Ideas for Sicily, please!
 

My husband and I are thinking of traveling to Sicily next fall. We have a couple of guidebooks and have been doing a bit of research on the area, but would like some input from ordinary people (not guidebook authors!) who have been there. We will have at least 2 weeks and possibly could add another week. We would rent a car for the time there. Our interests are history (ruins for him) and charming (small villages for me), scenery, and culture. We also may add some time in some other area of Italy, although that is not for certain....we spent a month there a few years ago and loved it all!!! But Sicily would be our main focus for this trip. Any thoughts, advice, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much.

hi dodi,

you've come to the right place as quite a lot of people here have either been to Sicily recently or like us are about to go.

we have only 10 days so we are going to restrict ourselves to the east [we fly into and out of Catania] but if I had 3 weeks, I think I would try to see the whole island. 2 weeks is a bit more difficult - do you see some places in more detail or just get an over-view?

I put Sicily into the forum search engine and came up with this:

http://www.fodors.com/search/results...?search=Sicily

quite a few to choose from, and planning threads as well as trip reports can be quite useful.

Enjoy the planning - it's half the fun of the trip!

Dodi

My trip in 2013 was just shy of 3 weeks and I really could have used 4 weeks! Click on my name for my detailed TR.

Happy planning!

Agregento is the site of the most magnificent "ruins" you can imagine. The setting is beyond spectacular. Besides the temples, there are remains of the lower city. Allow plenty of time for walking, hiking and exploring. We spent most of a day there.

You might want to take a look at my trip report; click on my name to find it.

Oh gosh, there's so much of what you are interested and more in Sicily; it's a diverse island. I am aching to return.

Just off the top of my head, we visited and really enjoyed: Palermo, Segesta, Agrigento, Modica, Ragusa Ibla, Piazza Armerina, Siracusa (stayed on Ortygia). We flew into Palermo and out of Catania.

And we didn't make it to Selinunte, Erice, Trapani, Marsala...etc.

Have fun!

Sicily is magnificent and is best seen, IMO, with at least 2 weeks if not more. And I say that as someone who packs as much as possible into every day!

Highlights include the cathedral of Monreale, the mosaics of the Villa Romana del Casale, Greek ruins, Palermo, and Ortygia -- and there's a LOT more worth seeing!

There are many trip reports on this board, and also a LOT of planning threads that might, in some ways, be even more helpful because they include input from many of us.

BTW, if you have any flexibility in your planning, Sicily can be awesome in May, when the wildflowers are in bloom.

Sicily is worth a 3 to 4 week visit all by itself especially if you can work in visits to a couple of the islands like Stromboli and Lipari. In my opinion, there is no other place in Europe with so many layers of history piled on top of each other. The only extant Phoenician mosaics, the burial place of Aeschylus,all the Greek tyrants onandonand on. The more reading you can do the better. Travel guides should be able to give you good reading lists.

Mid February when the almonds bloom is lovely and cool enough to wander comfortably. May, as mentioned above is special too. In September, I've run into drenching landslide causing rain which can make road trips problematic.

Thank you all so much for this very helpful information. I will look into all that you have mentioned (plus more, I am sure!!). NOW I am getting excited with the enthusiasm shown by you posters!!! And, yes, the planning is part of the fun, especially with input from knowledgeable folks and those wonderful trip reports!!! I prefer this sort of guidance to reading a guide book, but know that both are necessary!! Again, thank you for all and I am quite sure I will be back with more questions soon!!!

Hi, dodi66, I just finished planning an itinerary for Sicily, if you click on my name, you will see all the great input, which may be relevant to your trip as well. We're leaving in a little more than a month, and I will report back!