julies

Does anyone have any itinerary suggestions for my last minute trip to Sicily next month? We’re lucky in that we have 19 days on the ground, but I still am finding it difficult to narrow down my choices.

We are in our 60s, moderate budget travelers who prefer smaller more intimate lodging like B&Bs, don’t like super duper touristy, enjoy nature and the outdoors and being active, love to just wander soaking in the ambience of places, enjoy interesting architecture, want to do some not super strenuous half day + hiking, would love to take some boat excursions or kayak, love colorful local markets, don’t necessarily follow the typical beaten path, aren’t shoppers, enjoy seafronts and harbors, are too old for nightlife, and don’t want to spend all of our time running around frantically trying to see everything. And, we’ve been to both Greece and Turkey and have seen a lot of temples and ruins, so these aren’t big on our itinerary.

Our normal preference is for slow travel with extended stays in bases, and we believe in the less is more philosophy. I’ve figure out this isn’t going to work too well for Sicily. For stays of 3 nights or more we generally prefer apartments.

I think I have read every Sicily trip report on Fodors and have developed my itinerary based on some of the things I've read in those. And, I think I now have every guidebook published on Sicily (fabulous library system in my city).

Here is what I have so far as far as an itinerary, and you’ll see where I have a big gap. We’ve decided to take a self-guided cycling trip, and that, along with only wanting to do one period of car rental, dictates some of my date choices. But, I haven't confirmed dates on this yet and could rearrange my itinerary if there is some other place it would fit in better.

I am currently researching apartments in Modica, Ortigia and Palermo so I can reserve those. On the one hand, I am thinking I need to fill in the blanks and make some reservations (especially since we prefer apartment-type lodging). On the other hand, it may be kind of nice to just wing it for our open days.

Day 1—arrive in Catania from US at 09:30. Take bus from airport to Modica.
Day 2 & 3—Modica (wander, sightsee and recuperate from jet lag)
Day 4—leave Modica and bike to Pozzallo
Day 5—bike Pozzallo to Marzamemi
Day 6—bike Marzamemi to Noto, cycling through Vendicari park
Day 7—bike Noto to Syracuse and stay in Ortigia
Day 8 & 9—Ortigia
Day 10—pick up a rental car and leave Ortigia for I don’t know where. But, I absolutely need to include Villa Romana del Casale.
Day 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 ??????
Day 16, 17, 18 & 19—Palermo (drop off our car prior to arrival)

Questions:

1. For the places I’ve already decided upon, do I have about the right number of days?
2. I’d like two locales for my empty 6 nights. What are your suggestions? If you think I could fill all of my time with just one locale, we’d be up for that too.
3. I’ve thought about perhaps 3 nights in Cefalu and 3 in Trapani area. Thoughts on this?
4. Are there any great places you know that I should be sure to fit in my empty days?
5. I’m looking for a colorful, safe to walk around after dark, not in the middle of a tourist ghetto neighborhood for an apartment rental in Palermo. Any recommendations?

Thanks much.

JaneTJohnson

In 2014 two of us rented a car in Palermo - we stayed in Palermo without a car first, (driving in Palermo can be very tricky) ..then returned to the airport to rent a car, and drove counter clockwise around the island for a month.

This itinerary was recommended by two different friends who had traveled this route different years.

The roads are not terribly crowded, but it is easy to get a bit lost in places. Often it is hard to find road signs or know what street you are on, especially in the larger towns.




Erice is a charming mountain town outside of Trapani. You have to park at the base of where you might stay, and walk up narrow stone streets with your bags - tricky driving - we went around the one way circle twice before figuring it out. Leave nothing in your car - and there are places, like Erice, where you pay to park and have someone keep an eye on your car.

Marsala and Agrigento are interesting.

We enjoyed Syracusa very much - the old town has a lovely big open square, water front, and good restaurants.

We went also to Taormina which we loved the most. We decided to skip Catania.

Another interesting way to do it might be to Fly into Catania and explore from there. We chose to spend time in Palermo and not Catania.

JaneTJohnson

Think you would be ok "winging it" - it was pretty quiet everywhere with some places almost deserted on the verge of closing for the season when we were there in October.

julies

Jane--

Thanks for the tip that many places are pretty dead in Oct. I was kind of guessing that for many of the not-so-visited areas this might be the case.

I'll take a look at Erice.

We had gone back and forth, back and forth on Taormina and Catania. I've read that Taormina is quite touristy, and then I discovered that there would be large cruise ships in port on the days it would logically fit into our itinerary. That was kind of the final nail in the coffin for the idea of visiting there.

Catania too was a big contender until yesterday when I finally sat down to count out the days we had available. I finally decided that one big city would win out, and Palermo did because we are flying out of there.

thursdaysd

Forget Taormini, except possibly for a pass through to admire the views. I wasn't especially impressed with Cefalu either. If you've read my TR you know that I enjoyed Erice and Trapani, and I would suggest splitting your time between them - or consider Scopello National Park. You do not need a car for Erice or Trapani - take the bus from Palermo - but one would be helpful for Scopello.

In Palermo I stayed at the Sky Sleeping B&B, not quite in the center but the street it was on felt like a little village within the city.

sandralist

I don't know what is meant by "dead" in the context of the trip you want to take.

There are a handful of beach towns and island ports in Sicily that are geared to the summer tourist trade. I had gotten the impression, however, that you are not looking for a beach vacation or going to the island. Otherwise, in October, all the tourist areas of Sicily will be attracting tourists -- it is a popular time to go -- and if you get off the beaten track, there is no "dead" season for a Sicilian city, town or village. There is a "dead" period in the middle of the day, year round. If you day trip to towns and small cities, they might look "dead" to you if your main experience of them is mid-day. But if you are spending the night there, you will see the towns are full of activity -- if not tourists.

Were it me, I would add a day to Ortygia, just to relax, and if I had Villa Roman dei Casale on my "must-do" list, I would study a map and investigate the towns near there, and see what appealed to me, and where the nice weather was, even if they weren't famous or obvious. The fastest way to find some unusual but beautiful and fascinating places to spend a few days in Sicily not too far out of the way of Villa Roman dei Casale and Palermo might be to ask on Tripadvisor. But you can often get pretty far just by looking at a map and googling up the names of towns. I've always been curious to visit Sant'Angelo Muxaro.

I also suggest looking into seeing Monreale on your way to Palermo, before dropping off the car -- although I would double check with people more knowledgeable than me about whether there is secure parking for a car with luggage in it. I did it without a bad experience, but am not sure if it has ever been a problem for others or not recommended.

sandralist

For instance, I just did a fast look at a Google map, and saw the names of a town near Enna called Nicosia, so I looked it up on Google. I landed on this website

http://www.zainoo.com/en/italy/sicily/enna/nicosia

and going from there I learned about this nearby town

http://www.zainoo.com/en/italy/sicily/enna/sperlinga

I don't know if these are good destinations in October (or interesting to you), but if you like off-the beaten track travel, there is more to Sicily than what you read about in the guidebooks.

julies

Sandra--

Lots of very helpful information. And, the links you provided are exactly the types of places that would interest us. I'll spend some more time on that great website playing round.

I had also thought about trying to see Monreale prior to dropping off our car, but I really think it might depend on the direction we will be going in to Palermo. Do you have any idea of how long it takes to drive to the airport for car drop off from there. And, I need to read up on Villa Roman dei Casale to see if there is secure luggage storage there. The fear of leaving luggage in your car for sightseeing stops is definitely hindering some possible plans for me.

I guess what I meant by dead was with not much competition for lodging. Maybe I was wrong in thinking we could just wing it because there wouldn't be a lot of other people like us out there looking for a nice place to stay.

So, you'd recommend 4 nights in both Palermo and Ortigia? Right now I have one late afternoon/evening and two full days in Ortigia..

Kathy--I am primarily considering Cefalu as a place from which to access the Madonie mountains along with a taste of the seashore (and no we are not interested in going to the beach). Scopello has also been on my potential list, but I remember someone saying it was much too small. But, for us that might suit our purposes since we wouldn't intend to just sit there.

My copy of the Cadogan Guidebook to Sicily just arrived today. It hasn't been updated recently, but from past trips I have found that this series is typically very good about pointing out places that other guidebooks never even mention. So, I will be spending some time reading this. I figure the info about the towns will remain the same, and I can always use the internet to get up-to-date advice on lodging and food options.

Thanks a lot.

BritishCaicos

Three years ago, we were in the SE corner of Sicily during October.

The weather was perfect for cycling but we did have rain some days. The summer days of 40oC had clearly passed.

At home we are very frequent road cyclists and when travelling we are very aware of the suitability of areas for future cycling trips. We have talked about revisting this area, however I'd make the following points :

- the general driving attitude of some Sicilians is appalling, the coastal roads around Noto were very quiet but on many occasions we saw driving by young and old that was simply shocking. I would be very aware of the lack of respect many drivers show to other road users.

- unlike areas such as Spain or France, cycling isn't a developed sport in Sicily. From our initial research there is a hire shop in Siracusa but I think they stopped hiring recently. They still offer the usual parts service but we couldn't find another parts shop in the SE. Be aware that should you have technical issues you may have problems.

- the coastal area road system is complex and great for staying away from busy local roads. The roads are very flat and make easy cycling. However, once you venture inland away from the plain, the hill climbs around Noto can be demanding.

- I'd agree with Jane above. The road signage in the area isn't great and it is very easy to get lost. GPS would be a great help.

- Vendicari is very unspoilt with very little development. During October it is an internationally important bird migratory location. It also has resident flamingo. There are three beautiful, very quiet beaches and it was warm enough to swim in October.

sandralist

I don't think you need to worry about competition for lodging anywhere but Taormina (where you're not staying) and maybe Ortygia. Maybe 2 nights there would be just perfect for you if you are not also trying to visit the sights of antiquity and museum in Siracusa.

You can use google maps to estimate drive times. Maybe you could pick an agriturismo in the countryside near Villa Romana dei Casale and use it as a base for day trips that include VRdeiC or simply spend the night in town.

I agree Cadogan guides are very helpful, even older ones.

julies

BritishCaicos--

You sound like more dedicated cyclists than we are, so your take on this is nice to have. We hope we are okay on the roads because most of this is away from major towns. We have now been several places where we had contemplated taking cycling tours but didn't, and once we arrived were so glad because once we saw the roads we knew we'd have been terrified--Sonoma in California and western Ireland.

We survived (and that truly is the appropriate word) a week long cycling trip in Kerala, India this winter.

Yes, we are a bit apprehensive about rain, but it is a risk we are willing to take. Was this all day downpours or more mild on and off rain?

We are using an agency to put this together for us (including rental bikes); they get excellent reviews on TA. They seem quite flexible and willing to customize. We are doing the tour linked below except we are starting in Modica (so as to eliminate the worst hills). We wanted to have a longer stay in Modica prior to beginning cycling and a longer stay in Ortigia at the end of the trip and said we'd arrange our own lodging those places because we wanted apartments rather than hotels. That was fine with them.

So, if you ever do return to the area and want to cycle, you could check out this company.

http://www.ciclofree.it/joomla/tours...a-graecia.html

sandralist--Just spent an hour with my new Cadogan guide, and I was right. There are some places mentioned I'd never heard mentioned anywhere. One in particular is one of their top recommendations for Sicily, and I am going to start doing research on it--Mazaro del Vallo--and some other places I found in the book.

I appreciate the thoughtful answers from all of you.

EYWandBTV

julies: there is another Fodorite planning a trip to Sicily now, name is progol. You might want to check that thread because many of the ideas will be helpful to you:
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...r-may-2016.cfm

Dayle

Hi Julie's,

I would agree with the advice to add a day to Ortigia and Syracusa. I had 3 nts two and a half days and it wasn't nearly enough! There is much to do and see and Ortigia is very charming. The piazza in front of the duomo is one of the most beautiful I've seen anywhere.

Re cycling in Sicily. I will just tell you what I saw.
I met an American couple in Scopello who were biking for a week in western Sicily. They said they were having a good time, but at that moment we were sitting under the covered section of the terrace for lunch at a sea view restaurant due to rain.

Driving on a narrow back road between Erice and Scopello, I got stuck in stopped traffic. When I got up to the obstruction, the fire engine was washing down the road in the lane. After I passed the fire department, I saw 3 tourists pushing 4 bikes along the side of the road. Not good. I assumed the ambulance had already departed the scene.

Driving down from Erice to go visit Segesta, I started around one of the hairpin curves and had to slam on the brakes to avoid a ahead on collision with a black Mercedes that was on my side of the road. The Mercedes driver was passing a cyclist on the blind hairpin curve!

I also met a Dutch couple at dinner on lipari who were biking all around Sicily for several weeks and camping. They said they were having a great time and usually traveled by bike all over Western Europe.

Given your comment about being glad you didn't cycle around Sonoma, I would highly recommend that you not try to cycle around Sicily. Just my opinion. You can make your own decisions of course. I've been to Sonoma too.

Dayle

One other cycling moment. After parking at Vendicari nature preserve, a tour group of cyclists from Vermont came in. They were waiting while one of the guides backtracked to try and find a guy who missed a turn and was very lost. The guide was very annoyed. The tour group was out of water, hot and sweaty and exhausted. Sorry I didn't get the name of the tour company.

yestravel

Scopello is lovely...reminded me a bit of CA coast. It is tiny. You can visit Segesta easily from there. The Zingaro Nature Reserve is a great place to explore. I love Erice...went there on both trips to Sicily. Didn't stay in Trapani, but spent an afternoon there and quiet enjoyed it,

Your days 5 & 6 make for biking that could be ok. We drove there and not much traffic and flat. Depending upon the route from Noto to Sirscusa could be traffic. We did not bike. My husband is a biker and he said he'd be cautious and perhaps nervous biking in the areas you plan to. drivers are a bit crazy.

right behind Monreale there is a manned parking lot. We left out car with luggage with no issue.

Liked Marzo del Valle a lot.

julies

Thanks for all of the comments. This is such a great place to get opinions and information from people. I've certainly got a lot to think about.

We are now rethinking the cycling idea, and since we haven't yet committed we can easily change our minds. As I mentioned earlier, five years ago we planned to take a bike trip in Ireland, but people here talked us out of it. And, when we got to the area we so happy we decided to just do the area by car instead.

Vagabonda over at TA is not cautioning about the roads but about the possibility of rains and stormy weather in October. That could make for some pretty miserable days. The deal is that we are by no means hard core cyclists, but we enjoy the opportunity to really slow down and get to know an area more intimately by bicycle.

Vagabonda also told me that the other self-guided bike tour we had originally considered is probably more interesting, but I don't know about less dangerous. That one is short, just four days (three cycling). It starts in Palazzolo Acreide then goes to Noto. There is a day trip from Noto to Vendicari and Marzamemi. Then the final day is from Noto to Syracuse.

Dayle-- I bet the group you ran into was with VBT (Vermont Bicycle Tours). Can I ask you what month you took your trip. I read your trip report, but I can't remember when you visited.

If we cut out the cycling trip, I will have even more days to play with. Adding a day to Ortigia would be no problem. I looked at the map and saw how small it is and just assumed that the time I planned would be sufficient. Perhaps we'll just start our trip there with 4 nights, and then pick up a rental car for two weeks of roaming until we turn it in prior to our 4 night visit to Palermo. I was just looking at photos of Palermo and it looks very interesting. Perhaps I'll want more nights there than 4.

I am kind of back to the drawing board again, and all of this feedback I've gotten makes it easier for me to make alterations if need be.

Glad to hear we could use our car to visit Monreale and feel pretty safe about our luggage.

Perhaps it will be place like Scopello and hiking in place of a cycling trip.

Thanks so much to all of you.

Dayle

Julie,

My trip was mid-April to mid-May.

The things I would have changed as slight tweaks

Visited Lo Zingaro as a day trip from Erice
Stayed 2 or 3 nts at La Foresteria Planeta Estate in Menfi to visit their winery for lunch, tasting and the nearby beach
Stayed just 1 nt in Scicli, it's small
Skipped Taormina
Stayed longer in the Aeolians

4 nts in Palermo was just right for me


Yes, I think it was VT Bicycle Tours! They were not very friendly!

kja

"we’ve been to both Greece and Turkey and have seen a lot of temples and ruins, so these aren’t big on our itinerary."

Perfectly understandable, but FWIW, I thought the ruined temples in Sicily quite unlike anything I saw in Turkey, where I visited a LOT of ruins. In particular, the temples in Sicily were among the most stunning and most evocative Grecian ruins I have seen. I haven't been to Greece yet.

If you are flying out of Palermo on day 19, adding a day there is worth considering IMO.

If I am ever fortunate enough to return to Palermo, I would look for accommodation around the Teatro Massimo or Teatro Politeama-Garibaldi, somewhere in that part of town.

thursdaysd

Ortigia is a lovely place to relax and wander. You can also do day trips by bus.

I didn't go to the Aeolian islands, but if I go back (hope to!) I will probably spend a few days there. You could hike up the volcano on Stromboli instead of cycling. I went to the Egadi islands instead - very, very quiet and not recommended, at least off season.

sandralist

I spent a full week in Palermo without doing any day trips (I had already seen Monreale) and I was out and about every day, finding new things to do. Admittedly, I am a somewhat lazier explorer than many travelers, and also include things that are outside the top 20, but Palermo has a multi-layered history and an interesting contemporary culture.

I stayed in an apartment right inside the Capo market, and my recommendation for a hotel location would be just the opposite of staying around either teatro (although Teatro Massimo would get the edge of the 2). In the other thread someone has provided you there are hotel/b&b recommendations, including mine. For a 4-night stay, renting an apartment would be my choice. I used Visit Palermo