo walking tour on the second day.

I did an elderhostel package a couple of years ago which focussed on the Aeolian Islands. We were on a sailboat for 12 nights--a lovely trip. I tell people I missed the hypotenuse! We arrived in Catania and left from Palermo. Taormina is much nicer than Catania.

I did do the train around Etna, but wish I had done a day trip to the top. The train was not part of the tour; I just went off by myself. I also finally saw a Sicilian puppet show in Palermo the day before we left. If you get a chance, catch one of those. The language doesn't matter!

I thought Catania was really depressing- although your husband could get some great brooding photographs of that creepy little park with the empty fountain (this was August)!!! We used the bus to Taormina. Even with my little disposable camera (color and black and white for my arty shots!)I got some amazing photos up and down the little alleys and at the public fountains. You either stay at sea level, and take the funicular up to the town, or vice versa. So doing one or the other is at least a half a day- you wouldn't go back and forth. Cheaper hotels might be found in Naxos Garden...something, on the beach just to the south. We used Taormina primarily as a base for Mt. Etna, although you could do that from Catania, too. In April could there still be snow up at the top? (I don't know.)From there we headed for the Aeolian Islands, but I wish we had seen Siracusa. And a puppet show! We did see Madame Butterfly at the theatre ruins in Taormina, and it was a highpoint of the trip. Watching the Italians watch the opera was fascinating. I sat next to a very elderly gentleman who mouthed every word and didn't move a muscle for almost four hour!

Well, one advantage of Italians watching opera is that they understand all the words.

One of the great disappointments on my trip was that the day we were in Siracusa was the day when there was nothing on at the Greek Theater. I really wanted to see something performed there.

Oh, well, I will have to go back.

Wow! Thanks for the comments! Bob, we are fans of your travels and I think it was you who provided Fodorites with driving tours of Napa and Tuscany, which were great.

Rkwan - your photos were wonderful and thanks for your thoughts. anyplace you wished you had more time We are thinking of stayin in Modica at new B&B that sounds terrific. Which of the Baroque towns did you like best?

rbrazill - in looking over our schedule as well as the hydrofoil schedule, I think we could add Favignana, which is only 20 min away and frequent departtures. what would one do on the island for a few hours? Is that worth it? I like the idea as maybe something different. (I added Madeira to Portugal last summer which really added to the diversity of that trip).

Finally my husband had the idea that after Erice and Segesta, instead of dropping the car, we drive to the Relais Anastasia for a night, visit Cefalu the next day and then drop the car. That would be instead of doing day trip by train or bus from Palermo to Cefalu. One advantage might be that we would arrive in Palermo area before rentail car agency might close and stay at a great (?) hotel.
What do you think of that idea??

BonnieN - Our itinerary was much more hectic than yours, and we only stayed in Ragusa and spent half a day there. We spent about 1 hour total in Modica, while just passing through Noto. They're still rebuilding the dome of Noto's Cathedral from what we can see.

I really like Ragusa. The scenery and setting is just unbelievable. But I think Noto has more significant churches.

It will probably be a little too cool for swimming in April, but Favignana has some of the nicest beaches in Italy. A short distance from where the ferry leaves you off, there is a bicycle rental shop. You can explore the entire island by bike. There is also a small town with some pretty restaurants. It is a unique, and largely overlooked gem.

I like that idea of driving to Cefalu and then return the car afterwards in Palermo.

thanks all for your help. we are now finishing our wonderful trip to sicily and thanks to all of you it has been terrific. will report more when I am home, but others should feel free to ask quesitons.

fyi -- capella in palermo in under major scaffolding at the moment.

bonnie

Hi Bonnie
Glad to hear you are having a great trip. Thanks for your info I will definitely make sure we hit Sciacca and Scala di Turchi. Da Vittorios was on the list too. Sounds like this is a doable day when leaving Mandranova for the our next base which is a Baglio 20 min east of Marsala.

Are you planning to visit Scopello, I am in the process of debate about spending a day at Zingaro Preserve and then staying that night at Pensione Tranchina for a night. After that I would drive through the mountains and have a 2 night reservation at the B&B in Regeagli winery outside Vallelunga.

It sounds like things are fairly close by car in the west and southeast. I was curious did you notice a lot of buildings behind scafolding for repair in Noto?

Are the crowds starting to build? How hot has it been mid day? We are leaving in 1 week and your report is getting me excited for our trip.

Enjoy the last few days.

Thanks for your time
Shari tishkb

We are planning a trip to Sicily in October. Any advice on driving versus taking the train? We've never driven in Italy before although we've been to mainland Italy 3 times. It appears Sicily is best seen by car.
Also, anyone been to Castelbuono? My grandparents were born there and I'd like to see what's there.

Train service is very good between Palermo, Messina, Catania and Siracusa and to a lesser degree Agrigento. Bus service is very good to most places. Personally I like driving in Sicily because there are so many great out of the way places. I do drive AROUND the big cities and try not to drive in them. Road signs are not good for people who don't know the island because local navigate by city names. Get a good map so you know the cities on your route, and keep right always unless you really really need to pass. The views are really gorgeous so the driver sometimes must be reminded to watch the road. About Castlebuono, it's a small hilltown near the beautiful Cefalu. There isn't much in Castlebuono but views as it's surrounded by a large natural park.

castelbueono is in a beautiful area. you will enjoy seeing this region of sicily that I think is often missed by visitors. try to get off the beaten track and visit some of the tiny towns.

the driving imo is not for the faint of heart. the autostradas are very good just pass and keep to the right. there are mostly limited access roads which are well maintained and signed. you have to do a lot of passing of slower vehicles. then there is driving through the towns. once you get the hang of the way they drive, my husband enjoyed it. make sure to get the good regional maps which will help you get to your destination and enjoy the off the beaten track spots.

Bonnie